Some localities have difficulty in choosing OCOP products.

Increase people's income

Nam Anh Communeis a famous fertile land in Nam Dan district. This place is endowed by nature with a cool climate, fertile and rich soil. Taking advantage of these advantages, the commune has a very diverse and rich crop structure with many types of flowers, fruit trees, medicinal herbs, etc.

Dai Hue Green Agriculture Cooperative, Nam Anh Commune, Nam Dan District packages products to bring to market. Photo: Quang An

Implementing the One Commune One Product program, Nam Anh commune has mobilized and encouraged cooperatives and households to participate in developing local specialty products and achieved many results. Up to now, the whole commune has had 11 OCOP products, ranked among the top in the district, the products are of high quality and well received by the market.

Dai Hue Green Agriculture Cooperative in Nam Anh commune has 8 members. Previously, the members were engaged in agricultural production alone, with low economic value. However, implementing the OCOP program, the members have joined together to produce and connect to consume products. With thorough and dedicated investment, the Cooperative now has 7 products that have achieved 3-star OCOP certification.

Mr. Tran Dinh Son - Director of Dai Hue Green Cooperative said: "The OCOP program has motivated us to invest in machinery, human resources, and produce products that meet the prescribed standards to bring to the market. Since the products have been OCOP certified, the output has also been guaranteed when many customers from all over the provinces and cities have contacted us, and the income of members has also increased. Currently, in addition to the cassava raw materials available locally, we have to import more raw materials from other localities to meet the needs of customers. In addition, the cooperative also has to hire more outside workers to ensure progress."

OCOP products in Nam Anh commune are diverse and rich. Photo: Quang An

Dien Ngoc Commune is a locality with strengths in seafood fishing in Dien Chau district, of which shrimp is a typical product. In 2021, shrimp products were recognized as 3-star OCOP, thereby significantly increasing the value of the product.

Mr. Le Minh Tuan, representative of the shrimp production team in the commune, said: "Since being recognized as OCOP, shrimp products have been contacted and ordered by a number of supermarkets and restaurants. The number of customers is not only in the province but also expanded to many other provinces and cities. The price has also increased compared to the time before being recognized. That is also the motivation for us to strive to meet the market's demand. If in the past we only produced 1.5 - 2 tons/month because of concerns about the output not being guaranteed, now we produce an average of 2 - 3 tons of shrimp per month and they are all consumed quite well."

Peeled shrimp is the only OCOP product in Dien Ngoc commune, Dien Chau district. Photo: Quang An

Since the beginning of the year, Nghe An has implemented the “One Commune One Product” (OCOP) Program in difficult conditions and challenges related to epidemics, weather, etc. However, localities, cooperatives, and production households have made efforts to overcome difficulties and achieved remarkable results.

Struggling to find OCOP products

In reality, while there are localities with natural strengths, abundant crops, livestock, or available production teams and craft villages, it is easy to choose OCOP products, on the contrary, many localities are still struggling to find typical products.

Nghe An's OCOP products are popular in the market. Photo: Quang An

Nghi Quang commune registered to reach the advanced NTM target in Nghi Loc district in 2022, accordingly, it must have an OCOP product, however, up to now, the locality has not been able to identify its product.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Thanh - Chairman of Nghi Quang Commune People's Committee said: "People in the commune mainly produce simple agriculture, there are no outstanding products, some agricultural land areas are left fallow due to lack of human resources, children work far away. Therefore, finding products to build OCOP is very difficult".

Similarly, in Dien An commune, Dien Chau district, the locality has not yet identified OCOP products to focus on building. The whole commune has over 300 hectares of agricultural land, of which 120 hectares are rice, the rest is fertile land with simple crops such as peanuts, corn, beans... without any outstanding features. Regarding livestock, the commune has strengths in raising chickens, but there is no brand, and the households raising and consuming have not yet linked to expand into typical products.

Nghe An provincial leaders introduce the province's OCOP products to foreign enterprises. Photo: Quang An

Discussing this issue, Mr. Nguyen Van Hang - Deputy Chief of the Provincial New Rural Area Coordination Office said: "In communes that do not have products and communes that register to reach the finish line every year, we prioritize supporting resources to orient and guide product selection and deploy models for construction. In addition, departments and districts need to promote propaganda and orientation for the people to understand the role of the One Commune One Product program, thereby joining hands with the commune authorities to build sustainable OCOP products for their localities."