Agricultural products 'take off' thanks to festivals

Empowering agricultural products to reach out to the world

From carrots, onions, garlic to specialties such as rice and organic worms, the province and many localities have honored them through organizing festivals and celebrations.

The association of agricultural products with the organization of festivals that Hai Duong has been doing is creative and skillful because since ancient times, festivals have always created a vibrant atmosphere, an attractive and impressive experience space and especially there is no limit on the number and composition of participants. The jubilant and joyful atmosphere of agricultural festivals is widely spread through the press, social networks... Thanks to that, Hai Duong agricultural products are increasingly enhanced in terms of image and value.

Director of Duc Chinh Agricultural Service Cooperative (Cam Giang) Nguyen Duc Thuat said that from 2022 to now, the commune's carrot export output has reached about 30,000 tons/year, double that of 2021 and earlier. Each year, about 85% of Duc Chinh's total carrot output is exported to markets in many countries around the world such as Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and some countries in the Middle East.

In 2022, the province will hold the first carrot festival, attracting experts and businesses from many countries around the world to visit, learn and sign consumption contracts. This event has helped our local traditional crops fly far into the world market and increase their value. Carrots used to be sold for only 2,000-4,000 VND/kg, now even at low prices they are sold for 6,000-9,000 VND/kg," Mr. Thuat informed.

Kinh Mon is the "capital" of onion and garlic cultivation in the country. Every year, this locality grows over 4,000 hectares of onions and garlic, with a total output of about 100,000 tons. In January 2024, the town held its first onion and garlic harvest festival.

Nguyen Trong Thuong, Head of the Economic Department of Kinh Mon Town, is very pleased with the value system that the festival brings. The festival has created a vibrant and attractive atmosphere, helping farmers to be proud of the local agricultural products, love their homeland more, and thereby have the motivation to continue competing in labor production.

At the festival, through propaganda, promotion activities, and signing of trade contracts, the value of Kinh Mon onions and garlic has increased. In the market, Kinh Mon dried onions cost from 30,000 to 40,000 VND/kg, garlic from 50,000 to 70,000 VND/kg, double the price of a few years ago.

After the festival, the onion and garlic consumption market also had very positive changes.

“

"Not only domestically, some products such as dried onions, garlic, garlic wine... have been initially exported to some countries such as China and France."

Head of Economic Department of Kinh Mon town Nguyen Trong Thuong

There was a time when lychee - one of the specialties that has become the pride of Hai Duong people - was overshadowed by Bac Giang lychee. The price of lychee was not high, the domestic consumption market was limited, and marketing to some countries was difficult. However, the situation changed when the first lychee festival was held in 2018. The festival created a "new wind" in promoting trade for this specialty fruit in terms of both image and value.

After the festival, Hai Duong started to reorganize the fabric production areas to meet export standards and invited many businesses to participate in consuming the products.

To date, the province has 198 lychee growing area codes for export, mainly in Thanh Ha district. In the 2024 lychee crop, Hai Duong has 120 hectares of 12 early lychee growing areas according to GlobalGAP standards that are eligible for export to high-end markets, an increase of 1 area (10 hectares) compared to the 2023 lychee crop. The lychee output in these 12 areas reaches nearly 1,500 tons, exported to markets in Japan, Korea, the US, Europe, etc.

2024 is the third year that Tu Ky district organizes the Organic Rice Festival (previously called the Organic Rice Festival).

Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan, Director of New Generation Agriculture Joint Stock Company (Tu Ky) said that in 2023-2024, the company helped farmers in An Thanh commune sell 110 tons of ST25 organic rice at a price of 65,000 VND/kg, twice as high as rice of the same variety but grown using traditional intensive farming methods. "Through the festival, many domestic partners ordered organic rice, but the current output has not met all the demand. The company is preparing to expand the organic rice growing area to Quang Trung commune with an area of ​​about 30 hectares to increase output and value," said Mr. Tuan.

Standardize production process

I had a chance to talk with Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan at some agricultural festivals in Hai Duong. The Minister highly appreciated the province's initiative in organizing agricultural festivals.

However, the area of ​​agricultural products produced in the province that meet export standards is still modest compared to its potential. The harvest season for crop products is short, and there are few large-scale agricultural product processing and preservation facilities... Minister Le Minh Hoan said that, in addition to continuing to expand production areas that meet export standards, Hai Duong needs to focus on attracting strong investment resources for agricultural product processing and preservation. Agricultural products that are preserved longer, creating new and higher-quality products, will increase their value and appeal to the market.

"The demand for agricultural products in these markets is still very large. Hai Duong agricultural products can completely expand their export market share to the world if they soon standardize their production processes according to international standards," said Ngo Xuan Nam, Deputy Head of the Office of Notification and National Enquiry Point on Epidemiology and Animal and Plant Quarantine of Vietnam.

Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Luong Thi Kiem said that to achieve this goal, the province will develop concentrated cultivation according to the value chain, market orientation, high technology application, organic agriculture, towards developing a multi-value agricultural economy.