Enhancing the competitiveness of agricultural products.

(Baonghean) - Commercial agricultural production is an inevitable trend in development aimed at increasing income per unit area. In the context of increasingly deep integration, especially the formation of the ASEAN common market, this will be a major challenge for Vietnamese agricultural products in general and Nghe An agricultural products in particular.

Potential to be unleashed

Yen Thanh is an agricultural district, with rice as its main product. In recent years, the district has shifted its focus to introducing high-yielding, high-quality varieties that are popular in the market, such as BC15, AC5, Bac Thom, and Huong Thom.

Besides producing commercial rice varieties on 3,000-4,000 hectares per season, the district also collaborates with other organizations to produce over 1,000 hectares of various rice seeds. Along with applying science and technology and introducing new, high-quality rice varieties into production, local authorities and farmers in the district have also proactively collaborated with several businesses to create production chains according to VietGAP standards, such as nearly 100 hectares of oranges and 500 tons of mushrooms per year.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Duong, Head of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of Yen Thanh district: “Currently, food production in Yen Thanh not only meets the needs of 290,000 people in the entire district but also has a surplus of half for commercial purposes and livestock farming. The district is actively improving product quality to increase production value…”

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Xuan Duong visits a model chili pepper cultivation farm for export in Nam Thanh commune.

Vinh Hoa Co., Ltd. - one of the businesses that collaborates with farmers to produce commercial rice - has linked production on more than 10,000 hectares in the districts of Yen Thanh, Do Luong, Hung Nguyen, Dien Chau, Nghi Loc, etc. The company contracts with groups, organizations, cooperatives, communes, or districts to transfer scientific and technical knowledge, supply seeds, provide loans for fertilizers, and guarantee the purchase of products from farmers. The AC5 rice variety, with the brand "Nghe An rice," is increasingly expanding its cultivation area and even its market.

Mr. Phan Van Hoa, the company's director, said: "Thanks to ensuring production processes, all products produced by farmers are purchased and guaranteed by the company. Thanks to the delicious quality of the rice, the AC5 rice brand – "Nghe An rice" – not only holds a firm position in the province's domestic market but has also expanded to the two major centers of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City." Mr. Hoa also said that besides AC5 rice, the herbal rice variety, cultivated on over 2,000 hectares, is also establishing its position in the market. However, effective agricultural linkage models like this are few and far between.

Over the years, localities in the province have created many specialized commodity farming areas such as peanuts, corn, tea, sugarcane, rubber, cassava, timber trees, etc., contributing to the supply of raw materials for processing industries serving domestic consumption and export, bringing high income. The total export value of goods in Nghe An in 2014 reached over 415 million USD, of which agricultural products accounted for about 50%, especially vegetables and fruits, which increased by over 86% compared to 2013.

Along with the aforementioned crops with potential and strengths, Nghe An also has vast areas of high-value fruit trees, with a total area of ​​oranges, tangerines, and lemons, including nearly 5,000 hectares of oranges. During peak season, Nghe An oranges dominate the consumer market within the province and reach many other provinces. Food production in the province reached over 1.2 million tons/year (2014), with the crop structure gradually shifting towards high-quality commercial varieties, accounting for about 20%. The livestock industry is also linked to the processing industry to create goods and enhance the product value chain…

Challenges

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Lap, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, while Nghe An's agricultural products are diverse and abundant, some are still fragmented. For example, only about 3,000-4,000 hectares of rubber plantations have been put into production; and although there are tens of thousands of hectares of sugarcane, the scale is still not large enough. In addition, the quality of processed agricultural products from local farmers is not high; for instance, rubber is only in the form of crepe, and tea and rice products are at an average level. Similarly, while the buffalo and cattle herds are large, they only meet the needs of small-scale consumers in markets and restaurants. Supplying supermarkets and trading floors has not yet been achieved because the meat yield of these breeds is lower than other breeds. Even Nghe An's peanuts, despite their high quality, are not yet well-processed...

From another perspective, Mr. Tran Quoc Thanh, Director of the Department of Science and Technology, believes that due to the small scale and weak linkages, the application of science and technology in production is not widespread, affecting the quality of products and resulting in a lack of high consistency.

On the other hand, quality control in terms of food safety and hygiene is inadequate. This makes brand building difficult, and even after a brand is established, protecting it becomes even more challenging because poor quality control makes it easy to be exploited for substandard products, leading to a loss of customer trust.

Due to the small scale of production and the lack of application of science and technology to improve quality and reduce costs, agricultural products in Nghe An often have high prices and weak price competitiveness, making them difficult to sell. Meanwhile, in some countries, large-scale farms have created unique products, ensuring a closed production process from selecting good seeds to planting or raising livestock according to technical procedures. This results in products with consistent quality, and when processed, the quality remains consistent, building brand recognition and customer trust.

In fact, some agricultural products from other countries are now competing more favorably with Nghe An's agricultural products in the domestic market, such as Thai mangoes, American grapes, and Australian beef. On the other hand, Nghe An's agricultural products are still mainly produced seasonally, so there are times of mass production, but when needed, they are unavailable.

Tea harvesting in Thanh Chuong.

Efforts to enhance value

According to Mr. Ho Ngoc Sy, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nghe An is still primarily an agricultural province. Given the increasingly deep integration, especially with the establishment of a common market by ASEAN at the end of this year, while creating favorable conditions for agricultural products in the province to expand their markets in the region, they will also face competitive pressure from imported goods from ASEAN countries. If we do not take more decisive and careful measures, Nghe An's agricultural products could easily "lose on home ground," let alone in foreign markets.

To enable Nghe An's agricultural products to compete in the export and processing markets, the province first needs to review and reassess the planning of key products, especially those crops and livestock that can be processed. Production planning must be linked to processing planning to avoid a situation where raw material areas are scarce while there are many factories. This can lead to competition in buying and selling, affecting product supply to the market due to a shortage of raw materials in some businesses and factories, damaging the reputation of businesses, and diminishing the competitiveness of products at certain times.

On the one hand, it is also necessary to reassess the province's agricultural, forestry, and fisheries processing system for each specific product, including processing capacity, product consumption, especially processing technology, in order to develop specific measures to ensure diversification, improve quality, and facilitate product consumption.

Another important solution is to continue transferring scientific and technological knowledge and applying high technology to agricultural production, paying attention to ensuring that the production process improves productivity and quality according to international food safety and hygiene standards; thereby increasing the value of products, lowering costs, and contributing to increased value and production efficiency.

Along with the above solutions, there is a need for a strong transformation in the form of production organization towards joint ventures and linkages through enterprises, cooperatives, and production groups, forming large-scale specialized commodity production areas in agriculture, creating agricultural products with uniform quality. The "four-party" linkage should be promoted, with the State playing a guiding role to ensure that scientists, businesses, and farmers follow a common direction.

Farmers must demonstrate responsibility in adhering to production processes, and especially need to be loyal to businesses. Besides immediate benefits, they must also consider long-term and sustainable advantages to adapt to a market-based economy. Producers must build consumer trust through the quality of their products. Quality control includes controlling imported goods, combating the influx of low-quality, cheap goods through smuggling. Emphasis should be placed on building and developing brands for agricultural products. Implementing these solutions in a coordinated manner, with responsible cooperation and effort from many parties, is a crucial foundation for enhancing the competitiveness of Nghe An's agricultural products and contributing to the sustainable development of the province's agriculture.

Minh Chi