Good signs at season beginning

Currently, Son La province has over 82,000 hectares of fruit and hawthorn trees, of which the harvested area reaches over 63,200 hectares, with an estimated output of over 378,530 tonnes. Some main crops with large areas and yields include banana, 6,524 hectares and 59,500 tonnes of fruit; plum, 12,400 hectares and 78,200 tonnes; mango, nearly 19,700 hectares and  nearly 77,800 tonnes; longan, 20,000 hectares and 72,000 tonnes; and custard apple, 972 hectares and over 7,100 tonnes.

This year's season, the province's fruit growing areas have been affected by heat, prolonged drought, and hail in some areas that caused damage to trees and crops. However, thanks to promoting the application of scientific and technical advances, despite a decrease in the output of some fruits, the products’ appearance and quality have still met the standards of domestic and foreign partners.

Ha Nhu Hue, Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and deputy head of the provincial Steering Committee for Processing and Export of Agricultural Products, said that right from the beginning of the year, the province has directed departments, committees, People's Committees of districts and Son La city to closely monitor production and processing activities; review and strictly manage growing area and packaging facility codes to meet partners' requirements; focus on food safety and hygiene; instruct production households in the growing areas to prepare good conditions in terms of facilities, packaging, labels, foam boxes, equipment, and harvesting tools.

By May 10, the whole province had sold about 36,200 tonnes of all kinds of fruit for over 755 billion VND. They included 7,350 tonnes of strawberries; over 15,000 tonnes of bananas; early over 10,350 tonnes of early-ripening plums; 42 tonnes of early-ripening longans; and 461 tonnes of mangoes. Most fresh fruits are purchased by businesses and cooperatives to supply to supermarkets and clean fruit stores in provinces and cities across the country and for export.

Do Thi Bich Chau, Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Industry and Trade, said that with the efforts of departments, agencies, districts and Son La city, the province’s total export value as of May 7 was estimated at over 80 million USD, an increase of 12.54% over the same period in 2023 and reaching nearly 41% of the 2024 plan. Of which, the value of agricultural and food products hit over 78.2 million USD, up 14.74% year-on-year.

Stepping up trade promotion

Implementing the direction of the provincial People's Committee, the Department of Industry and Trade has coordinated with units of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Departments of Industry and Trade of provinces and cities to update the customs clearance situation, especially of agricultural products at northern border gates. It has partnered with the provincial Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Center and economic infrastructure departments of districts and Son La city to grasp the production of factories and establishments preliminary processing and processing agricultural products.

Particularly on May 4-5, the Department of Industry and Trade connected with and supported Minh Khai Trading JSC in Lao Cai province and its Chinese import partner to survey growing areas and work directly with major mango producers and wholesalers in the districts of Muong La, Mai Son, Yen Chau, and Song Ma.

In addition, the province is attracting agricultural product processing enterprises to invest in developing raw material areas such as the instant cereal and dried fruit factory of VFI Investment Trading Production JSC; and the Solas fruit processing and packaging factory of Bao Lam Son La JSC.

In the 2023-2024 crop, Minh Khai Trading JSC plans to daily purchase and export to China 3-5 trucks of mangoes without defects, weighing 400-700 grams per fruit, through border gates in Lao Cai province. In each district, the company cooperates with a qualified purchasing and packaging facility to act as a coordinator to meet orders.

Hanoi-based Danko Import-Export JSC has received orders for some key agricultural products of Son La province in the 2023-2024 crop, including 3,000 tonnes of fresh plums, 1,000 tonnes of dried plums, 3,500 tonnes of fresh mangos, 150 tonnes of “tai nung” pears, 150 tonnes of Taiwanese custard apples, 100 tonnes of “sau” custard apples, and 1,000 tons of purple passion fruits.

According to Nguyen Thi Luong, CEO of Danko Import-Export JSC, since the beginning of the crop, the company has purchased and sold about 1,500 tonnes of fresh strawberries; 1,200 tonnes of frozen strawberries, 50 tonnes of freeze-dried strawberries. “Currently, we are purchasing plums to supply to the supermarket system. It is expected that in June, Son La plums will be served on Vietnam Airlines flights,” she said.

In addition to supporting trade promotion and consumption connection in traditional ways, provincial departments, agencies, and People's Committees of districts and Son La city has bolstered the promotion of typical local agricultural products on social network platforms like Tiktok, Facebook and Zalo; organised weeks of agricultural products and typical goods of the province; and activated booths on e-commerce platforms such as Lazada, Shopee and PosMart.

Luong said that her company is developing a plan to bring all processed and packaged agricultural products of Son La to the market. However, most stamps, labels, and packaging of Son La’s processed products do not meet the requirements, and many products have not been registered for product announcement according to regulations. Therefore, the company has proposed the province allow it to organise training courses on labeling, packaging and product announcement for businesses and cooperatives.

Determined to achieve targets on sales and export of agricultural products, the provincial People's Committee has focused on directing departments, agencies, sectors, and People's Committees of districts and Son La city to promote trade of products with large yields in the second quarter, such as plum, mango and longan. It has directed the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to coordinate with People's Committees of districts and Son La city to support businesses and cooperatives to proactively manage production and packaging processes, as well as expand consumption and export markets.

The People's Committees of districts and Son La city has supported the development of 1-2 purchasing units in each district, with qualified facilities, such as factories, vehicles, resources, and personnel to meet the requirements of processing factories and import-export units, thus forming a network linking product purchasing and packaging establishments. They has also promoted connections for the export of agricultural products to China, the US, Australia, the EU, Japan, and the Middle East, contributing to bringing Son La's fruit products to the world.