Nghe An: Many solutions to manage the quality of agricultural, forestry and fishery products

Quality management and consumption of agricultural products during the epidemic season

Mr. Nguyen Van Ha, Head of the Department of Agricultural, Forestry and Fishery Product Quality Management of the province, shared: “The epidemic continues to affect the inspection and control of quality and food safety; the implementation of training on food safety knowledge, the implementation of good agricultural production and processing models VietGAP, HACCP, processing models... Agricultural trade activities such as conferences, networking forums, and fairs cannot be organized. Production, business and consumption of agricultural, forestry and fishery products also face many difficulties",...

While human resources, means, tools, equipment, and funding for the management of agricultural materials quality and food safety are limited, Nghe An is a province with a large area with many mountainous districts, remote areas; agricultural, forestry and fishery products are diverse, while production is mainly fragmented, manual, and small-scale; production and processing facilities have not paid attention to product designs, brands, and market development. In particular, a large number of consumers still have the habit of buying and selling food in the wrong places, and are greedy for cheap prices without really caring about quality.

Processing peanuts in Dien Chau district. Photo: Phu Huong

In parallel with organizing communication activities to contribute to raising awareness and consciousness of producers and traders as well as understanding and trust of consumers, this year, inspection and handling of violations continued to be carried out.Department of Agricultural, Forestry and Fishery Product Quality Managementattention. The unit has conducted 5 inspections at 72 agricultural, forestry and fishery production and trading establishments, sanctioning 14 establishments for violations. At the same time, it has assessed 189 agricultural, forestry and fishery production and trading establishments, and granted certificates of food safety eligibility to 83 establishments...

In particular, building safe production models and improving product quality is an issue of special concern. Many VietGAP production models have been implemented, such as the sweet eggplant growing model in Khe Ngau village, Tuong Duong district; the orange growing model at Cam Dong Thanh Cooperative, Yen Thanh; processing models according to HACCP standards, such as salt processing models, medicinal herb processing models; organizing training, guidance, supervision of production processes according to VietGAP, HACCP standards and transferring processing technology; supporting tables, labels, sample packaging, bottles, etc.

People harvest Vinh oranges at an orange farm in Yen Thanh. Photo: Tien Dong

Identifying that along with the production stage, processing and trading activities are also “hot” issues, playing an extremely important role in enhancing product value. From there, many trade promotion and market research activities have been organized and brought positive effects. Among them, the most prominent is the Connecting Forum.Vinh orange consumption, supporting agricultural products on e-commerce platforms, promoting the development of digital economy in agriculture and rural areas in Nghe An province. Cooperating with Postmart.vn of Vietnam Post Corporation andvoso.vnViettel Post Joint Stock Corporation and other legal e-commerce trading floors organize training courses on putting agricultural products on the floor.

Many fair activities have been organized, despite the difficulties caused by the pandemic, such as the Nghe An Agricultural Products Introduction Week in Hanoi, in coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to organize the Forum on connecting the consumption of agricultural products of the Central provinces in Nghe An. Nghe An also actively participated in online conferences on promoting the production and consumption of agricultural, forestry and fishery products; and online conferences on developing digital technology in agricultural production organized by the central government.

Melons produced in greenhouses in Hung Nguyen district. Photo: Phu Huong

During the implementation of Directive 16, to consume agricultural products for people, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Quality Management promptly supports and connects consumption activities. Such as establishing a zalo group to support,Connecting and consuming Nghe An agricultural productswith businesses nationwide; introduce agricultural production and trading establishments in the province to food stores in Vinh city to connect with purchasing. At the same time, coordinate with localities to compile statistics on agricultural products that need consumption support at harvest time to coordinate with the Department of Industry and Trade to find outlets to help farmers.

Find stable output for agricultural products

In the future, workFood safety quality managementstill face many difficulties. Inspection, examination and handling of administrative violations at the commune level are not really enough to deter, while the initial production facilities are mainly decentralized to the commune for management. Production and business according to the safe product supply chain have not received attention; production linkages are still limited; producers are not interested in production according to good production and good processing standards; good agricultural production models mainly rely on state support, and when the support ends, it is difficult to maintain. In addition, post-harvest processing and preservation of products are still limited, the product consumption market is unstable, so food safety control is difficult. Many facilities have not focused on developing brands, designs, packaging and labels.

The livestream program to promote Vinh oranges was successfully organized. Photo courtesy of Tien Dong

In the coming time, along with promoting the dissemination of policies and laws, training and coaching to improve knowledge for managers, producers, traders and consumers, processing and trade promotion activities will continue to be promoted. Nghe An will coordinate to implement programs and forums to connect and consume agricultural products.

The epidemic is evolving complicatedly. We will regularly monitor the production and consumption situation at production and business establishments under the influence of the Covid-19 epidemic, thereby advising the Provincial People's Committee and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development on solutions to remove difficulties and support; at the same time, build a scenario for agricultural production in the province under the Covid-19 epidemic. Continue to coordinate to bring Nghe An agricultural products to e-commerce trading floors. Research the market, participate in fairs when the epidemic conditions allow, to develop a market network, access large and stable consumer markets to create conditions for valuable consumption of agricultural products and stable output, so that producers can confidently develop.

Mr. Nguyen Van Ha, Head of the Department of Agricultural, Forestry and Fishery Product Quality Management

At the same time, support the development of packaging, labels, product brands, and traceability stamps for products; advise manufacturers and traders interested in designs, packaging, labels, and traceability. Support legal documents according to regulations, and at the same time manage product quality well. Coordinate with departments in and outside the province to carry out the circulation of goods and consumption of products between provinces nationwide.