To export vegetables and fruits “go a long way”

Vegetables and fruits are considered one of the two brightest spots in agricultural exports. However, to export vegetables and fruits sustainably and go “long way”, there are still many problems that need to be overcome.

Fruit and vegetable exports flourished

As one of the largest fruit and vegetable exporters in the industry, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tung, General Director of Vina T&T Company, said that after the Protocol on plant quarantine requirements for durian exported from Vietnam, Nam to China was signed, Vina T&T was one of the first 25 businesses to have a packaging factory and growing area code. The enterprise exploits this advantage very effectively and regularly exports 1 container of durian to the market of billions of people every day.

Recently, coconuts have been officially exported to China and the US. This item’s return to “difficult” markets is good news for coconut farmers and businesses, Mr. Tung shared,

General Director of Vina T&T revealed that currently each month, the business exports about 16-20 containers of coconut to the US and is preparing for the first orders in the Chinese market. Thanks to that, up to this point, Vina T&T’s revenue has increased by more than 40%, and the selling price is also relatively high. This has been a bumper year in the past 5 years.

Together with Vina T&T, this year is considered a “bumper” year for the Vietnamese fruit and vegetable industry. The latest statistics from the General Department of Customs show that in the first 11 months of 2023, fruit and vegetable exports reached nearly 5.2 billion USD, up 70.3% over the same period last year. This is the key export product group with the most impressive growth rate. Notably, even though there is only one month left until the end of the year, fruit and vegetable export turnover has set a record when it reached the 5 billion USD mark for the first time.

Regarding the export market, China continues to hold the No. 1 position with a turnover of more than 3.4 billion USD (as of the end of November), an increase of 149% over the same period last year (equivalent to an increase in turnover of more than 2 billion USD). billion USD) and accounts for about 65.4% of the total export turnover of this product of countries.

Opportunities to export fruits and vegetables to China are continuing to expand when at the end of the year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Vietnam) and the General Department of Customs (China) have just signed a Protocol on requirements Plant quarantine requirements for fresh watermelons exported from Vietnam to China. The Protocol is a step to promote the official export of this traditional agricultural product of Vietnam and standardize regulations on agricultural export between the two countries.

According to this Decree, fresh Vietnamese watermelons must not be contaminated with 5 living plant quarantine species that China is concerned about, including fruit flies Bactrocera correcta, Bactrocera zonata, Bactrocera latifrons, aphids Phenacoccus solenopsi and Acidovorax avenae subsp.citrulli bacteria; leaves or soil.

All growing areas and packing facilities for watermelons exported to China must be registered and approved by both the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the General Administration of Customs of China. Gardens must apply Good Agricultural Practices (GAP); Must ensure supervision of the growing garden and packaging process at the packaging facility.

Packaging facilities must build a traceability system to ensure that fresh watermelons exported to China can be traced back to the growing area that has been granted a code.

Vietnam’s watermelon shipments will be imported through all Chinese border gates permitted by the General Department of Customs of China to import fruit; must conduct 2% plant quarantine sampling and must comply with China’s national food safety standards.

Thus, up to now, Vietnam has fruits and agricultural products exported in the form of signing protocols to China including: Mangosteen, black jelly, durian, bananas, sweet potatoes, and watermelon.

Need to aim for sustainable export

Besides favorable factors, our country’s fruit and vegetable industry still faces many difficulties and challenges as more and more countries erect technical barriers.

For example, with durian, Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen, General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association shared that Vietnam’s durian export turnover to China has grown strongly in recent times, but is still low compared to with Thailand and Malaysia. Considering the total import volume of the market of 1.4 billion people, the market share of Vietnamese durian currently accounts for only 5%, the rest is made up of Thai and Malaysian products.

In particular, Thailand recently raised durian export standards, specifically increasing the dryness of durian rice from 32% to 35% and monitoring each shipment to ensure it meets the required standards. go out. This poses many challenges for durian farmers and Vietnamese businesses. Therefore, the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association recommends that farmers consider sustainability factors and enhance product and variety quality.

Or with coconut products, according to the Vietnam Coconut Association, China is also about to let Vietnam officially export coconuts. This will be a fruit that is expected to quickly become a billion-dollar export product in the near future. However, there are currently only about 20 businesses with systematic investment and careful research into the coconut industry. Other small businesses often do not have in-depth market research. Therefore, when China opens, it is necessary to strictly control coconut exports to ensure credibility with your country.​

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Quy, General Director of Thanh Cong VINA Import-Export Co., Ltd. shared that in fact, businesses have been to each market in the US, Japan, and Korea, and their standards are very strict, there is no market problem ” easy-going” or easy-going. Therefore, exported agricultural products must ensure quality. It is necessary to propagate to people how to plant properly and with the right quality.

In particular, many opinions say that investing in processing organic products, especially conquering difficult markets, will help our country’s fruit and vegetable industry grow more effectively and sustainably.

Typically at An Giang Fruit and Vegetable Food Joint Stock Company, thanks to deep processing and meeting standards for official export, the unit’s products are not enough to sell because partners such as Japan and the EU are quite good. Popularity.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, to export to major markets, Vietnamese fruits and vegetables must fully meet the high standards of the US and EU markets. Therefore, in addition to ensuring quality, Vietnamese agricultural products need to aim at developing modern processing technology, suitable for small and medium scales. In addition, people also need to focus on growing crops in accordance with local government directions, helping to concentrate growing areas, improve processing rates and meet the need for product diversification.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/de-xuat-khau-rau-qua-di-duoc-duong-dai-post787809.html