Cooperative boosts linkages in clean, safe fruit growing

Promoting local advantages, over the past years, Hung Thinh Cooperative in Sub-zone 3, Muong Bu commune, Muong La district has gathered and linked farmer households to develop fruit trees in a clean, safe, and value chain-based manner, bringing in high economic efficiency.

Hung Thinh Cooperative introduces products at Big C Thang Long supermarket in Hanoi.

Hung Thinh Cooperative has 20 members, producing over 70 hectares of high-quality fruit trees, including big jujube, Taiwanese mango, Australian mango, purple mango, local mango, longan, jackfruit, banana, sapodilla and Thai custard apple. Nguyen Dinh Huong, Director of the cooperative, said during its operation, the cooperative has been enabled to borrow preferential loans and supported to obtain VietGAP certifications for jujube, longan, and mango products. At the time of harvesting, on average the cooperative supplies the market with about 2.5 tonnes of fruits per day, mainly to wholesale markets in provinces and major supermarket systems in Hanoi, such as BigC, GO!, Tops Market, Vincom Mega Mall, Lotte Hanoi, and Co.op Mart. The cooperative's total revenue in 2023 reached 8.3 billion VND (322,730 USD) and the average income of members hit 9 million VND per person per month.

With the goal of developing sustainable production and sale, and safe processing of agricultural products, the cooperative has guided members to comply with the production process from selecting seeds to caring, completely use organic fertilizers and composted manure. The organic production model has changed the mindset of producers in the direction of creating products with high quality, high economic value, and safety for producers and consumers, gradually developing clean and sustainable production. Currently, of the 70 hectares of the cooperative, 17 hectares of jujube, longan, and mango meet VietGAP standards.

Actively applying high technology to production, the cooperative has invested in a high-tech production area, including net house system, seeds, microbiological fertilizers, cultivation diary, and traceability system, preliminary processing and processing facilities. Thanks to the application of high technology, it has minimised the impact of weather, maintained four-season production, and created quality products with beautiful designs. In 2021, the cooperative brought its big jujube to e-commerce platforms. Its members have put products on sale in the market with transparent information, helping buyers find and access products quickly.

Lo Van Tien, a member of Hung Thinh Cooperative, previously grew the native jujube with low productivity, so his family switched to growing the big jujube. He said that after joining the cooperative and receiving technical support, I grafted 5 hectares of the native jujube with the big jujube. When harvested, the jujubes have a beautiful appearance, green skin, and crunchy, sweet taste. The average yield is 15 tonnes per hectare per crop, with a selling price of 50,000 VND (2 USD) per kg, twice as high as regular jujube varieties.

Amid the increasing consumer demand for traceability of agricultural and food products, Hung Thinh Cooperative is testing a traceability system using smart electronic stamps. Tran Thi Dau, a member of the cooperative, said that her family currently has 5 hectares of big jujube, and is supported with traceability stamps, creating the product's reputation among consumers.

The agricultural value chain model of Hung Thinh Cooperative has proven effective. The cooperative is planning to expand by 10 hectares to grow fruit and vegetables, of which 5 hectares are grown in net houses, applying high technology and automatic control, contributing to improving the quality of agricultural products and income for members.

 

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