Building linkage chains, key for organic agriculture to 'take off'

Linkage for mutual benefits

Currently, in organic agricultural production, linkage is the key to development and ensuring the harmony of benefits for participating subjects. Production linkage plays an important role in ensuring mutual benefits for all parties and increasing production efficiency.

In addition, organizing organic agricultural production in a chain also helps increase value, ensure that participating parties share benefits and responsibilities, regulate market supply and demand, and trace the origin of products.

At the forum Agricultural Extension @ recently organized by the National Agricultural Extension Center (NAEC) in collaboration with the Lam Dong Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Da Lat City, experts, scientists, state management agencies, and cooperatives jointly discussed chain linkages in organic agricultural production in the direction of enhancing value, sustainable development, and adapting to climate change.

According to NAEC, organic agricultural cultivation in Vietnam has been applied by farmers for thousands of years. In recent years, a number of chain linkage models in organic agricultural production have brought high efficiency, such as model "Building a cooperative model to link organic rice production along the value chain in some Northern province" with a scale of 570 hectares; model "Intensive tea farming in an organic direction, linking along the value chain in Lao Cai province" with a scale of 20 hectares; and model "Applying biotechnology products to build an organic vegetable production and consumption linkage model" with a scale of 125 hectares.

At the forum, Prof. Dr. Dao Thanh Van, Vice President of the Vietnam Organic Agriculture Association, said that the organic agricultural production linkage model brings benefits to both businesses and farmer households, playing an important role in the process of rural development and modernization.

Ms. Vu Thi Hai (National Agricultural Extension Center) affirmed that in organic agricultural production, linkage is the key to developing modern agriculture, ensuring harmony of benefits for all participating subjects.

Specifically, organizing organic agricultural production in a chain can be carried out according to horizontal linkages (farmers - farmers, cooperatives - cooperatives, businesses - businesses) or vertical linkages (farmers - cooperatives - businesses). Thereby helping to increase value and develop sustainably for both the livestock and crop production industries.

Harmonious distribution of benefits and risks

Recognizing the role of organic agricultural production, NAEC has built a number of typical models of implementing chain linkages, contributing to the development of organic agricultural production in the direction of enhancing value and sustainable development.

As a unit participating in organic agricultural production more than 7 years ago, Hieu Linh Cooperative Group Agricultural Products Company Limited (Da Lat City, Lam Dong) has deployed 2.5 hectares of growing vegetables, tubers, fruits, and medicinal herbs such as dandelion and perilla that meet organic standards.

Ms. Le Thi Thu Hong, Director of Hieu Linh Cooperative Group Agricultural Products Company Limited, said that in 2015, Hieu Linh Cooperative Group was established with a few members doing small retail sales at markets in Da Lat city. By 2016, the Cooperative Group had 15 households producing according to VietGAP standards and rotating vegetables and fruits on an area of about 16 hectares. The Cooperative Group's products were sold at supermarkets such as VinEco, Sigiay Food Group (South Korea), large wholesale markets in Ho Chi Minh City, and stores nationwide.

After 3 years of agricultural production, the Cooperative Group was influenced by the market with the refrains "good harvest, bad price" or "good price, bad harvest." After such times, the Cooperation Group was supported by functional sectors of Lam Dong province, creating conditions to participate in activities promoting trade and introducing Lam Dong's agricultural products.

With determination, the Cooperative Group boldly borrowed money from the bank and cooperated with young people from Quang Nam, Dong Nai, and Ba Ria-Vung Tau to switch to organic agricultural production.

“When we first switched to organic production, our production was affected by pests and diseases; the product was not productive, while consumers' understanding was still very limited, not knowing what organic products were. The determination of households in the Cooperative Group has brought clean products that are good for human health. Along with our efforts at farms in Lac Duong, Lam Dong Provincial Agricultural Extension Center has also created conditions for building an organic agricultural chain, linking households together," Ms. Hong said.

By the end of 2023, the Cooperative Group had eight OCOP products, including fruit cake, perilla tea, dandelion tea, strawberry jam, dried strawberry, rolled strawberry, and dandelion jelly. These products are displayed and sold at the OCOP Lac Duong Center.

From there, the Cooperative Group is no longer worried about the problem of "good harvest, bad price". In addition, agencies and branches also create mechanisms to support, encourage, stimulate demand, and have linkages along the value chain to help households in the Cooperative Group produce products that meet market demand and according to orders from many units.

With the current trend, Hieu Linh Cooperative Group is trying to build more raw material areas for medicinal herbs and deep processing to increase product value, create more jobs for local workers, and build linkage chains with growing area codes attached, bringing brand value to the locality.

"Agricultural production in general and organic agriculture in particular that is linked along the value chain is a sustainable direction, helping improve production efficiency and income for farmers and businesses. The development of agriculture in the direction of enhancing value shows the importance of linking production and consumption of agricultural products under contracts. At the same time, the linkage aims to distribute benefits and risks among participants so that they can develop together."

(Prof. Dr. Dao Thanh Van, Vice President of the Vietnam Organic Agriculture Association)