In 2019, Hoa Binh province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and Department of Science and Technology joined hands in carrying out a number of projects which involve the application of advanced technology in sustainably developing farms on sloping land in Ky Son district; the application of advanced technology in developing apiculture towards the mass production of honey in Hoa Binh; the application of advanced technology in developing industrial-scale cow raising in Hoa Binh; the research and application of biological methods to keep roots of orange and mandarins from contracting pests; and the development of models and systems for the forecasting of sub-regional weather and district-level warning of flash flood, forest fire and agricultural pests in northern mountainous districts.
Farmers from Cao Phong township, Cao Phong district, popularise their fresh orange grown under the VietGAP standards.
The Department of Science and Technology has held training courses on intellectual property rights for households and businesses participating in One Commune, One Product (OCOP) programme and on intellectual property development for the district-level People’s Committee and sectoral agencies.
The department has selected and registered trademarks for a number of local agricultural specialties under the OCOP programme. Last year, it provided support for 30 local businesses to register trademarks for Yen Thuy pomelo, Da Bac rice, Muong Dong orange and pomelo of Kim Boi district.
Thanks to such effort, Hoa Binh is now home to 27 OCOP-verified agricultural products which have seen much stronger sales. As a result, farmers have enjoyed more stable income since they no longer face price fall on bumper crops.
The provincial agricultural sector targets having at least 25 percent of its agricultural products, or about 50 of its total, meet OCOP standards.
Hoa Binh currently has around 2,000 hectares of large-scale vegetable and citrus fruit production satisfying food safety, VietGAP and organic standards. VietGAP vegetables, oranges and pomeloes produced in Hoa Binh are now available at major wet markets and supermarkets in Hanoi.
The province has thus earned extra 135 million VND for a hectare of farming land, additional 102 million VND from fisheries for a hectare of water surface while revenue from husbandry also increased 5.5 percent.
Last year, the province’s agriculture sector generated over 11 trillion VND in revenue. The sector sets to raise it by 6 percent to 11.7 trillion VND by the end of this year./.