Profitability from organic agriculture

Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) has implemented many programs, projects for the development of safe products according to VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards. In particular, recently, organic agriculture has received much attention and achieved good results.

Nhan Duc Co-operative applies a self-produced organic fertilizer model that has brought high economic efficiency.

A common trend

Pham Van Bong, Director of Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that organic agricultural production is production without using chemicals. Since 2017, to implement Decision No. 3265/QD-UBND of Provincial People's Committee on approving the scheme for urban agricultural development in the South Binh Duong in 2016-2020, the Department has developed a model of growing vegetables in the organic direction to help producers gradually reduce the amount of inorganic inputs in production and gradually increase the proportion of using organic fertilizer and other inputs.

Currently, the province has businesses, cooperatives of organic agriculture and got certified organic products. A representative of Nhan Duc Cooperative (North Tan Uyen) said that oranges produced by the commune had received organic certification and were sold at a very good price. The most important thing is consuming sources of their pomelos is stably, so cooperative members are very confident to invest in production in this direction.

The first difficulty for organic agriculture development is that currently in the area there is no planning for organic production. Besides, organic production process, training materials on organic production are limited; consumers have not trusted and it is difficult to distinguish between organic products and other common products... Therefore, although market demand for this product type is high, organic products are difficult to be consumed, only organizations and individuals with previous contracts with full valid certification are capable of surviving.

Sustainable Development

According to Dr. Ha Phuc Mich, Chairman of Vietnam Organic Agriculture Association, organic production is a production system to maintain good health of land, ecosystem, and people; It relies heavily on ecological processes, biodiversity and processes adapted to local conditions rather than using inputs that bring adverse effects. Organic agriculture combines traditional farming methods with scientific and technical advances to bring benefits to the common environment, promote equal relationships, and improve the quality of participants’ lives.

Talking about the difficulties in organic production of areas and domestic enterprises, Dr. Ha Phuc Mich said there were 3 major difficulties. Firstly, domestic consumers do not know much about organic agriculture and organic products, so they have not formed a local consumption market and have not encouraged producers to switch from conventional agriculture to organic agriculture. Secondly, auxiliary infrastructure (certification, trade promotion, investment mechanism, services, supplies of materials for organic production...) for organic agriculture in many areas has not been available. Thirdly, the certification fee for organic products of international organizations is too high, while Vietnamese standards do not meet the requirements of export enterprises...

Leaders of Vietnam Organic Agriculture Association said that they were very delighted, because the Party and the State paid much attention to developing sustainable organic agriculture. The association always accompanies individuals and organizations in developing a stable and sustainable organic agriculture. Regarding Binh Duong province, leaders of the association hoped that the province and enterprises would have specific plans, policies, and strategies to handle the above difficulties as developing organic agriculture.