Enhance the value of fruit products

In recent times, the provincial and local agricultural sectors have implemented many solutions to improve fruit quality, gradually solving output and price problems, thereby contributing to increasing income for gardeners.

Durian is officially exported, its value has doubled or tripled compared to before. Photo: D.KHÁNH

As a large agricultural production area of the province, with an area of over 35,000 hectares, of which the area of fruit trees accounts for nearly 1/3. The annual output is over 180,000 tons of all kinds, however, most of the fruit products of Phung Hiep district are sold in raw form or consumed domestically, so the value is not high. Therefore, to increase the value of this agricultural product, in recent times, Phung Hiep district has implemented many synchronous solutions to improve the value of the fruit industry.

In addition to traditional crop varieties, when the Sustainable Agriculture Project associated with tourism development was implemented, Phung Hiep district also focused on developing new crop varieties with high economic value. Currently, in addition to MD2 pineapple, localities in the district also focus on developing Cat Loc mango trees. This is a hybrid mango variety with delicious quality equivalent to Hoa Loc mango, but the advantage is that it has a long preservation time suitable for export.

A year ago, with the encouragement of the local government, Mr. Pham Ngoc Thuan, in Hoa An commune, Phung Hiep district, boldly converted nearly 1 hectare of seedless lemon to grow Cat Loc mango and received investment in seeds, fertilizers and output from Loc Troi Group. Mr. Thuan said: "After providing seedlings, Loc Troi Group also regularly sent technical staff down to guide on how to care for the trees, so the trees, which were planted more than 10 months ago, grew very quickly."

If in the past, Phung Hiep district focused on developing some main fruits such as oranges, tangerines, grapefruits, Taiwanese mangoes, now depending on the conditions of each area, farmers in the district have diversified new crop varieties with high economic value such as durian, mangosteen, Thai custard apple, rambutan, golden star apple... Mr. Nguyen Van Can, in Hoa My commune, Phung Hiep district, said: "Previously, my family grew oranges, but the selling price was unstable, so 2 years ago, we converted the entire land area of nearly 1 hectare to grow 900 Thai custard apple trees. This is an agricultural product that bears fruit almost all year round, with a stable selling price of 25,000-30,000 VND/kg, so we have income every month, from which the family economy has improved."

In parallel with the application of new plant varieties, in recent times, localities in the province have also linked with companies and businesses to organize field seminars and share experiences in fruit tree cultivation. Typically, durian is an agricultural product with high economic value, so it requires quite complicated cultivation techniques. Therefore, in recent years, industries and localities have combined durian growers to organize tours and share cultivation experiences. At the same time, they have linked with fertilizer companies to supply quality products and provide free technical advice to gardeners. Thanks to that, the durian productivity of gardeners has increased significantly.

Mr. Tran Ngoc Em, in Hiep Hung commune, Phung Hiep district, said: "Thanks to training in cultivation techniques, durian growers here have improved productivity and product quality. During the production process, people also know how to distinguish unnecessary fertilizers and pesticides to both reduce costs and ensure consumer safety."

In addition to zoning production areas and selecting suitable crops, the work of promoting the expansion of agricultural product consumption markets is also of interest. In particular, the establishment of growing area codes to help agricultural products qualify for export. In the first 6 months of this year, the total area of fruit trees in the province was 45,472 hectares, an increase of 842 hectares over the same period, reaching 99.3% of the yearly plan. Of which, citrus trees were 12,341 hectares, mangoes 2,907 hectares, jackfruit 9,972 hectares, custard apples 692 hectares, pineapples 3,103 hectares, durians 2,296 hectares, and other fruit trees 14,161 hectares. The provincial agricultural sector has increased support for farmers to apply science and technology, prevent pests and diseases to increase productivity and quality. Many fruit growing areas of the province have been certified to meet GlobalGAP standards, with 117 growing areas being granted codes with an area of 1,860.7 hectares, with 2,177 households, and an output of 32,466 tons.

Mr. Le Van Sau, in Tan Binh commune, Phung Hiep district, said: "Before durian could not be exported, its value was not high. But in the past two years, durian exports have been strong, and the selling price has doubled. Previously, each kilogram of durian sold at the garden was only 30,000 VND/kg, but recently there was a time when it exceeded 100,000 VND/kg."

According to the provincial agricultural sector, an open export market is a condition for agricultural products to go far. However, to meet export requirements, the quality of agricultural products also requires increasing improvement. Therefore, this year the province continues to build and upgrade agricultural production models applying high technology on crops. Combined with training activities, coaching, technical advice on plant care management, disease prevention, and improving production capacity to create conditions for the development of concentrated production areas and linking agricultural product consumption.

Mr. Tran Van Tuan, Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Phung Hiep district, said: The models implemented this year are spread across crops and livestock that are strengths of each locality. Investments and support in 2023 revolve around improving farming techniques, production processes, certifications of VietGAP, GlobalGAP, biosafety and organic production to create quality agricultural products to meet the needs of businesses and export markets.

In the coming orientation, the provincial agricultural sector will continue to accelerate the restructuring of agriculture and rural economy towards building and forming specialized production areas with large and stable commodity output, on the basis of promoting the natural advantages of each type of crop and livestock, linking production organization and consumption of agricultural products according to value; enhancing technology transfer, building production processes for key agricultural products. Focus on building specialized areas for the province's key specialty fruit trees, in which building models according to VietGAP standards accounts for over 10% of the province's fruit tree area of 45,000 hectares, with an output of 500,000 tons.

T.TRUC - D.KHÁNH

Source