ĐỐI TÁC PHÁT TRIỂN NÔNG NGHIỆP BỀN VỮNG VIỆT NAM (PSAV)

ENG VI

Support for businesses, cooperatives and farmers to develop organic agriculture

05/ 09/ 2019

At the seminar on proposing solutions to develop organic agriculture in Vietnam organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on September 5, in Hanoi, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam said that according to surveys, organic agriculture has presented in all fields: cultivation, husbandry, aquaculture, forestry. Vietnam has many advantages in developing organic agriculture, however it would be depending on the advantages of each area and region.

Outlook of the seminar

In order to have the orientation and objectives of developing organic production, product trade as well as solutions, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is drafting a Project on "Organic Agriculture Development for 2020 - 2030 ”.

The main goal of the draft project is that by 2030 Vietnam strives to be among the world's top 15 in organic agriculture. It is expected that in the fourth quarter of 2019, the draft will be submitted to the Prime Minister for consideration and promulgation.

According to Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam, among many solutions to implement the project, the government will focus on solutions to support businesses, cooperatives and farmers to participate in developing organic agriculture. Along with that it is necessary to build a product distribution system on a national scale to ensure the increasing domestic consumption demand as well as export orientation.

“Vietnam has the potential to export organic products, especially to large European markets. Therefore, businesses need to participate in this area. Besides, it is necessary to have a strict management of certification organizations and units assigned in monitoring the results of certification ", Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam emphasized.

There are currently 40 provinces having organic farming with nearly 23,400 ha. These area are mainly producing according to the standards of EU, USA, Japan ..., accounting for 97.5% of the organic farming area; Main products are vegetables, fruits and tea.

Organic pig farming are in 12 provinces and cities with about 64,200 heads, with live meat output of nearly 6,000 tons; Organic chicken farming is available in 6 provinces with 273,000 chickens and 922 tons of live meat; Organic cattle raising in the two provinces of Nghe An and Lam Dong is recognized by international organizations with a total of 3,500 heads.

From the experience of developing organic agriculture of EU countries, Mr. Olivier Catrou, National Institute of Origin and Quality (INAO), the French Ministry of Agriculture recommends a standardized organic agricultural production process for farmers so they can produce in large quantities. Furthermore, even if farmers could produce in the right process but it was not certified, the products would be very difficult to sell. The role of state management is to provide information, a system of certification and management; supporting farmers to produce and certify standard products.

In 2018, the EU imported over 3 million tons of organic products. Vietnam ranked 39th in terms of export volume to Europe with nearly 13,000 tons. The proportion of EU organic products imported are 24% of fruits, nuts and spices; 22% of cereal and 11% dry oil cake ...

According to Olivier Catrou, the potential of Vietnam exporting organic agricultural products to Europe is huge because the products of the two sides complement each other. The market for organic agricultural products in Europe is huge, but it is important to make the products that consumers can trust it to be able to export to Europe. Vietnam - EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) will open up the potential to strongly develop this field for both sides. It is important that exporters need to go directly to Europe to find out what the consumers there need and how to respond to their demand.