Need to lie down to catch the opportunity

According to statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the country currently has more than 150 industrial-scale fruit and vegetable processing facilities with a total designed capacity of over 1 million tons of products per year, concentrated in 28 provinces and cities. In Hai Duong, the processing industry has a lot of potential but has not yet developed adequately. The output of processed agricultural products is still low.

Currently, the province has 423 projects in the field of processing industry, this is an opportunity for Hai Duong to develop the processing industry. Hai Duong is a locality with many large-scale and concentrated vegetable growing areas. Up to now, the province has also had many programs and schemes to invest in the development of commodity agricultural production associated with the processing industry.

Many investors have come to Hai Duong wanting to cooperate in processing guava juice or carrots for export. Currently, Hai Duong also has a number of enterprises processing pickled cucumbers, dried onions, dried carrots ... These products have stood in fastidious markets such as Japan, Korea, European countries ...

According to the leader of Hai Duong People's Committee, the situation of agricultural product processing in Hai Duong is small, fragmented and dispersed. Most agricultural products of the province are only being processed small, preliminary processing, the rate of processed agricultural products is very low (only less than 10%). The reason for this situation is that the volume of agricultural products of Hai Duong largely meets the needs in the province with a population of 1.8 million people. The surplus is supplied to nearby large consumption markets such as Hanoi, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh ... The cost of agricultural products is still high, so it is difficult to compete in the world market; old, outdated production practices, distributed, fragmented production, not ensuring food safety and hygiene, so it is difficult to participate in export markets. People's consumption practices are still the main use of fresh agricultural products. The percentage of people using frozen and processed foods is still very low. Production and processing of agricultural products, which is a field that depends heavily on objectivity, does not give high profits, so it is difficult to attract investors.

Typically, rice annually has a very large output (about 800,000 tons), but is used within the province from 500,000 to 550,000 tons / year. The surplus of about 250,000 - 300,000 tons is mainly milled into rice and sold outside the province, there can be no rice for export in large volumes, except for the export of specialty rice (glutinous rice) through the quota to China. From 2021 until now, Tu Ky district has more rice fields for export.

Green vegetable crops with an area of about 35,000 hectares, winter crops account for up to 25,000 hectares. Winter vegetable crops are seasonal for about 3-4 months, the volume of which is not enough to meet for a processing plant or for export.

Finding directions for the agricultural processing industry

According to hai duong provincial leaders: The project "Planning of agricultural product storage and processing facilities in Hai Duong province to 2025 and orientation to 2030", Hai Duong will have 667 meat and poultry processing facilities, 41 vegetable, tuber and fruit preliminary processing facilities, 1,642 alcohol processing facilities, 1,205 agricultural drying facilities... To achieve this goal, it is necessary first of all to plan the processing industry associated with agricultural production.

Besides, it is also necessary to pay attention to the output and quality of agricultural products such as carrot bowls in Nam Sach, Cam Giang, winter vegetables in Gia Loc, garlic onions in Kinh Mon; guava and lychee growing areas in Thanh Ha or aquaculture areas concentrated in many parts of the province need to be invested methodically, according to clean and modern production processes, with stable output and good quality.

Along with paying attention to the quality of raw materials supplied to the processing industry, the link between farmers and enterprises must be built methodically, avoiding the situation that processing enterprises in the province have to go to other localities to buy raw materials.

Next, it is necessary to pay attention to the new production thinking of farmers, shifting from fragmented and small production to centralized production to have a large volume of goods. These regions are applied technical advances and safe product production processes through the form of production links, cooperatives or cooperatives. Farmers must also respect contracts for the production and consumption of products.

Production and processing of agricultural products are inherently risky and low-profit industries, so agricultural processing enterprises need the State's support in science and technology, production organization, capital, land, tax policies...

According to the leader of the Agricultural Import-Export Company, to form an agricultural processing facility, the province needs to invest in an agricultural product processing facility, with a large enough raw material area and appropriate processing technology. Along with the construction of the plant, it is necessary to build a raw material area, which is located in the general planning of the region. Processing technology must be advanced to be able to process a variety of agricultural products. This will limit the seasonality of agricultural products.

It is necessary to grasp consumer sentiment and market demand. The preservation, preliminary processing and processing must take into account each type of product and each market area in rural or urban areas. For products participating in export, it is also necessary to firmly grasp the needs and tastes of the importing country.

It is known that in the new generation of free trade agreements that Vietnam has signed, there are many incentives for Vietnam's agricultural products exported to many markets. Therefore, Hai Duong needs to immediately seize this opportunity to develop the processing industry, contributing to improving the value of agricultural products.