To issue fruit growing area codes
The establishment and issuance of fruit growing area codes in the province in recent times have achieved a lot of positive results, contributing to enhancing the reputation of products in the domestic and export markets; at the same time, contributing to orienting farmers to practice production more professionally, producing according to the market standards and tastes. In particular, the establishment and issuance of growing area codes meets the requirements of importing countries, ensuring the quality of agricultural products, traceability and changing farming practices, transforming thinking, raising awareness of production towards professionalism, transparency, sustainability and responsibility. The traceability of products is convenient and transparent, creating trust for importers.
People of Phuong Nam commune (Hung Yen city) exchange experiences in longan areas management with growing area codes
The province's agricultural production has developed over the years with a variety of crops, of which fruit trees such as longan, lychee, banana, and citrus are considered the province's key crops and have been continuously developed in terms of area, productivity, quality, and value. To date, the province has more than 14.7 thousand hectares of fruit trees, of which nearly 4.6 thousand hectares are VietGAP certified. This is a favorable condition for establishing and building growing area codes for export to increase the value of agricultural products.
By the end of 2024, the province has maintained 33 growing area codes with a total area of more than 235 hectares, including crops such as longan, lychee, and banana. In 2024, the Plant Protection Department has organized 11 training courses on awareness and management, maintained growing area codes in longan, lychee, banana, and grapefruit areas with 550 participants; inspected the request for granting growing area codes for one grapefruit growing area in Ong Dinh commune (Khoai Chau); inspected and monitored lychee, longan, and banana areas that have been granted codes; collected 34 samples of leaves, lychee, longan, banana, and grapefruit for pest identification; 17 samples of lychee, longan, banana, and grapefruit for pesticide residue testing.
Mr. Bui Xuan Tam, Phuong Nam commune (Hung Yen city), is an individual representing 4 longan growing area codes exporting to the US and Australian markets with an area of 46 hectares, said: After being granted the growing area code to serve the export of longan products, households in the area have strictly implemented the requirements on pest management measures, use of pesticides and fertilizers, food safety requirements, and record keeping during the care process.
Up to now, the work of establishing and managing growing area codes has been of interest to the province, specialized sectors, localities, organizations, businesses, and farmers. To be eligible for growing area codes granting, farmers must comply with safe production regulations, especially keeping production diaries... This is one of the barriers that prevents farmers from active participation. However, the construction of growing area codes brings such many practical benefits to farmers as: Standardizing the process of caring and managing crops; managing the plantation area, the number of trees in the garden, providing standard procedures for plant care; helping monitor the history of plant care, warn of disease situations, plan care, list of permitted pesticides and estimate productivity... From there, the plants produce delicious, even fruit quality, meeting the standards of import markets.
However, most localities, organizations and individuals are currently paying much attention to establishing and expanding the area of plantation areas with codes, but have not really paid due attention to monitoring the plantation areas to maintain conditions to meet the requirements of the importing country after approval. In addition, training and raising awareness for farmers about production processes, regulations on growing area codes, and packaging facilities also need to be promoted to serve the good management of plantation areas that have been assigned codes. Although all growing areas have committed to complying with regulations on growing area codes management and supervision, in reality, there are still some farming households that have not strictly implemented the conditions on growing area codes management, especially the stages of garden sanitation, collection and treatment of fertilizer and pesticide packaging, which have affected the growing areas and management work.
Currently, countries importing agricultural products from Vietnam in general and the province in particular require growing areas to apply regulations on traceability, hygiene, food safety and control of plant quarantine objects. Therefore, the export of agricultural products will face many difficulties if the regulations of the importing country are not properly implemented. In the coming time, the province’s Agriculture and Rural Development sector will continue to monitor 33 growing area codes according to regulations; establish and build new growing area codes on crops at the request of production organizations and individuals in the province when the growing areas fully meet the criteria according to the regulations of the Plant Protection Department and the requirements of the importing country. In addition, relevant levels and sectors facilitate connections between agricultural product exporting enterprises and organizations and individuals participating in growing area codes to effectively implement the export supply chain.
