OCOP program and the journey of creating rural economy

After 5 years of implementation, the One Commune One Product (OCOP) program has brought economic benefits and sustainable income to rural people; at the same time, it has contributed to shifting agricultural production towards commodities, becoming an important internal resource in the new rural construction movement.

Lotus tea production at Son Dung Tea Cooperative ( Thai Nguyen province).

The OCOP program not only brings economic benefits but also enriches the cultural life of rural people through regional specialties.

OCOP Vietnam – Basic achievements

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), after 5 years of implementing the OCOP program, as of November 2023, 63/63 provinces and cities nationwide have evaluated and classified OCOP products with 10,881 products achieving 3 stars or more, along with 5,610 OCOP entities. In many localities, OCOP has become a mandatory criterion for communes meeting NTM, advanced NTM, and model NTM standards... to create a strong push for rural economic development, while at the same time, building a strong team of OCOP entities, basically completing the set goals in the 2021-2025 period.

To achieve the above impressive figures, new mechanisms and policies have been created and implemented synchronously from the central to local levels, notably Decision 919/QD-TTg (replacing Decision 490/QD-TTg) directing OCOP in depth, enhancing the role of commune and district levels in implementing the program, assigning the authority to evaluate and classify 3-star OCOP products to the district level; The set of criteria for evaluating and classifying OCOP products for the period 2021-2025 in Decision 148/QD-TTg (replacing Decision 1048/QD-TTg) has mandatory regulations for star categories when participating in evaluation and classification, promoting quality, brand value, community spirit, enhancing traditional cultural values ​​and marketizing OCOP products.

In the 2021-2025 period, OCOP will expand a number of new products such as ornamental plants, ornamental animals, and concretize rural tourism spots... The set of OCOP product criteria issued includes specific indicators to specify the orientation and approach of the Program associated with product development according to 3 axes: Community development, product quality and marketing capacity; becoming an orientation to help localities proactively build support mechanisms and policies; having a basis for planning, directing and implementing.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also developed circulars guiding the implementation of Circular 55/2023/TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance, combined with many specific programs on cooperatives, development of raw material areas, application of science and technology, industries, craft villages... with many direct supports from the state budget such as: Consulting, positioning, protection of trademarks, packaging, production equipment, support for market promotion...

As of December 2023, most districts have organized evaluation councils and proactively allocated effective support budgets. At the central level, many pilot models of OCOP product development from the community, community cultural tourism village models for the period 2021-2025 have been organized and implemented along with international promotion programs, digital transformation programs with livestreaming of OCOP products, Festivals, regional OCOP fairs, etc.

Long-term OCOP development

According to Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan, the OCOP development program needs to aim at products that crystallize from local resources, technology, and create startup ideas. It is absolutely not easy to evaluate OCOP products. Moreover, we need to know that creating products is difficult, but bringing products to market is even more difficult, and sustainable development is even more difficult.

How to have optimal product prices to become a rural economic sector together with cooperatives, "Cooperatives and OCOP products are sparrows, need to be nurtured enough to grow. This is also an opportunity to attract foreign investment when there is a foundation of strong local sparrows", Minister Le Minh Hoan emphasized.

Currently, many localities across the country have implemented the OCOP program in a practical and effective manner. The situation of "counting" the number of OCOP products is no longer suitable because the market has more stringent requirements. At the same time, the requirements of the commodity economy have been and are requiring OCOP entities to always improve product designs to suit the psychology and tastes of consumers.

Despite the impressive numbers of OCOP products, economic experts say that compared to the potential, the number of OCOP products is still low. The reason is that for many years, OCOP products have been derived from available products, based on upgrading according to customer segments and choosing suitable markets.

Simple products from a community can be applied with science and technology, improved to form products with great potential in the market to help OCOP subjects operate effectively, but not yet forming completely new OCOP development ideas.

For example, some traditional dishes of Hung Yen such as perch soup, have been upgraded by the owner into high-end packaged products, integrating suitable spices for long-term preservation to supply the domestic market and export. The famous Phu Do fresh vermicelli dish (Nam Tu Liem district, Hanoi) is also packaged and preserved for a long time, instead of being used within the day as before. Or the precious medicinal recipes of ethnic minorities, now also "smoothed", conveniently packaged for each use in just one minute instead of being cumbersome and having to be cooked in the traditional way.

Similarly, Long He Apple (Thuan Chau district, Son La) is a famous Son Tra apple variety with more than 800 hectares of planting area but is only known in Yen Bai, Son La, and has not been able to dominate the domestic and international markets... However, if the OCOP cycle is successfully built and this apple becomes an OCOP product, the future will help hundreds of households here escape poverty and have a stable life.

However, the reality is that many provinces and districts are having difficulty finding available products to build OCOP product cycles, not to mention that many OCOP entities do not understand what they will get and what they need when participating in OCOP, leading to the situation where many products have to stop operating after participating. Therefore, information and propaganda about OCOP need to be carried out systematically on grassroots media (commune radio stations, leaflets, grassroots posters, etc.); at the same time, raising awareness of commune-level officials about OCOP, making this team become the initial consultant to help entities better understand OCOP before creating ideas and forming products to participate in OCOP.

The OCOP journey throughout the product life cycle does not stop at being awarded a star rating. Products need to be continuously improved and upgraded, requiring continuous evaluation. Currently, the period for maintaining an OCOP star product is usually 3 years, however, support for OCOP products is not applied after evaluation. This makes the subject after being evaluated not know how to continue without further consultation and support, directly reducing the meaning of the program.

Thus, consulting and support work does not stop at completing the dossier but must closely follow the product production cycle. On the part of the OCOP assessment and classification council at all levels, it is necessary to avoid imposing the idea when assessing dossiers, creating "sub-" dossiers that do not have legal meaning. Finally, supporting promotion and sales for subjects and products is also an important step that needs to be paid attention to and actively implemented by authorities at all levels.

Hopefully, with the positive results achieved, along with specific actions of authorities at all levels, especially the people, the OCOP program will develop sustainably and bring many economic and cultural benefits to the people, actively contributing to the effective construction of new rural areas.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/chuong-trinh-ocop-va-hanh-trinh-kien-tao-kinh-te-nong-thon-post796741.html

Source: https://baolangson.vn/kinh-te/645082-chuong-trinh-ocop-va-hanh-trinh-kien-tao-kinh-te-nong-thon.html