Joint efforts needed for the consumption of farming products: Agriculture minister

What has the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development planned to do to ensure proper consumption of farming products during the complicated development of the COVID-19?

There were “rescue” campaigns calling on people for consuming agricultural products. When it comes to such rescue campaigns, people usually express their sympathy to farmers. However, I think that specific actions would be better and more helpful than emotional feelings.

I saw that at farming product-rescuing sites, people gathered in noisy crowds and failed to meet requirements of disease prevention and control measures. Some people were willing to buy many and then, they did not use all of what they bought, which caused much waste. Once we understand the farmers’ hardship or difficulties, we are thankful for the fruits of their labour and we appreciate the products they made.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic appeared, we sometimes saw the supply of farming products exceeded the demand and that was the reason for the launch of many rescuing campaigns.

On June 1, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Việt Nam Women’s Association and the Central Committee of the Communist Youth Union of Vietnam are discussing models to consume agriculture products from COVID-19-hit areas in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and other provinces. The models are expected to help ensure the quality of farming products, proper consumption and disease prevention and control requirements. We expect to design effective models so that other people could learn and follow.

The agriculture ministry also cooperates with Vietnam Retailers’ Association to implement a programme that links farming product supply and demand.

For many cases, there is a disconnection in term of market information between production and consumption. For example, when purple onion costs only VND5,00-6,000 a kilo in Vĩnh Châu District of Soc Trang Province, consumers in Dak Lak Province still have to pay VND40,000 for a kilo of purple onion.

So, in the domestic market, there is misinformation that leads to redundancy of products in some particular areas and shortage in other areas.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we suggested Government have further supported to transport company as farming products could turn spoil for a short time and need to be carried to consumers as soon as possible.

Trucks carrying agriculture products from disease-hit areas should not be restricted as Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said: “No travelling restriction, no more burdens for a farming product carrying trucks.”

In the long-term future, it is necessary to establish two-way communication. Authorities should work with farmers 15-20 days before harvesting time to discuss the consumption. We should not wait for all fruits to be harvested and then start talking about the output for the products.

So, local agriculture departments should report to the agriculture ministry 15-20 days before harvesting time so that the ministry could be public product-relating information for distribution channels.

It’s not a stable agriculture production if harvested farming products are awaited for consumers to “rescue”.

It’s peak harvesting time for farming products like lychee. Amid the complicated development of the COVID-19 pandemic, many localities have a scenario in which 90 per cent of the production would be sold in the domestic market. What do you think about it?

It’s difficult to know how the pandemic will be like in the coming week when lychee is ready for harvest. So, right now, we should try our best to seek markets for lychee.

Today and tomorrow, deputy ministers of agriculture are going to border gates in the north to work with China’s agencies about the import/export of lychee.

I and distributors and retailers will go to Bac Giang to connect with lychee growers. Now is the time for us to make joint efforts to help farmers. It’s urgent as lychee is ready for harvest.

Now, we have to estimate the province’s lychee production, the volume of lychee for export to China and other market and then take measure to consume the remaining volume in the domestic market.

Consumption plans are needed so that we could respond actively.

What are long-term fundamental solutions for Vietnamese farming products so that people don’t need to have “rescue” campaigns anymore?

Firstly, we need information from production to consumption. As I have said, it’s late to think about consumption when harvesting time is nearing. Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development of provinces have to aware of their roles in support farmers to consume their products. It’s not only about agriculture production but also market-oriented production.

Without information about the domestic market and foreign markets, we can not be active in consumption.

To better access market information, we have been implementing digital transformation to capture market information and to better connect producers and distributors.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will build a database with updated information about agriculture products of localities, their harvesting time and their production. Distribution channels could access the information and actively prepare vehicles, storehouses, storage solutions and negotiate with their partners. Once we can manage to deliver farming products from farms to distribution channels, we can avoid barriers that the Covid-19 pandemic causes to agriculture production and consumption.

Ho Chi Minh City is considered a big market for lychee but it has been put under social distancing. What can you do to respond to the situation?

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development discussed with Ho Chi Minh City this issue. During previous waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Viet Nam, we found a creative distribution that is the products would be shipped directly to consumers. In this way, we can decide the supply to meet the demand. Buyers order and sellers shipped the products to buyers’ address. As a result, buyers don’t need to go to the physical sites to buy, thus they could avoid gathering.