Maintaining VietGAP quality after certification

(Baothanhhoa.vn) - In recent years, the area of ​​VietGAP certified production in the province has been constantly expanding; contributes to increasing the value of agricultural products, facilitates consumption, ensures food safety, traces origin... and is considered a "passport" to bring agricultural products to supermarkets. However, maintaining the quality of products after certification is still a "difficult problem" for farmers.

Area of ​​safe vegetables produced according to VietGAP standards in Mau Lam commune.

As one of the subjects of restructuring crops to bring high economic value, localities have been actively expanding the area of ​​fruit trees; prioritizing the development of fruit trees in a concentrated, large-scale direction according to VietGAP and organic standards... Up to now, the whole province has nearly 500 hectares certified by VietGAP in some concentrated production areas such as the 5-hectare fruit tree growing area in Vinh Loc commune; the 15-hectare orange and grapefruit growing area, 11-hectare red-fleshed dragon fruit, 10-hectare mango... of Ho Guom - Song Am High-Tech Agriculture Company Limited; the concentrated fruit tree growing area in Yen Ninh, Yen Truong, Yen Phu communes with an area of ​​nearly 33 hectares... and scattered in localities with great potential for fruit tree development.

In Xuan Binh commune, in 2012, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hong's farm was certified to meet VietGAP standards for its tangerine oranges. Up to now, after many years, the farm has continuously improved product quality and re-registered to meet VietGAP standards. Sharing his production experience, Mr. Hong said: "To produce oranges that meet VietGAP standards, I spent a lot of time visiting and learning techniques from large farms; because to be recognized as meeting the standards, the production process must be strictly implemented, including selecting varieties, preparing soil, managing nutrients, irrigation water, preventing pests and harvesting... In addition, for large hilly areas, I have invested in an energy-saving irrigation system, automatically setting irrigation hours, water volume... to limit labor costs and irrigation time".

According to Mr. Hong, not only does the farm produce according to the process to be certified, but it has also maintained the VietGAP standard planting and care process, such as nutrient management, limiting the use of chemical fertilizers; watering adequately and at the right time, avoiding flooding or water shortages; pruning and shaping the canopy for orange trees to help them grow in balance, increasing the ability to produce fruit. In particular, it records all production activities, from the use of fertilizers and pesticides to care and harvesting; stores records to serve the purpose of tracing the origin and evaluating the quality of products for subsequent assessments... Therefore, Mr. Hong's sugar orange products have consistent quality, beautiful appearance, and are sought after by consumers in and outside the province.

In the concentrated safe vegetable production area of ​​Thieu Hoa commune, with 40 hectares certified to VietGAP standards, with each new crop, local people still maintain the habit of improving the soil, ensuring irrigation water sources, using composted organic fertilizers, using pesticides when necessary and strictly following the quarantine period; harvesting at the right time, preserving at the right temperature to ensure safe products for the market. However, besides households with large areas, products with stable output, VietGAP certification is considered a "warranty card" for product quality, for households with small production scale, after being certified, people are not interested in maintaining quality, re-registering for VietGAP standards. Ms. Le Thi Dung, a resident of Thieu Hoa commune, said: “Although producing vegetables according to VietGAP standards brings us many benefits, our family's production area is still small, and after 3 years of renewing the standard, it costs a lot of money. Meanwhile, applying advanced standards to production is difficult, the selling price is not higher than that of conventional products; there is no separate consumption channel... so I have not re-registered yet.”

Currently, the province has more than 2,500 hectares of VietGAP certified crops; the number of livestock and aquaculture farms is still limited. With the trend of consumers prioritizing the use of clean, high-quality products, to maintain VietGAP quality after certification, localities and cooperatives need to have plans to create conditions, encourage and support people in terms of registration costs, production techniques, product output... In addition, households need to strictly follow production processes, well manage input factors such as seeds, land, water, pesticides, disease control, food safety... Conduct periodic monitoring and evaluation and record keeping, and update new knowledge and techniques... to help ensure products always meet VietGAP standards, maintain reputation and expand the market. In addition, tracing the origin, building brands and promoting VietGAP products are also very important to maintain the reputation and value of agricultural products.

Article and photos: Le Ngoc

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/duy-tri-chat-luong-vietgap-sau-chung-nhan-254142.htm