Which way to go for safe agricultural products?: Don't leave farmers 'alone, in one market' (Part 2)

Lesson 2: Don't leave farmers "alone, one market"

In recent years, all levels and sectors have had many policies to encourage farmers to produce safely and cleanly. However, in reality, some policies have not been effective.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Tu (Khanh Hau Ward, Tan An City) is concerned about the market for clean agricultural products and recommends that there should be a market specializing in selling clean agricultural products.

What do farmers need?

When it was first established, Thanh Nhan Clean Mushroom Production Facility (Tan Lap Commune, Tan Thanh District, Long An Province) determined its business direction to be clean and safe production . Accordingly, Mr. Nhan (owner of Thanh Nhan Clean Mushroom Production Facility) mainly used rice bran and corn bran as seed spawn. Therefore, selling seed spawn will not be as profitable as seed spawn made from fertilizers and chemicals.

Specifically, he sells 4,500 VND/embryo, after deducting costs, the profit is 500 VND/embryo. As for spawn made from fertilizers and chemicals, the profit is 800-1,000 VND/embryo.

In addition to selling seed spawn, the facility also grows mushrooms such as cordyceps, abalone, black fungus, etc. Currently, the facility has 5 products that meet 3-star OCOP standards .

As a pioneer in clean and organic production, Mr. Nhan was given the opportunity by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (now the Department of Agriculture and Environment) to participate in the clean food chain. Here, he was given the opportunity to display and sell clean mushroom products.

Mr. Nhan shared: “I put it on display but couldn’t sell it, the product was priced the same as other mushroom products, so I decided not to join the chain. My wish is for all levels and sectors to promote agricultural products in a practical and effective channel - this channel only sells clean and safe food. In addition, I also hope to connect directly with partners who are passionate about clean agricultural products. Because in reality, many companies and businesses initially need clean products, but after importing goods from the facility for a while, they mix in goods of unknown origin.”

Eight years ago, Mr. Bui Huu Trung (Tan Tay commune, Thanh Hoa district) switched from mass rice production to organic production with an area of ​​10 hectares. The first year, the yield reached 4 tons/ha, the second year reached 2 tons/ha. It continued until the eighth year, when the yield reached 4 tons/ha again. Low yield and unstable output made Mr. Trung worried, anxious, and skeptical about safe production and organic production.

Using agricultural products with pesticide residues will seriously affect health.

Mr. Trung said: “In the first few years, after harvesting and milling rice, there were no buyers, we didn’t know who to sell to. At that time, we had to sell rice by the kilogram. Although there is an output now, it is still unstable. I hope that the authorities and sectors will create conditions for farmers to promote agricultural product brands and connect with consumer markets.”

Understanding the value of clean agricultural products, safe agricultural products for health, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Tu (Khanh Hau ward, Tan An city) invested in greenhouses, equipment, and machinery to grow organic vegetables. Coming from an office background, she experienced many failures, then came up with a clear and specific vegetable production process. However, her path to growing clean vegetables encountered difficulties in terms of output.

Ms. Tu said: “I grow all kinds of vegetables on 5,000 ^square meters of land for easy sale. My customers are mainly friends. Now, what I need most is a market specializing in selling clean agricultural products. Only then will our products not be priced the same, and customers can easily find and buy safe agricultural products.”

To keep farmers engaged in safe production

According to the Director of the Center for Disease Control - Specialist Doctor II Huynh Huu Dung: "Most people are only concerned about acute poisoning when using agricultural products with pesticide residues, while chronic poisoning is also very dangerous. Specifically, long-term exposure to pesticides will affect our health, even to the next generation, such as causing nervous disorders, insomnia, and poor memory. In particular, women are prone to miscarriage, premature birth, birth defects in children, and increased risk of cancer."

Using agricultural products with pesticide residues is extremely dangerous. Only clean production can completely solve the problem of poisoning caused by using agricultural products with pesticide residues.

Former Deputy Director of the Agricultural Extension Center - Luong Le Dung commented: “Normally, we think that the most important step in clean production is production. However, reality confirms that consumers are the decisive factor. Therefore, all levels and sectors need to change their methods and support programs for both producers and consumers; at the same time, promote information and propaganda work on the dangers of using agricultural products with pesticide residues. Only then can we gradually form the habit of using safe agricultural products.”

Currently, Long An has more than 2,700 hectares of crops certified by VietGAP , with an output of 73,745 tons/year; nearly 400 hectares certified by GlobalGAP, with an output of 11,000 tons/year; more than 30 hectares of organic agriculture, with an output of 1,580 tons/year and 41 safe food supply chains. These are not small numbers. However, these numbers only show the scale of production. What about the data on economic efficiency achieved? So in many places today, the situation still exists: Those who need to sell, no one buys, those who need to buy do not know where to sell.

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Long An has over 2,700 hectares of crops certified by VietGAP.

Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment - Dinh Thi Phuong Khanh said: While waiting for consumer awareness to change, the industry continues to promote information and propaganda to make producers aware that they produce this product not to sell at a higher price but to protect their health and that of their families, especially that producing unsafe agricultural products is a violation of the law.

In the coming time, the industry will advise the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee to establish a specialized market selling clean food. Closely build a linkage model between "farmers - enterprises - State" to ensure stable output, create a true supply - demand environment for safe agricultural products, helping safe agricultural products not only become a "trend" but also become the standard of modern agriculture in the future.

Hopefully, with the solutions provided by the industry, combined with the awareness and responsibility of consumers and producers, clean and safe agricultural products will have a firm foothold in the market.

Thereby, improving income for producers, contributing to protecting consumer health . This is a sustainable and inevitable direction of green agriculture./.

Le Ngoc

Source: https://baolongan.vn/huong-di-nao-cho-nong-san-an-toan-khong-de-nong-dan-mot-minh-mot-cho-bai-2--a194768.html