'Ho Chi Minh City Clean Agricultural Products': Building a green - clean - sustainable agricultural product chain

Ho Chi Minh City is promoting the production of clean agricultural products, applying high technology, forming a safe supply chain, meeting market needs, and aiming for export.

Sharing at the seminar "Production and consumption of clean agricultural products in Ho Chi Minh City" on November 11, Mr. Truong Thanh Quang, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Farmers' Association, emphasized that food safety is not only directly related to people's health, but is also a key factor affecting the city's socio -economic development.

Mr. Truong Thanh Quang, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Farmers' Association, said that the Association at all levels has regularly coordinated with departments, branches, and specialized offices in propaganda, mobilization, supervision, and inspection of food safety. Photo: Nguyen Thuy.

Nearly 10,000 hectares of specialized areas

With a population of over 14 million, the demand for food in Ho Chi Minh City after the merger is up to 10,000 tons per day. However, 70% of vegetables and 60% of meat must be imported from neighboring provinces. Therefore, proactively sourcing clean agricultural products with clear traceability is a strategic, long-term task.

According to Mr. Truong Thanh Quang, in the face of shrinking agricultural land, Ho Chi Minh City is shifting strongly to modern urban agriculture, applying high technology, focusing on valuable products such as safe vegetables, ornamental flowers, dairy cows, and seafood. Currently, the city has nearly 10,000 hectares of specialized areas, with an estimated output of 400,000 tons/year.

Every day, the city supplies more than 700 tons of livestock meat, 200 tons of poultry meat, and 2 million eggs to the market, but still needs to increase the self-sufficiency rate, especially for fresh foods.

Mr. Truong Thanh Quang said that the whole city currently maintains over 1,500 clean, organic, VietGAP, GlobalGAP and OCOP production models.

In addition, the Association actively connects production with consumption, helping farmers bring products to the supermarket and convenience store system. Typical examples include Tan My Cooperative, which supplies more than 1,000 tons of grapefruit per year to the Co.opmart system; Kim Long Cooperative, which consumes 2,500 tons of melon per year through retail channels; and Tuan Ngoc Cooperative, which supplies over 200 tons of hydroponic vegetables to the market each year.

Many successful farmers have exported agricultural products to international markets. For example, Mr. Nguyen Hong Quyet exports more than 40 tons of melons per month to Singapore and 50 tons per month to Japan; Mr. Le Minh Sang exports 300 tons of green-skinned grapefruit to the Netherlands each year; Mr. Nguyen Hoang Trong Hieu exports fresh guava to the Middle East; Ms. Pham Thi Thao signed a contract to export 36 tons of honey to South Korea in November 2025.

Tuan Ngoc Agricultural Cooperative (Long Truong Ward) supplies over 200 tons of various types of hydroponic vegetables to the market each year. In particular, the Cooperative has stable product supply contracts with over 20 partners inside and outside the city. Photo: Nguyen Thuy.

Need synchronous and effective support

However, clean agriculture in Ho Chi Minh City is still fragmented and small-scale, with less than 20% of the area meeting VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards. Production costs are high, while the market does not clearly distinguish between clean and normal products, making farmers hesitant to invest long-term.

Difficulties also come from lack of land, capital, technology and distribution infrastructure, while the multi-layered logistics system increases costs and reduces profits. In addition, some farmers still abuse chemicals for profit, affecting the overall reputation of clean agricultural products in the city.

At the seminar, representatives of cooperatives, enterprises and farmers suggested that there should be synchronous and proactive support from state agencies to develop clean, high-tech agriculture. Specifically, it is necessary to improve the land mechanism, create a stable ground and a reasonable mortgage loan mechanism, large enough to invest in high-tech production on limited land area.

At the same time, support on export documents, quality inspection, VietGAP and organic certification to expand domestic and international markets, reduce investment costs for cooperatives and small and medium enterprises.

Agencies need to strengthen inspection, supervision and coordination between localities to ensure the quality of agricultural inputs, support sustainable supply chain linkages, synchronize outputs and traceability systems. Along with that, it is necessary to promote communication, promotion and create concentrated points of sale in the supermarket system, helping consumers clearly identify the origin and trust the products.

Mr. Vo Thanh Giau, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Ho Chi Minh City, spoke at the seminar. Photo: Nguyen Thuy.

