Following the success of previous years, the Vocational Training and Farmer Support Centre of the Bac Ninh Provincial Farmers' Association has recently organised a safe agricultural product fair in the province, for 2023. The event attracted the participation of 22 booths, displaying safe agricultural products that meet OCOP and VietGAP standards, from enterprises, cooperatives, business households in the province and the Farmers' Associations of four provinces: Bac Giang, Tuyen Quang, Ha Tinh and Ha Giang.
Connecting agricultural product consumption
While welcoming visitors, Nguyen Van Hiep, the Director of the Safe Fruit and Vegetable Production Cooperative in Lien Ap village, Viet Doan commune, Tien Du district, took the opportunity to call on members to promptly bring more vegetables to the fair to serve consumers.
Hiep shared: "During the three days of the fair, each day on average, the cooperative sold about three quintals of vegetables. Participating in this fair, we are happy to have more consumers know about our safe vegetable and fruit products from Lien Ap village. Currently, our cooperative has more than 30 hectares of land, of which about 20 hectares are cultivated to produce vegetables such as Japanese cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and garlic according to VietGap standards".
With nearly 140 members participating in production, each year on average, the cooperative consumes between 250 to 350 tonnes of vegetables, tubers, and fruits of all kinds, and has signed supply contracts with large local businesses and supermarkets in Bac Ninh Province and some neighbouring provinces. In 2023, the Cooperative has registered four OCOP products including zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers and luffa.
Quickly choosing clean vegetable products from Lien Ap village, Ms. Pham Thi Hue from Bac Ninh City said, “On the opening day, I visited and bought clean vegetable products, rice noodles, and braised shrimp paste with meat. Knowing that this was the last day of the fair, I took the opportunity to buy more cucumbers, tomatoes, and kohlrabi to store in the refrigerator to eat later. This is an event organised by the Farmers' Association, so the prices are very reasonable and the products have a clear origin. I hope more similar fairs will be held with added diverse products.”
This is the fourth time that the Centre for Vocational Training and Farmer Support of Bac Ninh Province has organised a safe agricultural fair and is the second of its kind in 2023. Attending this year’s market, there are many typical local products such as Ba Ly Garlic (Luong Tai district); braised shrimp paste with meat from PTK 897 Vietnam Company (Tien Du district); spring rolls from Tuan Lien (Tu Son city), etc.
In addition, the fair also had the participation of the Farmers' Associations of Bac Giang, Ha Giang, Tuyen Quang and Ha Tinh provinces, with local specialties such as Chu noodles, oranges, tangerines, grapefruit, incense, and cu de cakes, which helped consumers have more diverse choices when shopping.
Promoting economic development in rural areas
As a provincial OCOP product with a 4-star standard, honoured as a "Vietnam Agricultural Golden Brand" in 2021, the Ba Ly Garlic brand participated in the Bac Ninh Province Safe Agricultural Product Fair in 2023.
Ms. Le Thi Phuong Dung, a representative of Ba Ly Garlic brand (Luong Tai district), said that in recent times, the brand has received a lot of support and love from people inside and outside the province. At this fair, the brand brought three new products including dried sliced garlic, dried sliced onions and garlic powder, so that consumers can use and preserve the products longer.
According to the Director of the Center for Vocational Training and Farmer Support (Bac Ninh Provincial Farmers' Association) Dao Trong Dai, the safe agricultural fair is an opportunity for businesses, organisations and individuals to connect and consume agricultural products and links in production, especially ensuring food safety and hygiene in the production, processing and consumption of agricultural products, for the health and safety of consumers.
At the same time, this is also an activity in response to the OCOP programme, helping promote and introduce safe agricultural products and VietGAP to members and consumers, as well as helping them have the opportunity to choose and enjoy high-quality products at manufacturer's prices.
Recently, the OCOP programme in Bac Ninh Province has made an important contribution to promoting the economic development of rural areas, in the direction of promoting internal resources and increasing value.
According to an evaluation of the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Provincial Farmers' Association plays a very important role in popularising, mobilising and guiding branches and members to participate in building, standardising and developing OCOP products.
Farmers are increasingly promoting their role as subjects participating in cooperation, association, shifting of production structure, exploiting and using potential advantages to develop OCOP products improving economic efficiency and building new-style rural areas.
