Solutions to Boost Vietnam Vegetable Export
The fruit tree and vegetable cultivated area in Vietnam covers some 1.5 million ha, much smaller than that for rice but much larger than for coffee, pepper and rubber. But, economically, the export value of fruits and vegetables is much smaller than the above commodities.
Vietnam has a lot of tropical fruits and vegetables for export. The Southeast Asian nation has about 60 modern fruit and vegetable processing plants with outputs mainly exported to Japan, the United States and Europe. However, these facilities are running at only 20 to 30 percent of their designed capacity on lack of input supplies. Scattered farming is resulted to the material undersupply and takes more transport costs.
Recent researches by the Central Institute for Economic Management show that Vietnam ranks fifth in vegetable and fruit output in Asia but up to 85 percent is consumed domestically. According to experts, the Vietnamese fruit and vegetable sector needs to focus more on seeding, post-harvest preservation and processing, quarantine and quality certification. Besides, Vietnam’s export of fruits and vegetables is currently relatively weak because rising input costs since mid-2010 and high interest rates are wrecking on local producers, which are mainly small-scaled. Weaknesses are found in all production stages in Vietnamese fruit and vegetable companies. The production and consumption of fruits and vegetables in Vietnam remain weak in comparison with regional countries like Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia. For the time being, Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable export is largely reliant on the volatile Chinese market where Vietnamese exporters are frequently at a disadvantage.
To boost fruit and vegetable exports, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has reviewed the general development plan. The ministry advocates each province develops one or two major crops.
According to foreign experts, in addition to favourable soil factors, Vietnam needs to further professionalise the process of cultivating, harvesting and processing fruits and vegetables. Besides, the development of this sector will depend on the cooperation of various branches. The authorities necessarily offer incentives and preferences for projects targeted at product processing, seedling research and improvement, technological innovation and transfer, preservation technology, material zone development, trade promotion, and agricultural products popularisation. In concert, the authorities should recommend farmers to apply food hygiene and safety standards lie VietGAP (Vietnam standards) and GlobalGAP (international standards) to boost the global presence of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables with higher export turnover.
Thanh Nga
Vietnamese
