An organic vegetable farm in Pho Yen town of Thai Nguyen province (Photo: VNA)Quang Nam (VNA) – The total organicfarming area in Vietnam expanded from 12,120ha to 76,666ha between 2007 and2015, faster than the global average pace, said Director of the VietnamAgricultural Extension Centre Tran Van Khoi.
He said at a forum in Tam Ky city, in thecentral province of Quang Nam, on July 20 that organic cultivation andaquaculture models have been applied in 33 provinces and cities nationwide.
Organic farming is considered a solution forrestructuring the agricultural sector towards higher added value andsustainable development, especially amid the notable risks of chemical farmingand the exhaustion of land and water resources, he noted.
In recent years, the Ministry of Agriculture andRural Development (MARD) has encouraged organic agricultural practices,including using more organic fertilisers, reducing chemical fertilisers, andcontrolling diseases in a biological manner.
More and more farms and cooperatives haveadopted these practices and harvested initial outcomes, Khoi said, adding thatsome farms have already gained decent profits from exporting organicvegetables.
Some participants in the forum said organicagriculture in Vietnam is only in its initial stage, and there are problems inmanaging and implementing this type of farming, including insufficient capitaland obstacles to accessing preferential loans.
Although the MARD has issued a set of organicfarming standards, there haven’t been detailed instructions on how to certifyorganic agricultural products. Meanwhile, there haven’t been any organisationstasked with granting certificates for organic farming products, so theseproducts have yet to win the trust of consumers.
It is necessary to have a uniform managementsystem and supportive policies to create development opportunities for organicagriculture, participants said.
At the event, representatives of managerial andresearch agencies, farmers, and businesses and relevant partners sharedinformation and their experiences regarding organic farming practices inVietnam and around the world.
They also looked into the outcomes of someorganic farming models in the central provinces of Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, BinhDinh, and Phu Yen. -VNA
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