Hoa Binh makes moves to boost export of agricultural products

Hoa Binh has a number of agricultural products farmed on commercial scale, such as longan, dragon fruit, banana, winter melon, and pumpkin along with many local specialties including sugarcane, tea, waxy corn, temperature climate fruits, herbs and medicinal plants. Many of these products have been exported.

The province has adopted a plan for the issuance of Production Unit Code (PUC) for local agricultural products, making it one of the first provinces in the country to do so.

Bananas produced by Phu Cuong – Song Da agricultural cooperative are granted with a Production Unit Code for export to China.

Dr. Nguyen Hong Yen, Director of the provincial department of cultivation and plant protection, said to be granted a PUC, a farm must satisfy many requirements. For example, plants must be pure-bred and cultivated on a large enough area, she said.

Cultivation procedures and disease prevention measures must be standardized and follow good agricultural practices (GAP), she noted, adding that it is also important to keep farming records, particularly in terms of how pesticide is used.

As of October 2020, Vietnam had issued 1,742 PUCs on a total farming area of nearly 185,200 hectares for farm produce exported to the Chinese market.

Some other northern provinces have also successfully issued and managed PUCs for farming areas of longan, lychee, banana, watermelon, and dragon fruit.

The province has developed policies for expanding export markets for its key agricultural products from 2020 – 2025, with a vision towards 2030.