Modern, ecological urban agriculture

Mr. Vo Thanh Giau, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Ho Chi Minh City, said that in the context of rapid urbanization and expansion of administrative boundaries after the merger, the agricultural sector of Ho Chi Minh City is strongly shifting, developing according to a modern, ecological, high-tech and sustainable urban model.

Building clean and safe agricultural production areas not only ensures food security for people but also improves the quality of life and promotes multi-value agricultural economy. The common goal is to build multi-functional and multi-value agriculture, aiming for high-quality, safe and sustainable agricultural products.

Ho Chi Minh City is shifting from agricultural production thinking to agricultural economy, focusing on developing key products towards high technology, digital, organic, circular agriculture and combining educational tourism .

In particular, the city's agricultural sector will focus on improving production quality: applying mechanization, high technology, expanding organic, circular, and smart agriculture; supporting VietGAP, organic, and HACCP certification for cooperatives and cooperative groups.

Science and technology and digital transformation: applying advanced processes, developing new varieties, deploying a synchronous agricultural data system; implementing traceability using QR code/blockchain, connecting to the National Information Portal.

Developing cooperative economy: improving the efficiency of cooperatives, increasing the proportion of high-tech cooperatives, supporting production and consumption links between farmers, cooperatives and enterprises, forming value chains.

Capital and market support: investment stimulus policies, trade promotion, supply-demand connection, bringing OCOP products to supermarket systems and stores; training highly qualified young workers to work at cooperatives with a salary support of 1.5 times the regional minimum.

Irrigation infrastructure and climate change response: ensure 100% of crop area is supplied with water, upgrade intra-field traffic, build hydrological stations for early warning of natural disasters, flooding, and saltwater intrusion; convert appropriate crop and livestock structures, apply VietGAP, organic, and high-tech standards, improve productivity and quality.

According to Mr. Giau, these orientations and solutions will help Ho Chi Minh City build a modern, safe, and sustainable agriculture, meeting the increasing demands of consumers and export markets.

Seminar on “Production and consumption of clean agricultural products in Ho Chi Minh City” with the participation of departments, branches, cooperatives, businesses and farmers in the city. Photo: Nguyen Thuy.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Trung, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Farmers' Association, said that this was the first connection session after the merger of Ho Chi Minh City, opening up opportunities for effective cooperation between departments, branches, businesses and farmers, especially in the development of clean agricultural products.

In particular, the program “Accompanying clean and safe agricultural products in Ho Chi Minh City in the period of 2025-2030” was built to ensure the supply of safe agricultural products and food, while raising awareness of food safety, supporting farmers, cooperatives, and businesses to develop sustainable production. This is also a solution to contribute to the implementation of the new rural program and the development of modern urban agriculture.

The program aims to increase the proportion of agricultural products produced according to VietGAP, GlobalGAP and organic standards throughout Ho Chi Minh City. At the same time, it aims to build production and consumption chains for safe agricultural products with traceability, helping consumers easily access quality products. The program also aims to support knowledge, technology and capital for clean agricultural models, creating conditions for farmers to develop effectively.

To achieve this, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Trung said, synchronous coordination is needed: state agencies create and support; businesses coordinate; farmers and Farmers' Associations fulfill their responsibilities and commit to quality.

On this occasion, the Ho Chi Minh City Farmers' Association awarded certificates of merit to 12 individuals with outstanding achievements in implementing Resolution No. 14-NQ/HNDTW. Photo: Nguyen Thuy.

After the conference, the Farmers' Association will form working groups with clear assignments to address each issue, from capital, support policies, quality control to communication and trade promotion. The programs will be completed and included in the next term's resolution, with a 5-year roadmap.

"This is not only an action program but also a political commitment, demonstrating the Association's responsibility to farmers and consumers. Today's enthusiastic and practical opinions will be the basis for the Ho Chi Minh City Farmers' Association to complete a detailed plan, soon bringing the program "Accompanying clean agricultural products" into life. From there, clean agricultural products in Ho Chi Minh City will be truly transparent, protected and widely communicated, ensuring reputation and community health, contributing to building a modern - civilized - sustainable agriculture, for people's health in the new era", said Mr. Nguyen Thanh Trung.

Source: https://nongnghiepmoitruong.vn/nong-san-sach-tphcm-xay-dung-chuoi-nong-san-xanh--sach--ben-vung-d783592.html