Hop Tien forest honey of Green Life Cooperative is one of the first two 4-star OCOP products of Kim Boi district (old) to be exported to the UK market.
From local specialties to export goods
In the past, farmers in Hoa Binh (old) planted trees in a “father-to-son” way, each season had its own tree. The Cao Phong orange gardens, Tan Lac red grapefruit, Kim Boi purple sugarcane gardens... (now in Phu Tho province) were all specialties, but there was a time when they were only available at the rural market, their prices were forced down, and they were forgotten. There was a time when agricultural products were congested, the price dropped to only a few thousand dong per kilo, not enough to cover the initial costs and hire people to harvest. The people were honest and hard-working, but they lacked information, lacked techniques, and knew nothing about the concepts of “export”, “packaging” or “traceability”.
Tan Lac green-skin grapefruit products are packaged by Fusa Organic Agriculture Joint Stock Company and exported by ECO Hoa Binh Joint Stock Company at the end of 2024.
Since 2021, Hoa Binh (old) has implemented Project 03-DA/TU, dated September 9, 2021 of the Standing Committee of the Hoa Binh Provincial Party Committee (old) on agricultural development, promoting product consumption associated with new rural construction in the period of 2021-2025. Up to now, the appearance of the agricultural sector has had many positive changes. An agricultural export ecosystem is gradually taking shape with basic factors such as granting growing area codes, tracing origin, standardizing quality, signing consumption chains and applying digital technology to production - consumption.
Cao Phong oranges are processed on a modern production line after harvesting to remove dirt.
Over the past 4 years, Hoa Binh province (old) has had 21 enterprises, cooperatives, and cooperative groups participating in the export of agricultural and forestry products. The total export output reached 272,077 tons, with an estimated value of over 3,266 billion VND. Key products such as Cao Phong oranges, Tan Lac red grapefruit, Da River fish, fresh bamboo shoots - processed bamboo shoots, J02 rice, brocade, honey... have been present in demanding markets such as Japan, Korea, EU, USA, UK, Canada. In addition to raw exports, businesses have promoted deep processing - the rate of processed agricultural products is currently 31.41%, contributing to increasing value and enhancing the brand.
What makes the difference is not only the taste, but also the transparent and standardized journey. Each grapefruit is not only sweet, but can also "tell" about where it was grown, who took care of it, where it was packaged, how it was transported... Those "sweet fruit stories" are the passport for Muong agricultural products to travel far and wide.
Mr. Dinh Cong Thuan, Director of Green Life Cooperative, Hop Tien Commune, Kim Boi District, Hoa Binh Province (old) now Muong Dong Commune, Phu Tho Province (new) confided: “In the past, we farmers only knew how to take care of our livestock and what to harvest. But now, the story is different, we have to calculate more deeply: How to sell, who to sell to. Thanks to the support from the province in opening training courses on export, we have enough confidence and capacity to bring Hop Tien Wild Honey products to the very demanding UK market.”
Continue the agricultural story with new thinking
However, the journey to “the open sea” is not easy. The “sails” of Muong agricultural products still have to overcome many narrow “straits”. The area of high-tech application is still modest (10-15%), the rate of products with competitive brands is still limited. Of the 638 agricultural processing facilities in the whole Hoa Binh province (old), most are small-scale, scattered, and have uneven capacity. Traceability along the value chain is still lacking; about 50% of key agricultural products have not been controlled for end-to-end quality.
“The most difficult thing is stability. To maintain sustainable exports, the raw material area must be large, the output must be even and the quality must be truly clear and consistent,” shared a representative of the provincial Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection.
Despite the difficulties, the light of change is still spreading every day. Many rice chains in Da Bac, Mai Chau, Luong Son (now in Phu Tho province) are operating effectively. Farmers participating in the chain have an income 1.3 times higher than those producing separately. J02, BC15, and organic rice have defined the market. In Mai Chau, H'Mong youth have started growing organic plums and tomatoes; Thai women sell brocade through Shopee, TikTok, Etsy... In Luong Son, grapefruit farmers know by heart the brix index, VietGAP, and growing area codes... Each agricultural product now not only needs to be delicious and clean, but also needs to have a story, a digital "passport" to connect to the market and convince consumers with transparent values.
Processed bamboo shoot products of Kim Boi Joint Stock Company are available on the shelves of Lotte supermarket system in Hanoi.
Opening a sustainable path for commercial agriculture
In the Resolution of the 17th Congress of the Party Committee of Hoa Binh Province (formerly), the goal of “mechanization - standardization - commercialization - digitalization” in the agricultural chain was clearly defined. Each crop and livestock is not just an agricultural product - but an economic entity with a name, code, value and market.
Sustainable development, according to the province, must rely on an ecosystem including: Enterprises as the core, cooperatives as the backbone, technical staff as companions, and farmers as the center. In which, digital transformation - e-commerce application is considered one of the "golden gates" to open a new future for agricultural products.
According to the orientation of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, in the coming time, the expansion of large-scale commodity production areas will continue to be implemented, the logistics system, cold storage, post-harvest processing and preservation will receive investment attention; at the same time, deeper connections with large enterprises, foreign markets, e-commerce platforms such as Postmart, Voso...
From indigenous highland agricultural products, Muong agricultural products are gradually learning how to "tell their own story" - from QR codes to brands and packaging. That journey, if continued to be fueled by strategic thinking, practical policies and farmers' confidence, can completely turn Phu Tho into a more professional and modern agricultural production and consumption area, but still imbued with its own identity.
Thu Hang
Source: https://baophutho.vn/khi-nong-san-xu-muong-biet-ke-chuyen-minh-235555.htm
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