Workers pack dragon fruits for export in Binh Thuan province. (Photo: VNA)HCMCity (VNS/VNA) – Vietnam needs to invest more in post-harvestingtechnologies to improve the competitiveness of its farm produce, includingfruits and vegetables, in the global market, experts have said.
Poorharvesting and preservation technologies result in a decline in their value,and with the growing competition, the country needs to invest heavily inprocessing of fruits and other farm produce to hold its own in export markets.
Accordingto Ho Thi Thu Hoa, head of the Vietnam Logistics Research and DevelopmentInstitute, only 0.3 percent of agricultural products in Vietnam benefit fromthe use of cold chain logistics technologies compared to 3 percent in Germany,2.6 percent in England and 1 percent in the US.
Post-harvestlosses in Vietnam are significant at around 25 percent farm since the countryhas little in the way of post-harvest technologies and machinery.
Accordingto the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Vietnam loses10 percent of its rice output, 10-20 percent of root and tuber crops and 10-30 percentof fruits and vegetables.
Inthe Mekong Delta, a major rice bowl, post-harvest rice losses are worth morethan 3 trillion VND (132 million USD) a year, or 10-12 percent of total output.
"Packagingfarm products plays a very important role in preserving them after harvest, butVietnamese businesses are not paying attention to that," Hoa said.
Some70 percent of fruit and vegetable exports have been to China, mostly in freshand unprocessed form.
Littlewent to the Republic of Korea, Japan, the US, or the EU because of Vietnam’slimitations with regard to storage and post-harvest processing, experts said.
Thecountry’s seafood faces similar issues, particularly with ocean tuna. Japan isa big market for this fish and willing to pay high prices for it. A number ofJapanese experts have attempted to assist Vietnamese fishermen in post-harvestprocessing, but there has been little progress so far.
LeDuy Hiep, Chairman of the Vietnam Logistics Business Association (VLA), said toreduce post-harvest losses it was necessary to make further investments inagriculture, the Government needed to offer incentives to encourage farmersapply high-technology to reduce losses after harvest.
NguyenThi Thanh Thuc, chairwoman and director of Bagico Company, said to preserveproduce, factors that affect quality must be tackled directly such asvegetables being desiccated beforepacking.
Thecountry exports its agricultural products to 120 countries and territories,with key products being rice, coffee, pepper, and seafood.
However,in large and fastidious markets like the EU, the US, Japan, and Australia, manyof its exports have been refused entry due to microbial infections and residuesof veterinary drugs and heavy metals./.
Poorharvesting and preservation technologies result in a decline in their value,and with the growing competition, the country needs to invest heavily inprocessing of fruits and other farm produce to hold its own in export markets.
Accordingto Ho Thi Thu Hoa, head of the Vietnam Logistics Research and DevelopmentInstitute, only 0.3 percent of agricultural products in Vietnam benefit fromthe use of cold chain logistics technologies compared to 3 percent in Germany,2.6 percent in England and 1 percent in the US.
Post-harvestlosses in Vietnam are significant at around 25 percent farm since the countryhas little in the way of post-harvest technologies and machinery.
Accordingto the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Vietnam loses10 percent of its rice output, 10-20 percent of root and tuber crops and 10-30 percentof fruits and vegetables.
Inthe Mekong Delta, a major rice bowl, post-harvest rice losses are worth morethan 3 trillion VND (132 million USD) a year, or 10-12 percent of total output.
"Packagingfarm products plays a very important role in preserving them after harvest, butVietnamese businesses are not paying attention to that," Hoa said.
Some70 percent of fruit and vegetable exports have been to China, mostly in freshand unprocessed form.
Littlewent to the Republic of Korea, Japan, the US, or the EU because of Vietnam’slimitations with regard to storage and post-harvest processing, experts said.
Thecountry’s seafood faces similar issues, particularly with ocean tuna. Japan isa big market for this fish and willing to pay high prices for it. A number ofJapanese experts have attempted to assist Vietnamese fishermen in post-harvestprocessing, but there has been little progress so far.
LeDuy Hiep, Chairman of the Vietnam Logistics Business Association (VLA), said toreduce post-harvest losses it was necessary to make further investments inagriculture, the Government needed to offer incentives to encourage farmersapply high-technology to reduce losses after harvest.
NguyenThi Thanh Thuc, chairwoman and director of Bagico Company, said to preserveproduce, factors that affect quality must be tackled directly such asvegetables being desiccated beforepacking.
Thecountry exports its agricultural products to 120 countries and territories,with key products being rice, coffee, pepper, and seafood.
However,in large and fastidious markets like the EU, the US, Japan, and Australia, manyof its exports have been refused entry due to microbial infections and residuesof veterinary drugs and heavy metals./.
VNA
