Organic farming needs more practical actions

Speaking at a conference held on Monday (Oct 2) on implementing “Organic Agriculture Development Project for 2020-2030, Ha Phuc Mich, chairman of the Vietnam Organic Agriculture Association said while the country had standards for organic farming, the list of agencies who are authorised to grant the certificates have not yet publicised.

He emphasized the need to be transparent in supervising organic products, adding that there existed products with unclear certificates on sale in the market.

“The delay in implementation of policies relating to organic farming in the provinces and cities is a big obstacle to the development of organic agriculture,” Mich said.

It was necessary to provide training for involved people including specialised staff, labourers and even consumers, he said.

Under the project, which has been approved by the Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) plans to have 1.5-2 per cent of agricultural land under organic farming by 2025 and 2.5-3 per cent by 2030.

The area for organic farming land will account for over 1 per cent of the total land cultivated with major crops such as rice, vegetables, fruits, tea, pepper, coffee, cashew and coconut.

The percentage of organic livestock products is expected to reach about 1.2 per cent of the total domestic livestock products while organic aquaculture will account for 0.5-1.5 per cent of the total aquaculture area.

The project also targets enhancing the efficiency of organic production with the product value per one hectare of organic cultivation and aquaculture land by 1.3-1.5 times higher than that of non-organic one.

Main tasks set forth by the MARD are to diversify forms of organic production, intensify technology application, develop certification systems, increase the processing, consumption and export of organic products.

To accomplish these objectives, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam said it was a must to strengthen capacity for households and cooperatives so that they have better understanding about organic agriculture as well as its standards.

The MARD would organise training for managers at grassroots level and farmers on standard for organic farming - TCVN 11041:2017.

In addition, the ministry would provide guidance on the production processes towards organic agriculture and how to achieve the set standards, he said, adding that the transformation from traditional farming to organic one was very expensive.

Nam underlined the need to improve the professional capacity of local certifying organisations.

He also said the development of organic agriculture should be based on the advantages of each area and region.

Le Minh Hoan, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, emphasised the necessity of building an organic ecosystem to ensure a successful organic farming.

Farmers, scientists, businesses, consumers and media agencies are parts of the ecosystem, he said, adding that they would  interact with each other and shared mutual interest.

The area under organic crops in Vietnam increased from 53,350 ha in 2016 to 237ha last year, according to a survey of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements released this year.

Vietnamese organic products have been exported to 180 countries and territories including US, EU, China, Japan, Germany, UK.

There are 60 exporters of organic produce with shipment worth $335 million per year.