Restoring production in designated growing areas.

The registration of planting area codes is attracting increasing attention from farmers in the province. Therefore, along with restoring production after the storm, many households are actively applying regulations to maintain and expand the production area granted with a planting area code.

The Dong Trieu City Agricultural Technical Service Center, in coordination with the Provincial Crop Production and Plant Protection Sub-Department (Department of Agriculture and Rural Development), inspected fields and guided farmers on production methods in accordance with regulations. *Photo: Ngo Hung - Contributor*

The issuance of planting area codes for production areas and packaging facilities in the province has been implemented since 2019. At that time, the entire province had 14 planting areas and 5 packaging facilities for longan, lychee, dragon fruit, etc., that were granted codes by China, meeting the requirements for export to this market. These included 7 lychee growing areas in Dong Trieu City and Uong Bi City; and 4 dragon fruit growing areas in Mong Cai City and Uong Bi City. There are 3 longan growing areas in Dong Trieu City. From the end of 2019 to the end of 2022, the issuance of planting area codes in the province was almost at a standstill. Besides the fact that many planting areas did not meet the area criteria, the main reason was the indifference of farmers and businesses, who had not changed their mindset in production to obtain planting area codes. Meanwhile, some countries such as the United States, Australia, and China require Vietnamese fruit to have planting area codes before it can be exported to their countries. In particular, according to Chinese regulations, imported fresh fruit must have traceability information, and the competent authority of the exporting country must provide information on planting area codes and fresh fruit packaging facilities to the competent authority of China.

In response to the urgent need for planting area codes, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of the province has been supporting and guiding people, cooperatives, and businesses to accelerate the establishment and development of planting area codes and packaging facility codes for some of the province's key crops and products. Understanding the benefits of obtaining codes—no registration fees, only the need to meet criteria regarding area, food safety, pest control, etc.—the area of planting areas granted codes throughout the province has increased rapidly.

To date, the province has issued 66 planting area codes covering a total area of over 1,532 hectares (including 46 codes for export and 20 codes for domestic consumption). All planting area codes are updated on the agricultural data software of the Department of Crop Production and the Department of Plant Protection ( Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development ). However, due to the impact of Typhoon No. 3, most facilities suffered significant damage. Alongside restoring production to meet year-end market demands, farmers have also strictly adhered to the production regulations of the facilities granted planting area codes.

Typically, custard apple growers in Viet Dan commune (Dong Trieu city), whose orchards were damaged by the storm, have replanted with new varieties to rejuvenate the aging trees. Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuan (Tan Thanh village, Viet Dan commune, Dong Trieu city) shared: "The care and improvement of the custard apple orchard continues to be carried out by my family according to VietGAP procedures, with cultivation methods that ensure food safety and hygiene and protect the environment. All actions on the plants such as pruning, care, fertilization, and spraying are fully and clearly recorded."

The integrated farm for breeding and growing phalaenopsis orchids (Le Loi commune, Ha Long city) is actively restoring production to meet the year-end market demand.

At the 2,500m2 greenhouse of Truong Thanh Integrated Farm for Orchid Cultivation and Breeding (Le Loi Commune, Ha Long City), production restoration has been actively implemented. Mr. Nguyen Danh Thuyen (owner of Truong Thanh Integrated Farm for Orchid Cultivation and Breeding, Le Loi Commune, Ha Long City) stated: To maintain the farm's cultivation area code, the farm has just restored nearly 2,000m2 of greenhouse damaged by the storm to cultivate over 500,000 orchid plants for the year-end market, strictly following the guidance of relevant authorities to ensure compliance with rigorous quality standards.

To date, most concentrated production areas and coded planting areas have basically resumed stable operations. To compensate for the reduced output, households have also increased their cultivated area.

Recognizing that assigning codes to agricultural production areas is essential for agriculture to integrate into the digital economy , affirm quality and value in the domestic market, and serve as a "passport" to foreign markets, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development continues to strengthen quality control of assigned production areas; review typical agricultural production models for key products of the province and localities to maintain, develop, and replicate them as a basis for digital transformation; implement guidelines on criteria for traceability of key agricultural products; and guide localities in implementing regulations, required documents, and steps for assigning codes to production areas and packaging facilities in accordance with regulations. At the same time, the Department will continue to cooperate with OTAS GLOBAL Joint Stock Company to maintain data standardization of production areas using the OTAS method for early-ripening lychee, cinnamon, star anise, and guava growing areas. All data from growing areas is standardized and updated to the OTAS system using cloud computing technology to facilitate traceability and information verification 24/7, in order to meet export standards.

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