Connecting consumption of agricultural products in mountainous areas

Tra Van agricultural products are sent to the street. Photo: TV

Bringing agricultural products to the city

It is expected that this weekend, NT Markt Supermarket (830 Tran Cao Van, Thanh Khe Ward) will import a batch of pumpkins and wild bamboo shoots from Tra Van Commune. This is a highly anticipated shipment because the products are “delicious and rare”, mainly grown or harvested in the forest by ethnic minority households.

Ms. Khong Bich Ngoc, Director of NT Markt supermarket, said that since the end of August, when the agricultural product consumption connection between the supermarket and Tra Van Commune People's Committee was implemented, the supermarket received on average 2-3 shipments per week, weighing from a few dozen kilograms to hundreds of kilograms, all of which were quickly purchased by customers. There were even times when there were not enough goods to sell.

Up to now, it is estimated that NT Markt has imported more than 1.5 tons of agricultural products, mostly wild bamboo shoots. “In Tra Van commune, there is almost no market for people, to sell vegetables and fruits, people have to carry them to the old district center, dozens of kilometers away, so we want to support the output of agricultural products for people. In return, consumers in the city also have the opportunity to use clean and safe vegetables and roots,” Ms. Bich Ngoc shared.

Tra Van is a remote area of Da Nang , with difficult roads so the consumption of goods and agricultural products is very limited or prices are forced down by traders.

Mr. Le Quoc Viet, Chairman of the Quang Destination Club, said that the idea of connecting agricultural product consumption for Tra Van people appeared in early August during a field trip to survey tourist attractions here.

“At that time, we saw that people were selling a lot of bamboo shoots but the price was too cheap, only about 10,000 VND/kg, so we proactively raised the issue with local leaders to help connect bamboo shoots and other agricultural products to Hoi An and Da Nang city center for consumption. The commune responded and quickly directed the local Women's Union to coordinate the implementation,” Mr. Viet said.

After the trip, Mr. Viet quickly connected with the Tra Van agricultural product consumption network through the Da Nang Tourism Association, and established the "Tra Van Support" group with members who are business owners and hotel branches to discuss solutions for agricultural product consumption in this locality.

The “Tra Van Support” group has developed a plan to survey and evaluate the quality and quantity of agricultural products, thereby forming a stable consumption channel, gradually bringing Tra Van specialties and agricultural products into the supermarket system on the street as well as supplying them to hotels and restaurants under the Da Nang Tourism Association.

“Of course, we also provide advice to local people and businesses on sustainable agricultural production, packaging, food safety, forest resource protection, etc. to ensure sustainable exploitation and consumer health, especially ensuring quality and service standards for restaurant customers,” said Mr. Viet.

Paving the way for mountain agricultural products

Up to now, after nearly 1 month of implementation, about 10 shipments with many types of vegetables and tubers, weighing over 3 tons, have been transported to the city.

Mr. Nguyen Tan Thanh, Chairman of Tra Van Commune People's Committee, said that from the proposal of Quang Destination Club, the commune assigned the Women's Union to be the focal point to mobilize members to collect local agricultural products during the day based on the order requirements as well as the quantity of each type of vegetable and root available in the fields.

After being collected at one point, agricultural products will be transported to the district center (old) about 20km away by mountain road to be sent by passenger bus to the plains, then transported by rickshaw to the receiving points.

In addition to the point of sale at NT Markt Supermarket, Tra Van agricultural products are also retailed directly through the online system and distributed to some points of sale in Hoi An. Tra Van agricultural products are also connected to the trade unions of some businesses to order or call on union members to order to help people such as Hospital 199 Da Nang...

“Most of the people in the mountainous areas produce on a household scale, each season has its own food, and they are small and scattered, self-sufficient. Not to mention, the previous thinking of the people was mainly to produce enough food to provide daily food for the family, but they did not think about buying and selling as commodities, so most of the vegetables and fruits produced were not consumed, leading to damage and waste due to not being used up.

But since the connection of consumption points in the delta, agricultural products have circulated faster, the value of goods has also increased, bringing stable income, helping to sustainably reduce poverty, so everyone is excited," Mr. Thanh confided.

According to Mr. Thanh, the effectiveness of connecting and consuming local vegetables, tubers and fruits is very large. This model is being researched and developed by the locality to expand the consumption of other products and goods besides Tra Van agricultural products.

Source: https://baodanang.vn/ket-noi-tieu-thu-nong-san-mien-nui-3303349.html