Hi-tech agriculture company reaching demanding market

U&I Agriculture Joint Stock Company (Unifarm) is a leading hi-tech agriculture company in the southern province of Binh Duong with products satisfying high demanding markets.

Investing in research is one of factors that make Unifarm successful in hi-tech agriculture production. Photo: Hong Thuy.

Unifarm was founded 12 years ago when hi-tech agriculture production was still quite new in Vietnam in general and in Binh Duong Province in particular.

As a pioneer in this field, Unifarm has turned prosperous with farming products like banana, longan or musk melon that are meet VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards. The fruits are now sold well not only in the domestic market but also present in the US, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

In 2008 when Binh Duong Province’s authorities just thought about hi-tech applications in agriculture production, Unifarm was first chosen to implement an exemplary model thanks to initiatives, determination and achievements that the company had made, said Unifarm Director General Pham Quoc Liem.

In 2009, Unifarm official went into operation with more than 411 ha of land in An Binh Commune, Phu Giao District.

“At that time, there was nothing at the project area but wind and grass. There is no road, no electricity and water supply,” he said.

“Moreover, across the country at that time, there was not any effective hi-tech agriculture model for us to learn,” he said, adding that Unifarm had to start all by itself.

Liem said that when the company was founded, it had only 10 staff including managers and technicians. They all had to visit other countries with developed agriculture production such as Israel, Taiwan and Japan to learn about hi-tech agriculture.

The company also invited and employed experts from Israel and the Philippines to consult it about advanced farming technique.

At that time, Unifarm chose bell pepper, tomato, cantaloupe, eggplant and asparagus to grow as they all that Israel grew and get top productivity and quality in the world.

For the first time Unifarm grew such crops, their products met GlobalGAP and were qualified for export.

Unifarm’s tomato had productivity of 100 tonnes per hectare, 10 times higher than that grown in conventional ways. However, the tomato still failed to meet requirements in size and weight, so it was not qualified for export.

In 2010, an expert from Israel Aviel Sade advised Unifarm to invest in the Israeli greenhouse system in which, irrigation, fertilising, temperature and humidity control were all automatic. The system cost nearly VND9 billion for a hectare.

Unifarm chose musk melon to grow in the greenhouses, which produced fruitful results.

For the first time growing musk melon in the greenhouses, Unifarm could harvest musk melon which had the same quality as imported ones but was just half as expensive as imported musk melon.

The company continue expanding the musk melon growing area from one ha to three ha and higher when seeing increasing demand for the fruit in Binh Duong and neighbouring provinces/cities.

During 2010-2011, almost all musk melon sold in Vietnam were imported from China. So, Unifarm’s musk melon not only helped Vietnamese customers access clean and tasty fruit but also took back market shares in the domestic market.

Besides musk melon, Unifarm also studied and tried growing more than 20 fruits and vegetables. Finally, it selected the most effective ones. Banana was among Unifarm’s short-list key products.

In 2011, it first grew in the pilot the banana from the Philippines. Three years later, its ten hectares of banana had average productivity of 50 tonnes per ha. Its banana was qualified for export to South Korea, Japan and the US.

Until now, Unifarm is selling half of its banana and musk melon production in the domestic market while the other half is exported. Other products of Unifarm like Ido longan and sweet tangerine are also welcomed by customers.

Now, Unifarm has more than 12 ha growing musk melon, producing about 100 tonnes per ha per year. The company also helps transfer technique to grow musk melon for farms in Binh Duong Province and other localities. Many farmers across the country visited and learn about Unifarm’s musk melon growing model.

Unifarm’s Vice Director Pham Minh Tiep said that the farmers’ interest in Unifarm’s model proved that more and more people wanted to go prosperous with farming.

“We are willing to help, transfer technologies and buy their products if the products meet our requirements,” he said.

Unlike many farming companies which target to export products to China, Unifarm wants to export its products to demanding markets like Japan, South Korea and Singapore. So, Unifarm has always determined to make its products different from others.

It also targeted to become world-level banana producers and traders. In 2014, Unifarm co-operated with Dole – the leading banana producer and trader in the world.

In 2016, Unifarm and Dole expanded their cooperation by signing a contract on growing 1,200 ha of banana to exclusively sell to Dole. Meanwhile, Dole Việt Nam Co Ltd, a subsidiary of fresh fruits producer and marketer Dole Asia Holdings Pte Ltd, chose Unifarm as the sole distributor of its bananas in Vietnam.

“From a small, little-known company, Unifarm has grown strongly with the number of employees, experts and engineers reaching more than 400 people. Unifarm has become a familiar name for the supermarket system in Vietnam and abroad. A stable and constantly increasing customer base is a prerequisite and an important inspiration for the company to continue to invest, diversify products and expand its markets," said Unifarm’s Director-General Pham Quoc Liem.