From 3rd to 8th of March, an event titled “Fruit Tech Innovation Days” (Ngày Công nghệ Trái cây Sáng tạo)” were organized in 4 provinces with more than 500 participants including advance farmers, cooperatives and companies, local authorities and expert in agricultural sector.
The event was launched as part of the “Improve Vietnam Tropical Fruits” project implemented by MCNV, the Vietnam Farmers’ Union under the support of the Netherlands government, technical and financial contribution from a consortium of EU and Vietnamese companies.
The key objectives of this project are improving cultivation techniques of dragon fruit, mango and pomelo farmers in Đồng Tháp, Long An, Bến Tre and Binh Thuận provinces and at the same time, support the SMEs and cooperatives in fruit sector to access to EU market.
The event provided a platform for the experts from Hollands, Vietnam Reseach Institutes and Companies to exchange their knowledge and information with farmers, export companies and cooperatives to find the best ways to improve cultivation practices and access to EU market for tropical fruits.
Eurofins Vietnam provides soil test service which help farmers deeply understand their own soil content so that they could adjust the use of fertilisers and water to best fit with what their crop needs. Yara Vietnam and Bayer Vietnam provide fertilizer and crop protection demo and trainings for farmers which help them save the production inputs and avoid the overuse thus lead to high residues in products in the market. Khang Thinh company introduce water saving irrigation solution which is specially suitable for farmers who cultivate in dry and saline-intrusive area.
Also at the event, ten potential local exporters have been selected for coming in-depth trainings which are aimed to help the trainees be prepared for accessing to EU and high-demand markets.
In the year 2022, project organized 13 technical training for more than 150 farmers and technical staff from related departments. There were 5 demo farms built with the supports from technical parners in 4 provinces.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Peter Prins, the chief technical adviser of the project shared: “Vietnamese farmers are very keen to gain more knowledge on soil management, fertilization and crop protection. In the past farmers tend to use more fertilizers, water or crop protection agents then required by the crop. However, overuse of input has a negative impact on the quality of the crops, for instance in terms of shelf life or the contamination with residues of chemical substances. With our project we show that less is better. At the end of the day the income of the farmers will be higher, by savings on inputs and better prices. It is our goal to strengthen the export position of the Vietnamese farmers”.
“With regard to Dutch business community, I want to encourage them to invest in collaboration with Vietnamese businesses and to strengthen the economic relationships between companies in both countries. It is my sincere wish to contribute to development of agriculture in Vietnam”.
Vietnam Farmers Union and farmers highly appreciate the changes and benefits that resulted from this project. Farmers, local cooperatives and exporters look forward to coming collaboration and support from this project to help them produce better products that could be exported to EU and high-demand market in the near future./.
