With an important certificate, the sour fruit brings "sweetness" to Long An farmers

Long An seedless lemon conquers demanding market

Lemon is one of the province's key agricultural products, bringing high economic value to farmers in Ben Luc district and neighboring areas. The area of seedless lemon cultivation in the province is more than 11,370 hectares, the fruiting area is nearly 10,200 hectares, of which Ben Luc district accounts for more than 60%. Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) of Ben Luc district - Le Van Nam shared that the district has made many efforts to implement the policy of restructuring the agricultural sector towards increasing the value and sustainable development of seedless lemon trees. One of the outstanding results is making seedless lemon a key crop bringing high economic value to farmers.

The district has focused on implementing the program of developing high-tech agriculture on lemon trees. Up to now, the whole district has 426 hectares of lemon trees applying high technology (according to the plan, by 2025, it will reach 520 hectares). Currently, the role of linking the State, farmers, scientists and enterprises is increasingly close, helping to improve the quality and yield of seedless lemons. Seedless lemon trees have become a crop that enriches farmers. Long An seedless lemons are now not only famous domestically but also conquering the European, Middle Eastern, Asian and North American markets.

In Ben Luc district, there are many enterprises (DN) participating in cooperation with farmers to create seedless lemon products that meet food safety standards such as Hai Au Farm, Hoang Kim Vietnam Import-Export Company Limited - Long An branch, The Fruit Republic Can Tho Company Limited (TFR), Ben Luc Agricultural Service Cooperative,...

Long An Department of Science and Technology organized the acceptance of the provincial-level science and technology task: Creating, managing and promoting the geographical indication "Ben Luc Long An" for seedless lemons, Long An province, April 19, 2024.

According to TFR Marketing Director - Nguyen Thi My Hiep, with the form of engineers working with farmers in the fields, seedless lemons grown in Long An province meet GlobalGAP, VietGAP standards,... and are exported to many foreign markets such as Europe, Middle East, Korea, Japan,... Seedless lemons are favored by foreigners, used in food processing, soft drinks,...

According to Mr. Le Van Nam, in addition to focusing on improving quality and output, enterprises in Ben Luc district also focus on many solutions to bring seedless lemons to foreign markets. Typically, Ben Luc Agricultural Service Cooperative (Luong Hoa commune) sent people to Dubai wholesale market (United Arab Emirates - UAE, Middle East region) to learn, open an office and directly sign contracts to supply lemons to many countries in the Middle East region. This has created a stable step, bringing high value to this agricultural product.

The main job of the assigned person is to be present at the Dubai wholesale market every morning to update and survey the demand for agricultural products in the Middle East. Being present at the market helps this person to promptly grasp information, thereby being flexible and proactive in negotiating prices with partners and then reporting back to the cooperative. The cooperative sending people to Dubai has made the export of seedless lemons smoother. In addition to seedless lemons, Ben Luc Agricultural Services Cooperative also plans to export other agricultural products such as dragon fruit, guava, etc. to Dubai.

Building a passport for seedless lemons

Although seedless lemons grown in Long An are famous and the quality of their products has been confirmed by domestic and foreign markets, the building and protection of a brand for seedless lemons has not been done systematically.

In order to exploit the potential and enhance the value of Ben Luc - Long An seedless lemon products, the Department of Science and Technology (KH&CN) has signed a contract with the Center for Technology Research and Intellectual Property (CIPTEK) to deploy and implement the project "Creating, managing and promoting geographical indications (GIs) "Ben Luc - Long An" for seedless lemons, Long An province (referred to as the Project) to use intellectual property strategy tools to enhance the reputation, value and position of the province's seedless lemon products.

Recently, the Department of Intellectual Property issued the Certificate of Geographical Indication and the certification mark “Ben Luc - Long An”. According to the Director of the Department of Science and Technology - Nguyen Minh Hai, once an agricultural product is granted a certificate of Geographical Indication, it will create great value, increase consumer confidence and be considered a passport for the product to reach domestic and international levels.

According to information from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Long An, with more than 11,370 hectares of lemons being grown in the province, the lemon material area has formed 3,000 hectares of high-tech production with 165.5 hectares of VietGAP and 220 hectares of GlobalGAP. Of which, the province has 41 growing area codes and 31 packaging facility codes. The Fruit Republic Can Tho Company Limited is one of 3 enterprises in the province qualified to use the geographical indication of Ben Luc - Long An seedless lemons.

Ms. Nguyen Thi My Hiep said that the fact that seedless lemons have a geographical indication is a great motivation for businesses and farmers to promote production, improve product quality, and expand the scale of trade. The business believes that with this passport, Ben Luc - Long An seedless lemons have another effective tool to protect the province's products. The business also commits to developing geographical indications, improving the effectiveness of management of growing areas to maintain quality and reputation in domestic and foreign markets.

According to Director of the Department of Industry and Trade - Huynh Van Quang Hung, although seedless lemons are purchased by enterprises, consumed domestically and exported to many countries around the world, the Long An lemon brand is still not worthy of its potential. The Provincial People's Committee leader directed the Department of Industry and Trade to coordinate with the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City National University to find solutions to build the brand of Long An lemon products.

The provincial leaders' wish is that lemons grown in Long An must be widely promoted, have all the necessary permits, when consumers use lemons they will immediately think of "Long An lemons". Thereby, the branded products will be enhanced in position and value, contributing to the goal of rapid and sustainable development in the new period, lemons will be more widely consumed, lemon growers will have high income and lemon trees will develop sustainably on Long An land.

The Department of Industry and Trade and the Department of Agriculture of the province are promoting market forecasting activities, linking with businesses, promoting trade to expand consumption, increase the value of agricultural products as well as always creating new motivation for farmers and businesses to invest more effectively in production and serve exports.

Source: https://danviet.vn/co-duoc-to-giay-chung-nhan-quan-trong-loai-qua-co-vi-chua-mang-lai-vi-ngot-cho-nong-dan-long-an-20240720185401361.htm