Building a stable raw material area for OCOP products

Soursop is currently one of the main fruit trees in Nga Nam area. In the past 3 years, many products processed from soursop trees have brought significant economic benefits to local people. Currently, the area of soursop in the whole town is about 290 hectares, mainly grown in Vinh Quoi commune and scattered in Tan Long commune and Ward 2. Compared to other fruit trees, soursop is easy to grow, requires little care, adapts well to low-lying, acidic soil and gives high yield. From this advantage, many households have boldly converted to farming, focusing on growing soursop and producing products from soursop trees. In particular, soursop tea has become a typical local product.

Nga Nam Town ( Soc Trang ) has a large soursop growing area to meet the demand for producing OCOP products such as soursop. Photo: XUAN THANH

Mr. Le Van Vui - Director of Vinh Kien Soursop Cooperative said that in 2016, the cooperative was established with 29 members, planting soursop trees on an area of 14 hectares. At that time, because soursop was mainly consumed in fresh form, it often encountered the situation of "good harvest, low price". Finding a way to "overcome difficulties", the cooperative experimented with processing soursop tea products. The successful launch of soursop tea products brought excitement to the cooperative members.

“In 2017, with support from projects of the Central Government and the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance, our cooperative started producing soursop tea from fresh soursop. Thanks to the application of science and technology, equipping machinery and equipment in the production of soursop tea products. In 2020, Vinh Kien soursop tea was ranked 3-star OCOP at the provincial level. Currently, the product has been consumed in stores, businesses, and supermarkets across the country. The cooperative is also maintaining the production and supply of fresh soursop to the market. The average annual fruit output reaches more than 15 tons/ha" - Director of Vinh Kien Soursop Cooperative shared.

Comrade Vo Minh Nghi - Vice Chairman of Vinh Quoi Commune People's Committee said that Vinh Kien Soursop Cooperative is the first unit in Nga Nam to build a soursop production area and create a soursop tea product that meets 3-star OCOP standards. From building a concentrated, specialized growing area, boldly investing in machinery and equipment, fresh fruit and soursop tea products are both of high quality, helping the cooperative to "do more and more well". In Vinh Quoi Commune, there is also Kien Hoa Soursop Cooperative with a cultivation area of nearly 50 hectares, specializing in providing fresh fruit to the market. In the cooperative, there are members who have opened businesses and invested in modern machinery and equipment to process products from soursop. In 2020, the soursop tea product of Ngoc Tran business household of Kien Hoa Soursop Cooperative was ranked 3-star OCOP at the provincial level. This facility also successfully produces many products from soursop such as soursop tea, soursop jam, and soursop wine, which are widely consumed in the market inside and outside the province.

In the past 3 years, the area of soursop growing in Vinh Quoi has expanded, some hamlets such as Vinh Hoa, Vinh Dong, people have converted to growing soursop effectively, providing abundant supply to the market. To ensure stable production, cooperatives also cooperate with households growing soursop in the area to create connections, forming raw material areas according to standards for sustainable production, supplying large quantities of products according to market demand.

Ngoc Hanh plum jam product meets 3-star OCOP provincial standard. Photo: XUAN THANH

In 2021, plum jam products of Ngoc Hanh plum jam business received a 3-star OCOP certificate at the provincial level. By 2022, from fresh plums, the facility produced more plum jam products and was recognized as a 3-star OCOP at the provincial level. According to Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Hanh, the business owner, each year the facility sells more than 300kg of each product to the market. Previously, fresh plums were mainly purchased in Xuan Hoa commune, Ke Sach district, but in the past 2 years, many households in the commune have grown white plum trees - the raw material for making plum jam products, so purchasing is more convenient, reducing costs, especially near Tet, when demand is high, due to a stable source of fresh fruit, the products are always timely, meeting customer needs.

One-wind shrimp of Hung Phu Aquatic Products Cooperative in An Thanh Nam commune is considered one of the specialties of Cu Lao Dung district. In 2019, this product achieved 4-star OCOP. To preserve and develop the brand, the cooperative has built a production process to ensure food safety, use clean shrimp raw materials, raise according to ASC international standards, invest in a drying system, register trademarks and labels for the product.

Mr. Tran Quang Can - Director of Hung Phu Aquatic Products Cooperative said that the cooperative specializes in supplying fresh shrimp to export purchasing companies, in addition to expanding the production of one-wind shrimp products to create new, unique products. The cooperative currently has 12 members and 89 associate members, with 115 hectares of shrimp farming area according to ASC standards. To ensure a stable source of raw materials during the production and processing of products, the cooperative also expands the purchase of raw shrimp from neighboring farming households, contributing to expanding and building a stable raw material area.

It can be said that the OCOP Program has aroused the potential and strengths of localities, transforming the scale of production towards value chain linkage. Soc Trang currently has 263 OCOP products with 1 potential 5-star OCOP product, 26 4-star products and 236 3-star products of 150 entities. However, the number of products that have built sustainable raw material areas is still limited. Therefore, to sustainably develop OCOP products, the formation of raw material areas will help entities and localities to be proactive in production planning and control raw material sources and product quality.

SPRING YOUTH

Source: https://baosoctrang.org.vn/kinh-te/202505/xay-dung-vung-nguyen-lieu-on-dinh-cho-san-pham-ocop-87357be/