The application of basic Good Agricultural Practices (Basic GAP) needs to be expanded since the standard set has increased markedly safe vegetable production as well as people’s awareness of food safety, said participants at a workshop in Hanoi on December 9.
Basic GAP, including 26 most basic criteria among 65 standards of VietGAP, has been built by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) with the support of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) with a view to promoting safe farming.
MARD Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh said VietGAP, issued in 2008, has been applied in nearly 2,000ha out of 830,000ha of vegetables cultivated a year due to its multiple criteria.
The current wider global integration requires the country to give food safety the main focus of attention while developing agriculture, he added.
Truong Xuan Dinh, deputy head of the MARD’s Cultivation Department, said Basic GAP is simple and ensures the safety of produced crop and makes it easier to trace back to products’ sources.
The northern province of Hung Yen has piloted the application of Basic GAP and succeeded in turning out qualified products with higher economic values, said Doan Thi Chai, Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
However, the conventional use of fertiliser and pesticide has sometimes been maintained by growers since they are yet requested to provide product certificates, she added.
A representative from a safe vegetable production cooperative admitted the Basic GAP project has yet paid due attention to marketing activity, thus failing to create a brand for safe products and attracting farmer’s wider participation.
Truong Xuan Dinh said much work is needed to do to make both producers and farmers aware of food safety, overhaul the planning of cultivation areas, and devise policies supporting the application of Basic GAP.-VNA
Basic GAP, including 26 most basic criteria among 65 standards of VietGAP, has been built by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) with the support of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) with a view to promoting safe farming.
MARD Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh said VietGAP, issued in 2008, has been applied in nearly 2,000ha out of 830,000ha of vegetables cultivated a year due to its multiple criteria.
The current wider global integration requires the country to give food safety the main focus of attention while developing agriculture, he added.
Truong Xuan Dinh, deputy head of the MARD’s Cultivation Department, said Basic GAP is simple and ensures the safety of produced crop and makes it easier to trace back to products’ sources.
The northern province of Hung Yen has piloted the application of Basic GAP and succeeded in turning out qualified products with higher economic values, said Doan Thi Chai, Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
However, the conventional use of fertiliser and pesticide has sometimes been maintained by growers since they are yet requested to provide product certificates, she added.
A representative from a safe vegetable production cooperative admitted the Basic GAP project has yet paid due attention to marketing activity, thus failing to create a brand for safe products and attracting farmer’s wider participation.
Truong Xuan Dinh said much work is needed to do to make both producers and farmers aware of food safety, overhaul the planning of cultivation areas, and devise policies supporting the application of Basic GAP.-VNA
