Vietnam’s organic agricultural product exports reach over 300 million USD/year, with plenty of room for growth

VIETNAM ORGANIC AGRICULTURE PRODUCTS CONQUER THE EU MARKET
Mr. Nguyen Quoc Toan, Director of the Department of Agricultural Product Processing and Market Development (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), said that after 3 years of implementing the Organic Agriculture Project, up to now, organic agricultural production has It is spreading more and more strongly all over the country.

In 2021, the area of ​​organic agricultural land in Vietnam has reached over 174,000 hectares, an increase of 47% compared to 2016, ranking 9th in the 10 countries with the largest organic agricultural land area in Asia. In which, the area of ​​organic farming is more than 63,000 hectares, the area for organic aquaculture is more than 100,000 hectares, the area for natural harvesting of organic agriculture is more than 12,000 hectares.

“Vietnam’s organic agricultural product export turnover reached 335 million USD/year, exported to 180 countries around the world, more than 17,000 producers, 555 processors, 60 organic agricultural exporters. …”

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Toan, Director of the Department of Agricultural Product Processing and Market Development.

Sharing about the trend of consuming organic products in the world, Mr. Nguyen Minh Tien – Director of the Agricultural Trade Promotion Center said that consumers are gradually realizing the importance of organic products to their health. environment, human health and creating sustainable ecosystems, especially in the post-Covid-19 context. The global organic products market has grown sharply to $188 billion in 2021, and is estimated to reach $208 billion by 2022.

“Currently, Vietnam’s organic agricultural products reach the European market the most. According to official EU statistics, retail sales of agricultural products in the EU market reached 45 billion euros. Germany is the largest market in Europe and the second largest in the world with 11.97 billion euros in retail sales. The European organic market recorded a growth rate of 8.0% per year,” said Mr. Tien.

Mr. Pham Minh Duc, Vice Chairman of Vietnam Organic Agriculture Association – CEO of Ecolink, shared: “In 2008, when we went to Europe, we found that Vietnamese tea did not have a good reputation for drug residues. Plant protection. Therefore, we order organic tea farmers in Vietnam to export organic tea to the EU. Our experience is that tea in remote areas is of good quality. For example, Shan Tuyet tea in Ha Giang is easier to succeed than tea in Thai Nguyen”.

According to Mr. Duc, from 2018 to 2022, there are 164 Vietnamese enterprises with 200 products having organic product certification from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Dr. Nguyen Van Kien, Lecturer at Australian National University and Director of Mekong Organics Co., Ltd. said that retail sales of organic agricultural products in Australia have increased to more than 2.5 billion Australian dollars (AUD). ). Australia’s organic market grows by more than 5% per year, and there are years when it grows above 10%. However, the supply of organic products into Australia is quite modest.

Talking about the opportunity for processed organic agricultural products to enter the Australian market, Dr. Kien shared, rice is the commodity with the best opportunity because the demand for organic rice far exceeds the supply. “Processed fruit and vegetable products enjoy favorable regulatory advantages, while commodities such as cashews and macadamia enter this market that need to be treated for carbon dioxide. Fish, shrimp, dried herbs and spices such as basil, cinnamon, etc., if certified organic, will have good development prospects in this market,” said Mr. Kien.

According to Dr. Kien, through a training network organized by Mekong Organics Co., Ltd. within the framework of the project “Promoting certification and trade in Australian-Vietnamese organic agricultural products”, it shows that many medium and large enterprises small has carried out organic certification according to international standards to export to fastidious markets.

ORGANIC AGRICULTURE PRODUCTION IS SUCCESSFUL
Paul Le, Vice Chairman of Central Retail Group, said: The Covid-19 pandemic is a lever for consumers like us to pay more attention to healthy products and also during the time of social distancing. society, we have more time to learn about health issues, increase the purchasing power of healthy products such as organic products.”

With the change of world consumer behavior, Mr. Pau Le said that Vietnamese farmers need to focus on good production, creating products that meet organic standards in accordance with the needs of domestic people. and international. In addition, the price of organic products will decrease, in line with the ability of the majority of consumers.

“Organic products must have an “organic price”, because it takes too much effort and money to invest and maintain. Therefore, consumers should accept buying organic agricultural products at a higher price than the price. VietGAP agricultural products and conventional agricultural products”.

Ms. Tu Thi Tuyet Nhung, Head of the Organic Agriculture Standards Coordination Committee (PGS) of the Vietnam Organic Agriculture Association.

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Anh, General Director of South Central Fisheries Investment Company Limited, said that organic agricultural production is facing many challenges in terms of material prices, labor, profits, output, etc. is the lack of synchronization in production between stages.

“The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development together with competent authorities develop standards for organic agricultural products, thereby controlling the standards. With that, farmers and businesses will not be able to mess up or be out of sync,” Mr. Hoang Anh suggested.

According to Mr. Nguyen Hong Lam, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Guilin Group, the bottleneck in the development of organic agriculture is currently 4 problems: Lack of trust between State management agencies, businesses and farmers; exploiting resources to the point of exhaustion; environmental pollution affects the quality of agricultural products and the health of producers; consumer health, plants and animals. Only when these problems are solved can organic farming be truly successful.

Vu Kim Hanh, Chairman of the Business Association of High-Quality Vietnamese Goods, said that through the survey, Vietnamese consumers now choose to use products according to the following criteria: Eye-catching, delicious and suitable products. taste (87%); safe products (80%); products with clear packaging (39%); organic products (26%). As can be seen, organic products still account for a low proportion in the consumption picture.

According to Ms. Hanh, many people still do not understand the definition of “organic”. Therefore, it is necessary to give a simple and clear definition of the organic production model as a production method that ensures the principle of 6 no: No inorganic fertilizers; no pesticides; no herbicides; do not use genetically modified varieties; do not take growth stimulants; No chemicals in soil and water.

Source: Haiphong News