Agricultural product output bottlenecks

(Baonghean) - There is a policy to attract investment for businesses in agriculture and rural areas, but it is not strong enough, so in the province there are not many strong businesses that purchase agricultural products for farmers.

From output to seafood

As one of the large seafood collection and processing facilities in Hoang Mai town, during peak months, Son Chi facility (Moi hamlet, Quynh Di commune) processes up to 50 - 60 tons of fresh fish, equivalent to 15 - 16 tons of finished fish. However, consumption is not always favorable. The owner of the facility - Ms. Chi said: Consumption depends entirely on Chinese traders, quite unstable because there is no contract, no pre-order. Many times they do not "buy the goods", the fish have to be stored in the warehouse for 5 - 10 days, sometimes a whole month, affecting the quality, then many times they have to accept selling at a loss. Prices are erratic and also completely depend on the price quoted by the customer; sometimes when buying at a high price, they suddenly stop buying for a long time...".

Processing anchovies for sale to the Chinese market in Quynh Di, Hoang Mai town.

Quynh Luu district has an annual seafood catch of over 50,000 tons; in addition, about 7,500 tons of aquaculture products. Of which, 30 - 40% is used for processing fish sauce, shrimp and dried fish, a small amount is used for freezing, producing fish meal and the remaining 50% is consumed fresh on the market. In the district, there are 2 concentrated seafood processing points: Tan An area (An Hoa) and Quynh Luu Seafood Processing Company. According to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Dinh - Head of the district's Agriculture Department, in exploitation, about 45% of high-value products can be used for export with squid, hairtail fish and some specialties such as snails, shrimp... However, in the issue of consumption, there are still many difficulties, mostly depending on traders to collect, process, freeze and wait for the price to increase to sell. Finding businesses to invest is very difficult...

Mr. Tran Huu Tien - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said: The quantity of exported aquatic and seafood products is not much, only accounting for about 15% of the total output and mainly going through unofficial channels, most of which are consumed in the domestic market. In 2015, the export canned fish processing factory came into operation, helping to consume about 15% of the fish, bringing the processed product output to about 30%. In order to have a stable source of consumption for this product, the State needs to have a strong enough mechanism to attract factories to set up in the area, collecting products for processing. Because this is a special product, requiring freshness, it is more susceptible to pressure when depending on private traders.

To rice

Yen Thanh district produces 155,000 - 160,000 tons of rice each year. 1/3 of which serves the food needs of the people and 2/3 of the output is brought to the market for consumption. In recent years, the district has been very active in calling on businesses to invest in cooperation and consume products, but currently only 1,000 hectares are linked, with about 600 - 700 tons of rice/year including rice seeds. The rest is almost entirely dependent on the private trading system, often falling into the situation of "good harvest, low price".

Summer-autumn rice harvest in Xuan Hoa, Nam Dan.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Duong - Head of the Agriculture Department of Yen Thanh district, the consumption output for quality rice products is still unstable, sometimes it is even cheaper and harder to sell than hybrid rice because people buy hybrid rice to make noodles, food processing, the state also only buys hybrid rice in the program of purchasing reserve rice. Quality rice products are not yet available in large, concentrated quantities.

In Nghe An, there are currently a number of businesses that have joined forces and purchased products for farmers; however, these businesses mainly purchase products made from their own seeds. And, there are not many businesses that really join hands with farmers in the consumption of rice.

Mr. Truong Van Hien - General Director of Agricultural Materials Joint Stock Company said: From the large-scale fields (CĐML) in Dien Chau, Nam Dan, Yen Thanh, Nghi Loc in the spring of 2012, up to now, in most districts, there have been CĐMLs produced by the company in association, with a total area of ​​nearly 1,500 hectares. Every year, the enterprise purchases 500 - 600 tons of rice from farmers. Although the company signed contracts with cooperatives right from the beginning of the production season, the company still encountered the situation of private traders competing to purchase; on the other hand, farmers did not strictly comply with the contracts signed with the company.

In recent years, when food has been in surplus, market demand requires delicious, quality rice, Nghe An has gradually reduced the area of ​​hybrid rice, gradually shifting to cultivating high-quality pure rice varieties or hybrid rice varieties that are both productive and have good quality rice; striving to have 15,000 hectares of commercial rice by 2020. However, along with improving the quality of rice, the key step is to create a direct consumption link between farmers and businesses, without going through traders, which still has many shortcomings. Total rice output has increased rapidly, but the quality of rice is low, mainly used to process beer, wine, and animal feed, and is almost not sold for direct consumption. Right in the Nghe An market, our rice is always "inferior" to Thai rice and rice from the southern provinces.

Opinions from localities, professional sectors and business representatives show that, in reality, very few businesses are interested in investing in agriculture in general and rice consumption in particular. The State does not have strong enough policies, while investing in agriculture often faces risks. The field infrastructure system does not meet the demand for commodity production, the large number of households in a production area and unmodern farming habits are also "barriers" that cause difficulties, making businesses reluctant to invest in production and product consumption.

Phu Huong