HCM City (VNA) – Vietnam hasbeen making efforts to foster organic farming, including a decree issued lastAugust which should be implemented as soon as possible, experts told a forum inHCM City on December 25.
According to Le Thanh Hung of the Vietnam Standards and Quality Institute Vietnamis relatively unfamiliar with the organic farming standards of the InternationalFederation of Organic Agriculture Movements and its market for organicagricultural products is underdeveloped.
The government issued Decree 109/2018/NĐ-CP on organic farming regulations,procedures such as certification, traceability and inspections and supportingpolicies.
Besides, the national standards for organic agriculture are being adjusted formore clarity and specific standards for certain products such as rice, tea,shrimp, and milk.
It is crucial national standards match international standards to help farmersand businesses make appropriate adjustments to their production to enableexports.
The area under organic agriculture in Vietnamwas 118,000 hectares in 2016, according to the German-based Research Instituteof Organic Agriculture.
According to Ha Phuc Minh, Chairman of the VietnamOrganic Agriculture Association, cities and provinces need to execute thedecree and actively develop organic farming.
Meanwhile, farmers need to identify their markets and the standards they haveto comply with, and the Government should encourage farmers to adhere to themand carry out stringent inspections, he said.
"Distributors and consumers also need to carefully examine the goods theybuy," he said.
The forum was organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s AgroProcessing and Market Development Authority.-VNA