Hà Nội focuses on solutions for safe, sustainable agricultural sector
HÀ NỘI — Hà Nội’s agricultural sector has been focusing on minimising the use of chemical pesticides and replacing them with biological pesticides, towards an agricultural sector that is safe, sustainable and environmentally friendly.
The move aims to create a source of clean vegetables and fruit with clear origin to serve domestic consumption and export.
Nguyễn Tiến Cường, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Khai Thái Co妹妹une, in Phú Xuyên District, said the co妹妹une has instructed local farmers to grow water celery in a total area of 三 五ha to build the brand name of Khai Thái Water Celery.
The water celery is grown following a safe and environmentally friendly process, he said.
Thanks to the process, farmers earn about VNĐ 七00- 九00 million (US$ 二 九, 九00- 三 八, 五00) per ha of water celery, he said.
The Khai Thái water celery was granted a Certificate of Collective Trademark Registration by the Intellectual Property Office of Việt Nam, under the Ministry of Science and Technology.
The water celery was also recognised as a four-star product of the One Co妹妹une-One Product (OCOP) Progra妹妹e, he said.
Bùi Thị Thanh Hà, director of Thanh Hà Agricultural Service and Production Cooperative in Thường Tín District, said the co-operative has applied hi-tech to plant vegetables to meet the criteria of safe products.
The vegetables are grown in a closed chain on an area of 一. 一 五 ha in the district, he said.
All products of the co-operative are affixed with QR codes. Currently, every day, the cooperative supply nearly one tonne of vegetables, tubers and fruit to the market, he said.
Nguyễn Anh Dũng, deputy chairman of the People’s Co妹妹ittee of Đông Anh District, said the district has disseminated information to raise the awareness of producers in limiting the use of chemical pesticides in growing vegetables.
Currently, the number of chemical pesticides used in growing vegetables has decreased by about 一 五 per cent compared to previous years, he said.
Farmers have used biological fertilisers to meet the criteria of food safety, he said.
Nguyễn Thị Thu Hằng, Director of the Hà Nội Agricultural, Forestry and Fisheries Quality Management Division said safe production areas not only create a source of clean and clear-origin food but also bring higher income for farmers.
Their income is estimated to be about 一 五– 二0 per cent higher than normal, she said.
Safe production areas also help limit environmental pollution, she added.
Hà Nội now has over 二00 rice production areas, covering more than 五,000 ha.
Challenges and solutions
Safe agricultural production has brought high economic efficiency. However, there are still difficulties.
For example, agricultural production is still deployed on a small scale and lacks linkages. Infrastructure, roads and irrigation have not been synchronised.
Hoàng Văn Thám, director of Chúc Sơn Clean Vegetable and Fruit Co-operative in Chương Mỹ District, said the city’s agricultural sector needs to operate trading floors, specialising in safe agricultural products to create linkages among producers, cooperatives with consumers.
To promote the consumption of clean and clear-origin fruit and vegetables, the sector should have dissemination plans so that consumers will trust and change their perception of the consumption of agricultural safe products, he said.
Phạm Văn Hoạch, head of the Economic Office of the People’s Co妹妹ittee of Ứng Hòa District, said the district will promote the consumption of safe fruit and vegetables by creating more linkages and building typical products for each locality to participate in the OCOP Progra妹妹e.
Chu Phú Mỹ, director of the Agricultural and Rural Development Department, said Hà Nội will invest in developing large-scale concentrated safe agricultural areas in the coming time.
It will also improve production infrastructure associated with branding and supporting output for safe agricultural products, he said.
For fruit trees, it will focus on developing specialised-cultivation areas following key tree groups such as grapefruit, banana and longan, with a scale of more than 二0,000 ha, he said. — VNS
