Delegates visit a pomelo garden of a farmer in the southern province of Tien Giang (Photo: VNA)HCM City (VNS/VNA) - Some 400 pomelo, durian andcoffee farmers from Highlands, South-eastern and Mekong Delta provinces areattending seven classes for advanced training in agronomy, cultivationtechniques and integrated pest management.
The classes at the recently launched Bayer Agricademy,organised from June 7 to 22, aim to help the farmers improve yields, qualityand incomes to achieve the ultimate goal of the Government to improve thequality of agricultural products that are exported.
Much More Durian and Much More Pomelo via Much More FruitsClubs were taught to local farmer technical solutions.
The courses on pomelo equipped farmers with advancedknowledge and remedies for root rot disease while those on durian will focus onyoung fruit drop phenomenon.
These are common diseases in the Mekong Delta andsouth-eastern regions that currently lack effective solutions.
As for coffee farming, the course teaches farmers high-techsolutions for successful coffee replanting.
Vo Van Bay from Long Tien commune, Cai Lay district, TienGiang province, one of the trainees, said: “In the near future, durian will beexported officially, putting an end to the sluggish trade and the fact thatsupply exceeds demand.
“Durian is currently sold at 60,000 VND per kilogramme, butexport prices could be two or three times higher though there will be stringentquality requirement.
“Therefore, if farmers would like to benefit from export, weneed to upgrade our knowledge, applying modern farming methods to qualify forexport, which we can do thanks to Bayer Agricademy.”
Talking about the training, Le Quoc Dien, Director of theSouthern Horticultural Research Institute’s Technology Transfer Centre, said:“The training programme provides practical information including about cropmanagement and pest management with the aim of helping Vietnamese farmersimprove productivity and quality.
“Lectures and handbooks are designed and edited withillustrations and topics tailored to make it easy for farmers to understand andapply after learning.”
Bayer Vietnam said it welcomes feedback from participantswhile exploring farmers’ needs and cooperating with partners to offer morecourses for farmers around the country.
Weraphon Charoenpanit, country commercial lead of BayerVietnam’s Crop Science Division, said: “We would like to help every farmerbecome an expert on their own farms, enjoying higher yields, quality andincomes. In addition, farmers participating in this advanced training will betrainers playing an important role in helping neighbouring farmers improvetheir cultivation.”
Bayer also offers farmers who are members of the Bayer MuchMore Fruits Clubs the opportunity to interact with farmers in neighbouringcountries through its annual Beautiful Fruit Gardens competition.
Ten winners of last year’s competition will go on a fieldtrip to mango and custard apple farms in Thailand from July 24 to 27.
Vietnam has for many long been a competitive fruit exporterwith increasing exports.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said inrecent years fruit exports have seen a jump in growth.
In 2012, fruit and vegetable exports were only worth 800million USD. In 2016, this figure had surged to 2.4 billion USD. Last year theywere worth 3.8 billion USD.
In early 2019, Vietnam’s fruit exporters received the goodnews that China had agreed to allow imports of seven fruits from Vietnam,including durian, pomelo, passion fruit, sweet potato, coconut, custard apple,and mangosteen.
The ministry said 10 billion USD worth of fruit exports couldbe achieved soon.
But to be more competitive in the export market, Vietnamneeds to underline its capability to supply high-quality products since most ofits farmers are small holders using traditional methods of cultivation.
Therefore, supplying quality products and establishing avalue chain are urgent requirements for the country’s fruit industry to enterall markets, experts said.-VNS/VNA
The classes at the recently launched Bayer Agricademy,organised from June 7 to 22, aim to help the farmers improve yields, qualityand incomes to achieve the ultimate goal of the Government to improve thequality of agricultural products that are exported.
Much More Durian and Much More Pomelo via Much More FruitsClubs were taught to local farmer technical solutions.
The courses on pomelo equipped farmers with advancedknowledge and remedies for root rot disease while those on durian will focus onyoung fruit drop phenomenon.
These are common diseases in the Mekong Delta andsouth-eastern regions that currently lack effective solutions.
As for coffee farming, the course teaches farmers high-techsolutions for successful coffee replanting.
Vo Van Bay from Long Tien commune, Cai Lay district, TienGiang province, one of the trainees, said: “In the near future, durian will beexported officially, putting an end to the sluggish trade and the fact thatsupply exceeds demand.
“Durian is currently sold at 60,000 VND per kilogramme, butexport prices could be two or three times higher though there will be stringentquality requirement.
“Therefore, if farmers would like to benefit from export, weneed to upgrade our knowledge, applying modern farming methods to qualify forexport, which we can do thanks to Bayer Agricademy.”
Talking about the training, Le Quoc Dien, Director of theSouthern Horticultural Research Institute’s Technology Transfer Centre, said:“The training programme provides practical information including about cropmanagement and pest management with the aim of helping Vietnamese farmersimprove productivity and quality.
“Lectures and handbooks are designed and edited withillustrations and topics tailored to make it easy for farmers to understand andapply after learning.”
Bayer Vietnam said it welcomes feedback from participantswhile exploring farmers’ needs and cooperating with partners to offer morecourses for farmers around the country.
Weraphon Charoenpanit, country commercial lead of BayerVietnam’s Crop Science Division, said: “We would like to help every farmerbecome an expert on their own farms, enjoying higher yields, quality andincomes. In addition, farmers participating in this advanced training will betrainers playing an important role in helping neighbouring farmers improvetheir cultivation.”
Bayer also offers farmers who are members of the Bayer MuchMore Fruits Clubs the opportunity to interact with farmers in neighbouringcountries through its annual Beautiful Fruit Gardens competition.
Ten winners of last year’s competition will go on a fieldtrip to mango and custard apple farms in Thailand from July 24 to 27.
Vietnam has for many long been a competitive fruit exporterwith increasing exports.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said inrecent years fruit exports have seen a jump in growth.
In 2012, fruit and vegetable exports were only worth 800million USD. In 2016, this figure had surged to 2.4 billion USD. Last year theywere worth 3.8 billion USD.
In early 2019, Vietnam’s fruit exporters received the goodnews that China had agreed to allow imports of seven fruits from Vietnam,including durian, pomelo, passion fruit, sweet potato, coconut, custard apple,and mangosteen.
The ministry said 10 billion USD worth of fruit exports couldbe achieved soon.
But to be more competitive in the export market, Vietnamneeds to underline its capability to supply high-quality products since most ofits farmers are small holders using traditional methods of cultivation.
Therefore, supplying quality products and establishing avalue chain are urgent requirements for the country’s fruit industry to enterall markets, experts said.-VNS/VNA
VNA
