Promoting the potential and strengths of local products through cooperatives

Members of Binh Son Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative (Trieu Son) participate in caring for and harvesting tea.

For generations, the Thai ethnic people in Quang Chieu commune (Muong Lat) have only been familiar with the farming methods of digging holes, dropping seeds, growing corn, growing cassava... And Cay Noi sticky rice is also one of the traditional crops closely associated with the lives of the people here. According to Ms. Luong Thi Nong, Director of Chung Thanh Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative (Muong Lat), in the past, local farmers only grew Cay Noi sticky rice in a fragmented, small-scale, self-sufficient way to serve the needs of eating and drinking or for holidays and Tet, so the planting area was only a few dozen hectares. Therefore, prices were unstable, crops were prone to pests and diseases, and productivity was not high. However, now, that rice has taken on the OCOP brand, known to many consumers in and outside the province.

Realizing that Cay Noi sticky rice can create a breakthrough in agricultural production, opening up a production direction according to VietGAP standards, and at the same time being able to build a chain from production to product consumption, contributing to shifting the agricultural economic structure towards commodity production, improving productivity and quality of agricultural products, contributing to promoting socio-economic development, and increasing income for rice growers. Therefore, Chung Thanh Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative was established to act as a bridge to consume products for the people. Up to now, the Cooperative has cooperated with households in Quang Chieu commune to produce Cay Noi sticky rice according to the OCOP Program. Households participating in the model are supported by the Cooperative with techniques, fertilizers and help to consume products at stable prices.

Ms. Luong Thi Nong, Director of Chung Thanh Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative, said: To increase the value of Cay Noi sticky rice, the Cooperative is building a "Model of a chain linking production, processing and consumption of safe Cay Noi rice products". This is an important basis to help Cay Noi sticky rice from a local specialty become an OCOP product with high economic value, a wide consumption market and a more stable selling price. Thereby, it is possible to overcome the situation of "good harvest, low price".

Evaluating the Cay Noi sticky rice production model in the locality, Mr. Tran Van Thang, Head of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Muong Lat district, said that the coordination between the district's Agricultural Service Center and Chung Thanh Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative to implement the Cay Noi sticky rice OCOP production model has created a breakthrough in the district's agricultural production. The model also contributes to shifting the agricultural economic structure towards commodity production, improving productivity and quality of agricultural products, opening up opportunities for local OCOP products to expand their consumption markets.

In practice, besides investing in developing new products, many cooperatives are interested in investing in building brands and labels for traditional products, thereby promoting the potential and strengths of local products, contributing to increasing product value and promoting socio-economic development.

Typically, tea trees have been grown in Binh Son (Trieu Son) for nearly 30 years. Previously, tea trees were only produced by people on a small scale, fragmented, and tea drying technology was mainly done manually. Since 2016, realizing the potential and strengths of tea trees, Binh Son Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative has joined hands with tea growing households to participate in concentrated production, with a total area of more than 30 hectares. Since its establishment, Binh Son Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative has participated in the production process and successfully built the OCOP product of Binh Son tea. Currently, the consumption output of the Cooperative reaches 45 tons of dry tea/year along with many other products, with a profit of more than 100 million VND/year, helping many households increase their income thanks to tea trees.

Or the Haca Green Agricultural Cooperative (Nghi Son town) achieved 4-star OCOP certifications with products such as dried cordyceps, whole cordyceps, and cordyceps capsules. In addition, the cooperative has promoted products and sold online on digital platforms. Meanwhile, the Yen Lac Agricultural Service Cooperative (Nhu Thanh) has successfully built a model of producing Yen Lac vermicelli, which has now been recognized as a 3-star OCOP product...

According to statistics, Thanh Hoa province currently has more than 800 cooperatives operating in the agricultural sector, of which nearly 490 cooperatives participate in sustainable linkages, accounting for 65.42% of the total number of agricultural cooperatives in the province; nearly 300 agricultural cooperatives apply high technology in production; 35 agricultural cooperatives participate in production with dozens of OCOP products recognized and ranked...

In the coming time, with the goal of developing, consolidating and improving the operational efficiency of agricultural cooperatives in Thanh Hoa province in the direction of sustainable development, application of science - technology, innovation and digital transformation, in addition to the attention, companionship and support from the government and mass organizations, it is necessary to have the efforts and initiative of the people themselves in innovating production activities, diversifying typical products, grasping market demand...

Article and photos: Xuan Minh

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/phat-huy-tiem-nang-the-manh-san-pham-dia-phuong-thong-qua-htx-248903.htm