Quang Ninh focusing on food processing to boost exports during COVID-19 crisis

Innovated and improved food processing technologies have helped increase value added to many aquaculture products of Quang Ninh Province including Ha Long deep-fried squid cake, deep-fried fish cake, dried oyster, seasoned oyster, oyster rolls or oyster food supplement.

Such processed products are welcomed in the market, increase product prices and help producers avoid risks that they usually face with raw products.

To support the consumption of local agriculture and aquaculture products, the provincial authorities have been working with firms and trade centres in the provinces. As a result, more local farming products are used to make meals for workers or sold at major supermarkets and trade centres in the province.

Together with the agriculture department, the province’s Department of Industry and Trade co-operated with localities, distributors and other relevant parties to help farmers access consumers and new markets.

They actively provided information about local farming products to major retailers like Go!, Vinmart and Lan Chi supermarkets. As a result, about 1.5 tonnes of vegetable and fruits, 0.3 tonnes of aquaculture products, 2,200 eggs and more than 0.2 tonnes of chicken are sold daily via this distribution channel.

Quang Ninh province authorities also developed a scenario for farming product consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to careful preparations, its agriculture production and consumption are not disrupted.

In Dong Trieu Town, in winter-spring season 2020-2021, farmers grew more than 4,200 ha of rice and nearly 1,000 ha of vegetable and other crops. Local farmers replaced low-yielding long-duration rice varieties with high-quality short-duration rice varieties like DT37, Dt 100, Dt 120 or Bắc thơm No7.

The town’s Economic Desk, the town’s Agriculture Services Centre and local authorities offered farmers proper farming technique to look after the rice, prevent diseases and fertiliser.

Dang Dinh Thang, head of the town’s Economic Desk said that responding to the COVID-19 pandemic development, the town People’s Committee actively developed a production plan and changed production structures so that the town still achieved stable productivity and output.

Besides cultivation, the town’s husbandry sector also saw changes. Many farming households which were affected by the African swine fever have shifted to raise poultry. They were also supported to take effective disease prevention and control measures.

Ngo Tat Thang, vice director of Quang Ninh Province’s Agriculture and Rural Development said that until now, all concentrated agricultural production areas in the province were operating stably.

The province was engaging more farming products to product origin traceability systems, which could facilitate exports and speed up food processing.

However, the number of processed agricultural and aquatic products in the province currently accounts for only a small proportion of the local agricultural products. 

The development of large-scale production in value chains that link production with preservation, processing and consumption is still modest. 

Producers and firms have not had sufficient awareness about market assessment.

“The province planned to restructure its agriculture production, focusing on developing high-quality products and boost linkage of production, processing and consumption in areas which have high production and have transportation advantages,” he said.