To bring planting area codes into play

Binh Dinh is planning to conduct inspections to grant planting are codes for the crops that are officially exported to China. The move aims to bring planting area codes into play.

A 75-hectare mango growing area with planting area code in Cat Hanh commune (Phu Cat district, Binh Dinh). Photo: Vu Dinh Thung.

Planting area codes not brought into play

Kieu Van Cang, Deputy Director of Binh Dinh Sub-Department of Planting and Plant Protection said Binh Dinh agricultural products particularly watermelons, chilies and mangoes are mainly exported to China. Under the current regulations, farm produce officially exported to the Chinese market must be granted planting area codes and packaging facility codes.

To be granted planting area codes, farmers have to register with local authorities then the authorities send the registration list to the Sub-Department of Planting and Plant  Protection.  After checking and evaluating the sub-department chooses the eligible farmers to submit to the Department of Plant Protection under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) for granting planting area codes.

Also according to Cang it’s not difficult to get a planting area code. However the problem is that the planting area code will become helpless if purchasing businesses are not granted packaging facility, a required condition for export to China. Meanwhile planting area code is only valid in a certain period and need to be renewed.

The case of Phu Cat mango is an obvious example. Although mango grown in Phu Cat district was granted planting area code and recognized as Phu Cat “genuine” mango there has been no official statistics of Phu Cat mango exports to China so far. It means that planting area code has not been brought into play yet.

Nguyen Ngoc, a 66-year-old farmer in Tan Hoa Nam village, Cat Hanh commune (Phu Cat district) has an orchard of 800 mango trees including 300 mango trees of 20 year olds and nearly 500 trees of 12 year olds. Although his 4-hectare mango orchard was granted planting area code last year the code has not worked for him.

 “Since my mango orchard was granted planting area code I have seen no change.  The majority of my mangoes have been put up for sale in the domestic market. Because the mangoes have not yet exported to China, planting area code is useless. At present, the code only helps my mangoes easy to sell but it doesn’t help much in terms of price,” Ngoc explained.

Granting planting area codes methodically

Luong Van Khoa, Deputy Head of Phu Cat Office of Agriculture and Rural Development  (Binh Dinh) said mango growing area in the villages of Tan Hoa Nam and Tan Hoa Bac of Cat Hanh  commune was granted planting area code in 2020. With a size of 75 hectares , the growing area can produce 750 tons of mangoes per year.

Planting area code is one of the conditions needed for Cat Hanh mangoes to enter the Chinese market. With the code, Cat Hanh farmers expected to sell their mangoes for higher prices as the fruit could be exported to China.  However, no change has occurred so far. The farmers here are still waiting for traders and enterprises come and buy their mangoes for export.

According to Kieu Van Cang, Deputy Director of Binh Dinh Sub-Department of Planting and Plant Protection planting area code is only helpful in case the mangoes are exported officially to China. It will be good for nothing if mangoes are traded domestically.   

To deal with the problem, Binh Dinh Department of Agriculture and Rural Development assigned the province’s Sub-Department of Planting Plant Protection to inspect the crops mainly exported to China, particularly fresh peanut and chilies to grant planting area code.

As for watermelon, although Binh Dinh province does not promote the cultivation of the crop if local farmers want to grow the competent agencies are ready for granting planting area code as long as door opens wide for watermelon export to China.

“Binh Dinh farmers grow watermelon in the form of shifting cultivation so it’s impossible to calculate the total cultivation area. That’s why the growers are afraid of registering for planting area code. If they want to export the crop to China via official channels they have to change their old farming practices. If the growers feel a need we are ready for granting planting area code,” said Nguyen Thi To Tran, Deputy Director of Binh Dinh Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

“Planting area code is an essential condition for farm produce export to China via official channels. Currently, there is no enterprise in Binh Dinh registering to officially export chilies or watermelons to China. However Binh Dinh has taken initiative in granting planting area code for these crops so that eligible enterprises outside Binh Dinh can buy chilies and watermelons from code-granted growing areas in the province for export to China,” said Nguyen Thi To Tran, Deputy Director of Binh Dinh Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.