* Comrade Le Ha Luan , Provincial Party Committee Member, Director of the Department of Agriculture
AND THE ENVIRONMENT OF DONG THAP PROVINCE:
First of all, I would like to affirm that organizing this festival is of great importance in honoring farmers, promoting local specialties, and boosting trade, economy , and tourism in the province.
In recent times, fruit production in the province has seen positive changes. The most notable achievement is the formation of specialized areas for cultivating high-value, economically advantageous fruit varieties such as durian, jackfruit, mango, longan, dragon fruit, pineapple, sapodilla, and citrus fruits.
To date, Dong Thap is a locality with a large area of fruit tree cultivation, approximately 135,000 hectares, producing 2.5 million tons per year, with many specialty fruit brands such as: Cao Lanh mangoes, Ngu Hiep durians, Lai Vung pink tangerines, Chau Thanh longan, Vinh Kim star apples, Tan Phuoc pineapples, Cho Gao dragon fruit...
Notably, the province has successfully made a strong shift from a purely " agricultural production" mindset to developing an "agricultural economy"; not chasing output but focusing on increasing added value, standardizing quality, and closely linking with market demands.
The locality has developed key fruit-growing sectors in a specialized and sustainable manner, promoting the establishment of organized fruit-growing areas, ensuring food safety and hygiene, expanding the area granted planting area codes and traceability, creating a clear competitive advantage.
To date, the entire province has 49,490 hectares of fruit trees that have been granted planting area codes for export purposes (with 2,715 codes), focusing on groups of trees that bring high economic value: durian, jackfruit, mango, dragon fruit, longan...
In addition, the province has established 438 packaging facility codes that meet the standards for export to demanding markets such as China, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the United States, Singapore, and Malaysia…
Alongside standardizing growing areas, Dong Thap province is also promoting the application of scientific and technological advancements in production. The percentage of fruit-growing areas applying safe production processes according to VietGAP standards is constantly expanding, thereby affirming the quality, value, and brand reputation of the province's fruits.
The festival, organized by Dong Thap province, aims to honor specialty fruits and promote their marketing, introduction, and consumption in both domestic and export markets.
This will contribute positively to the socio-economic development of Dong Thap province in particular and the provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta region and the whole country in general.
The festival is expected to boost tourism, transform orchards into eco-tourism experiences, create additional livelihoods, and increase income for farmers.
In addition, the Fruit Festival will facilitate connections between stakeholders in Vietnam's fruit industry chain (producers, businesses, state management agencies, scientists, credit systems, and logistics service providers).
Through this, production experience and advanced technical and technological advancements are shared and accessed, promoting agricultural development towards a green, modern, and sustainable direction, with the central solution being the reorganization of production towards ecological, circular, multi-tiered, and multi-value agriculture.
At the same time, it is linked to the development of organized, standardized raw material areas, value chain linkages, and electronic traceability…
* MR. NGUYEN PHU TAN , DIRECTOR OF THE MANUFACTURING JOINT STOCK COMPANY
SENVIA FOOD IMPORT-EXPORT (MY LOI COMMUNE):
The festival brings together almost all the links in the fruit industry ecosystem. For a producer like SENVIA FOOD Import-Export Joint Stock Company (Topifu), this is an opportunity to build new connections with raw material sources that meet suitable farming criteria.
With the market already flooded with fresh and dried fruit products, the festival is an opportunity to affirm the position of Topifu's chewy dried mango product – a product with unique characteristics thanks to its different formula, highlighting the flavor of the Cat Chu mangoes from My Tho commune.
The festival is the perfect opportunity to share the story of Uncle Bay Hiep's organic mangoes, cultivated for over 10 years in his orchard, transforming them into a sugar-free dried mango product that has received very positive feedback from many domestic and international customers, including those from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Norway, Poland, and France.
We don't view our business as simply selling a physical product; rather, what we offer is the flavor and culture of a local community, distilled into each product.
With thematic workshops organized during the Festival, businesses also have the opportunity to update their scientific solutions, learn about advanced post-harvest technologies; smart raw material area management solutions and circular economy, and process fruit by-products into fertilizers or other products.
* MR. NGUYEN THANH SON , DIRECTOR OF VINH KIM COOPERATIVE (VINH KIM COMMUNE):
Vinh Kim Cooperative has an agricultural production area of approximately 300 hectares, of which 60 hectares are planted with fruit trees certified VietGAP, with the participation of many members involved in production.
The cooperative's main fruit crops include: star apple, mango, pomelo, dragon fruit, durian, and several other specialty fruits. The cooperative primarily operates in the production, procurement, and distribution of fruit, and supports farmers in adopting safe farming practices to improve product quality and economic value.
We expect the festival to become a great opportunity to promote the image of Dong Thap's fruits in general and the cooperative's products in particular to consumers, businesses, and tourists inside and outside the province.
This is not only an opportunity to showcase agricultural products, but also helps to enhance the brand value of local fruits, creating motivation for farmers to continue investing in high-quality production.
Through the festival, the cooperative hopes to have more opportunities to connect with purchasing businesses, distributors, supermarkets, and export partners to build a stable market for agricultural products.
We expect that local fruit products will become more widely known, thereby expanding the consumer market and reducing dependence on traders or the problem of fluctuating prices even during bumper harvests.
We hope for more support in market connectivity, digital transformation, planting area codes, and business linkages so that cooperative members and farmers can confidently engage in long-term production.
* MR. DUONG THANH HONG , VICE CHAIRMAN OF MY PHU FARMERS' ASSOCIATION (MY PHONG WARD):
I expect the festival to be a good opportunity to promote the local pomelo brand in particular and the province's pomelos in general to a wide range of consumers both domestically and internationally.
Once a brand is established, the product will gain a reputation for attractive design and high quality, thereby increasing its value and competitiveness in the market.
In particular, the fact that the Association has successfully exported nearly 1 ton of green pomelo to the Australian market is a very encouraging sign. We hope that after this festival, the province's pomelos will not only be limited to the Australian market, but will also continue to expand to many other demanding markets.
This will motivate grapefruit growers to focus more on production, systematically and professionally caring for their orchards, and meeting the increasingly high demands of the market.
Furthermore, we hope that through this festival, we will create an additional "lever" to enhance the value of pomelos, gradually building the image of professional farmers in the era of integration and digital transformation.
The festival also provides an opportunity for farmers to visit, learn from experience, and find suitable crops, encouraging them to confidently switch from rice or other less efficient crops to fruit trees with higher economic value, thereby contributing to increased income and stable livelihoods.
We expect that the festival will contribute to connecting stable markets for products, helping farmers feel secure in their production and develop grapefruit cultivation in a sustainable direction.
T. DAT - N. KHANH - H. THONG - V. THAO
Source: https://baodongthap.vn/co-hoi-moi-cho-trai-cay-dong-thap-a241699.html
