Hanoi Needs to Build Sustainable Raw Material Areas

Hanoi has many advantages in implementing the assessment and classification of OCOP products, with about 1,350 craft villages and villages with crafts, 159 production and consumption chains; 164 agricultural production models applying high technology; and more than 11,000 agricultural and food products have QR code traceability codes.

These are great advantages for Hanoi in assessing and classifying products as well as introducing and promoting OCOP products. After certifying OCOP products, the city always pays attention to and organizes promotional activities, connecting trade, and promoting OCOP products. In particular, bringing these products to digital platforms is considered an inevitable step, contributing to opening up new markets, increasing opportunities to reach customers, especially exporting to potential markets, and bringing outstanding economic efficiency to localities.

Safe vegetable growing area in Van Duc commune, Gia Lam district

Building a stable and sustainable raw material area

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Dai - Director of the Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said that one of the characteristics of OCOP products is to have local characteristics, associated with production organization, forming large-scale concentrated commodity production areas and building stable raw material areas. In recent times, along with production development, OCOP entities in Hanoi have focused on building raw material areas, contributing to opening up many opportunities for linkage in building production chains. The city is also implementing many solutions to remove difficulties, promote the development of concentrated raw material areas, and sustainable development.

Ung Hoa district is the largest rice-growing area in Hanoi. Up to now, the district has formed a concentrated high-quality rice production area with a stable scale of about 5,690 hectares in 5 areas approved by the City People's Committee; the average yield is from 58 quintals/ha, and the output is from 33,000 tons or more. From this advantage, the district has built and developed a high-quality rice value chain with the brand name "Khu Chay Quality Rice". In particular, the Japonica rice product J02 of Doan Ket Cooperative, Phuong Tu commune was recognized as a 4-star OCOP product in 2019 and was recognized again in 2023, helping farmers increase the value of their products.

Director of Doan Ket Cooperative Cao Thi Thuy said that in previous years, due to low economic efficiency, many households were no longer interested in rice, and many fields were abandoned. With the motto of "not leaving any fields abandoned and bringing safe and quality rice products to consumers", Doan Ket Cooperative has rented production areas from households that do not need to grow rice in the area to implement the production plan. With the support of the People's Committee of Ung Hoa district, Doan Ket Cooperative has built a large model field with a high-quality rice production process associated with the brand "Khu Chay Quality Rice" closed from production to packaging, ensuring the quality process. In addition to directly renting fields for production, Doan Ket Cooperative also cooperates with cooperatives inside and outside the district to participate in the commodity rice production chain such as: providing tray seeding services, transplanting machines, pesticides, drying, product consumption...

High technology application in agricultural production

Also from the advantage of "large model fields", Doan Ket Cooperative boldly invested in 3 unmanned aircraft with an amount of 1.8 billion VND to serve rice production to reduce labor costs. At the same time, investing in a rice drying system with a capacity of 300 tons/day; developing a rice milling and husking system according to a modern chain with the purification of broken grains and impurities, meeting the standards for supermarkets and distribution stores, moving towards the further goal of exporting. According to Director of Cooperative Cao Thi Thuy: Being recognized as an OCOP product, “Khu Chay Quality Rice” has a label, that is supported to promote product consumption, so more and more consumers know about it, and the market is expanding. Thereby, helping the “Khu Chay Quality Rice” brand to increase its value, bring higher income to farmers, and create a spread for many other agricultural products participating in the OCOP Program.

Not only in Ung Hoa, in Hanoi, many concentrated agricultural production areas have been formed, applying high technology, producing products that ensure quality and food safety. From those production areas, localities and production entities have built many OCOP products that are highly appreciated by consumers. Typically in the districts of Chuong My, Me Linh, Dong Anh, Gia Lam... Up to now, the city has had more than 2,700 products certified as OCOP. Hanoi's OCOP products are not only increasingly diverse in packaging and design, meeting quality and food safety standards and regulations, but also gradually increasing in value, helping farmers and cooperatives expand production scale, increase revenue and export, bringing high economic value.

Need support in terms of mechanisms and policies

One of the top criteria for OCOP products is to have strong local characteristics associated with production organization, forming large-scale concentrated commodity production areas, and building stable raw material areas. Hanoi is the capital of the country, a large urban area with rapid urbanization, so raw material areas for production are also a problem for OCOP entities, especially raw materials for the production of agricultural products, processed foods and craft villages.

Next, for OCOP products to develop stably and sustainably, in addition to trade promotion and expanding consumption markets, OCOP entities in Hanoi cannot help but worry about ensuring stable, high-quality, and legal input materials. The difficulty for production entities today is to meet the strict standards of the market and managers in the digital age, especially for importers in developed countries. To solve this problem, many entities have joined the linkage model between enterprises and households in some craft villages to convert input materials. In this linkage, enterprises will provide input materials, provide technology and management advice, and support the promotion of output product consumption.

Chuong My district - one of the localities with many traditional craft villages, has great potential for developing OCOP export products. Bamboo and rattan weaving villages have many advantages for development, but this production industry in the district is currently facing many difficulties, especially in terms of raw materials. Previously, rattan and bamboo products for production could be easily purchased from the northern mountainous provinces, but now the supply from this region is seriously lacking, so raw materials must be imported from abroad, causing production costs to increase and the source of raw materials cannot be proactive.

In the context of a shortage of raw materials, households producing rattan, bamboo, and woven bamboo in Chuong My district are cooperating with research, processing, and handling units of raw materials from papaya, squash, and banana trees. Artisans and skilled workers have researched and created designs from the above materials to create handicraft products that ensure technical and aesthetic standards for export and have initially been well received by customers. Although this solution has promptly solved the problem of a shortage of raw materials for rattan, bamboo, and woven bamboo production, it is only a temporary solution. In the long term, rattan and bamboo weaving villages hope that Hanoi city and Chuong My district will support cooperation with provinces to build sustainable raw material areas for production. Tien Duong Organic Agriculture Cooperative (Dong Anh district) has 4 products recognized as OCOP, mainly organic vegetables. Director of the Cooperative Pham Thi Ly said: Tien Duong is a small cooperative, so when participating in the OCOP Program, it chose products associated with local values, which are vegetables. The cooperative's products are currently consumed in collective kitchens and clean food stores. Although it has developed very well, Dong Anh is in the process of developing into a district, the entire vegetable growing area is in the planning stage and will have to reclaim land in the future. At that time, maintaining raw materials for the production of OCOP products will face many difficulties.

In order to develop OCOP products, and gradually form and develop large-scale and stable concentrated raw material areas for export, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has advised the City People's Committee to plan concentrated specialized farming areas, issue many mechanisms and policies to support the promotion of concentrated, large-scale commodity production, associated with product preservation, processing and consumption. Accordingly, in most localities, OCOP products have been formed and developed in parallel with the formation of raw material areas for the production of OCOP products. The construction of raw material areas that meet the standards of organic, safety, VietGAP, GlobalGAP, HACCP, the development of growing area codes, growing area brands for OCOP products... Strengthening propaganda to support OCOP entities with knowledge about domestic and international trade.

By Hien Lien, Vietnam Business Forum

The page is coordinated by the Hanoi Office of the Coordination of the New Rural Development Program