"Magnet" attracting investment in agricultural processing

T1b M — Coffee flowers bloom white in the dry season of the Central Highlands. Photo: Chinh Thanh

Responding to market demands

Building raw material areas is not only the "key" to opening the way for processing and attracting investment, but also brings practical benefits, helping farmers increase their income and produce more safely and sustainably.

From that orientation, many cooperatives and enterprises in the area have pioneered in building raw material areas according to international standards. Hoang Nguyen Organic Agriculture , Trade and Service Cooperative (Thuan Hanh commune) is one of the typical examples. Established in 2018, up to now, the cooperative has 202 members, linking production of nearly 1,000 hectares of pepper, of which 100 hectares have been certified organic.

Director of the Cooperative Tran Thi Thu said that organic pepper sells for many times more than conventional products. More importantly, this production process helps farmers protect their health, create safe products for consumers and meet the requirements of demanding markets such as the United States, Japan and India.

Similarly, since 2013, the Cooperative has been recognized by the International Fair Trade Association as having achieved Fair Trade certification. Up to now, the Cooperative has built a raw material area of over 300 hectares with over 100 members and associated households. Thanks to compliance with technical processes, harvesting over 90% of ripe fruit, the Cooperative's coffee products are trusted by many customers, have stable output and higher selling prices than the market.

This reality shows that developing standard raw material areas not only helps farmers proactively connect output, but also paves the way for local agricultural products to reach international markets. Products certified by VietGAP, GlobalGAP, organic, Fair trade or Rainforest Alliance will meet both quantity and quality requirements of consuming partners.

Standard raw material areas are formed, businesses have the basis to confidently invest in factories and modern processing technology.

The “key” to processing and attracting investment

According to the Department of Agriculture and Environment, the province currently has 171 areas eligible for organic production with nearly 19,000 hectares. About 98,000 hectares of cultivation have been certified for safe production, accounting for nearly 30% of the province's agricultural area. Of which, 8,000 hectares are certified for VietGAP, GlobalGAP; more than 2,000 hectares are certified for organic and about 88,000 hectares of coffee are granted international certifications such as: UTZ, 4C, Rainforest Alliance.

Qualified raw material areas help businesses feel secure in investing in factories, modern technology and building product brands. The whole province currently has 2,699 establishments and enterprises participating in the preliminary processing - processing chain of agricultural, forestry and aquatic products, of which 563 are enterprise-scale establishments. Many factories processing coffee, vegetables, fruits, macadamia... have been formed. The target for 2025 is that the proportion of processed agricultural products will reach over 24%, opening up a large space for developing the processing industry associated with raw material areas.

For farmers, this is the foundation for forming a sustainable chain, ensuring stable output and higher agricultural product value.

According to Mr. Le Trong Yen - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, the raw material production area is the decisive factor for the sustainability and position of the product in the market. This is not only the place to provide input for processing, but also the "root" to form a strong agricultural product brand, meeting export standards and green consumption trends.

Closed agricultural chain

Along with developing raw material areas, Lam Dong is promoting traceability, digitizing agricultural product data and expanding the issuance of growing area codes. Up to now, the whole province has nearly 1,000 growing area codes with an area of over 39,000 hectares, serving direct export to markets such as: Korea, China, EU.

The province encourages cooperatives and enterprises to invest in deep processing to make the most of the advantages of raw material areas. Many new projects in the field of processing vegetables, coffee, dried fruits, and herbal tea are being promoted for investment, promising to form a closed agricultural value chain, increasing the proportion of processing industry in the agricultural economic structure.

Building a standard raw material area is not only a market requirement, but also a solution for sustainable development of the agricultural sector, a foundation for attracting investment. This is also a strategic lever to help Lam Dong agricultural products affirm their brand and conquer domestic and international markets.

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/nam-cham-hut-dau-tu-che-bien-nong-san-396115.html