In recent years, citrus fruit production in the province has received investment and been developed quite uniformly, continuously grown in terms of area, yield and value. However, the development has been spontaneous and in need of a sustainable growth.
A grapefruit VietGAP cultivation model of Tan My fruit trees cooperative (North Tan Uyen District) gains high economic efficiency.
In need of long-term commitment
The province's agricultural production has had good changes, high-tech applications in increasingly developed production. The economic structure is shifting towards agriculture applied advanced technologies, organic agriculture, production of high-value and high-efficiency goods with food safety assurance...
Total citrus tree area in the region is 3,800 hectares, which accounts for over 53% of provincial fruit tree area, up 11.26% over the year 2018; The estimated yield is over 33,000 hectares, up close to 5% over 2018. North Tan Uyen District is the key growing area of citrus fruit trees with an estimated area of over 2,300 hectares. Many citrus areas bring high earnings from VND800 million-1 billion/ha/year. In addition, the area of citrus tree production establishments with VietGAP certification is about 250 hectares, mainly North Tan Uyen District with 180 ha. Some products have recognized brand name, such as Bach Dang pomelo, North Tan Uyen orange, North Tan Uyen pomelo, North Tan Uyen tangerine.
In order to encourage farmers to develop fruit trees in general and citrus fruits in particular, the province has a number of preferential policies to encourage the cultivation, such as support for the retention and development of specialty orchards in the province; support in the application of good agricultural production processes; promotion of agricultural development in the direction of urban agriculture - high-tech agriculture by preferential loans to help farmers invest in intensive cultivation and expansion of production area.
However, the development has been spontaneous and in need of a sustainable strategy. The reason is that the people have not focused on intensive cultivation and applying the correct technical processes in planting, caring, harvesting and consuming, thus the quality is not uniform. According to Assoc. Prof., Dr. Le Trung Thien, Head of Food Engineering Department, Faculty of Food Technology, HCMC University of Agriculture and Forestry, the number of production areas meeting standards is less; The trade promotion, finding consuming markets for products is limited, mainly depend on middlemen; have not formed a sustainable distribution channel through long-term contracts with supermarkets and potential enterprises...
Doan Minh Chien, owner of Minh Chien Farm (Tan Tien commune, North Tan Uyen District), said the cultivation of fruit trees still faced some difficulties due to small production, application of scientific technological advances in cultivation. In particular, the output is unstable, consumption market has not been expanded. To solve this problem, he said that it is necessary to determine a concentrated production area having unity in state management of the quality of seedlings and product consumption.
Sustainable development solutions
In the coming time, the citrus tree area could exceed the provincial planning, due to a number of spontaneous growers. Therefore, in order to sustainably develop citrus fruits according to a synchronous value chain, Nguyen Minh Tam, Head of provincial Plantation and Plant Protection branch office, said in the coming time, agricultural industry would continue the performance of some solutions. Namely, this industry will strengthen direction and implement the planning, approved plans, focus on the development of centralized production areas, large goods; monitor, evaluate, select appropriate, effective fruit trees for each region. In particular, the agriculture industry prioritizes varieties of specialty citrus fruits, branded fruits that have high competitive advantage. Meanwhile, the industry continues to implement policies to support the production of citrus trees according to VietGAP standards; offer recommendation, advice about organic production, improve the quality, value of products, build sustainable citrus tree growing areas, safe and friendly to the environment.
In addition, the agriculture industry in the province will enhance the production of citrus trees in chains with a connection from production to consumption through the formation of cooperatives groups, cooperatives in order to attract farmers, especially new types of cooperative with a linking role to guarantee traceability, the connection with purchasing and consuming businesses; building collective brand names, trademarks of citrus fruit products according to VietGAP, organic standards; carry out further researches, proposals, and implement policies supporting citrus fruit tree development, especially to propose policies encouraging the formation of chains for product consumption; Mobilize and maximize investment resources, integrate the relevant programs and guidelines, and assist organizations and individuals in access to support policies in the best way.
Reported by Thoai Phuong - Translated by Ngoc Huynh
