Businesses team up with Bac Giang farmers in selling lychee

At a send-off ceremony to begin the shipment of Bac Giang lychee to Japan (Photo: VNA)

Bac Giang (VNA) – Bac Giang’s Tan Yen district has signed cooperation contract with six businesses in selling lychee, a specialty fruit of the northern province.

Of the businesses, Chanh Thu, Rong Do, Bamboo, Toan Cau and Ameii companies are exporting the fruit to Japan. The remaining firm sells lychee in domestic supermarkets. Meanwhile, Phuc Hoa lychee production and selling cooperative and 18 traders have also registered to sell the fruit to the Chinese market.

Earlier, the People’s Committee of Tan Yen issued a plan on the sale of early-ripening lychees meeting export standards in 2021, and another plan on organising a send-off ceremony to begin the shipment  of lychee to Japan, along with the formation of a working team directing the cultivation of lychees in accordance with export standards.

The district has directed relevant agencies to coordinate with the People’s Committee of Phuc Hoa commune to conduct survey and choose suitable areas as well as farmer households having sufficient conditions to engage in for-export lychee production, and giving advice to the communal authorities in the issuance of documents directing the production and supervising the lychee cultivation process under GlobalGAP standards. Meanwhile, consultancy agencies will be selected to evaluate the local soil and water conditions, serving the assessment and certification of product quality.

Tan Yen district also coordinated with the Bac Giang Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to invite five companies to visit the locality to get understanding on the district situation and its plan to sell lychee to Japan and the EU, paving the way for the district to sign selling contracts with those businesses.

 “Thieu” lychee of Bac Giang (Photo: VNA)

In 2021, Tan Yen has 1,329 hectares of “thieu” lychee with output of about 14,000 tonnes, including 1,200 hectares of early-ripening lychee with total yield of 13,200 tonnes, and 129 hectares of main crop with an estimated output of 800 tonnes.

The area of lychee meeting VietGAP standards and high requirement in food safety has expanded to 880 hectares, including 350 hectares meeting VietGAP standard, up 50 hectares compared to that in 2020 with output of 4,300 tonnes, while the area of orchards meeting GlobalGAP standards is 5 hectares with production of 63 tonnes.

For the Chinese market, Tan Yen has maintained the area already granted area code for export in Phuc Hoa commune with 600 hectares and output of 6,500 tonnes. For the Japanese market, the district has coordinated with the Plant Production Department under the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to designate farming areas and ask the Japanese side to grant cultivation area codes to five hectares of orchards of 11 local farmer households in Quat Du 2 village, and 10 hectares of 8 farming households in Phuc Le village. The total acreage of lychee production area for the Japanese market is 15 hectares with estimate output of 120 tonnes.

Lychees from the remaining areas of Tan Trung, Hop Duc, Lien Son communes and Cao Huong township with output of about 6,700 tonnes will be sold in domestic markets through cooperatives and selling locations across the district.

In order to ensure the quality of lychee, especially “thieu” lychee for export, Tan Yen has organised training courses to guide farmer in farming technique and writing farming diary. So far, 100 percent of local households have practiced the technique and written down the process.

The district has chosen IQC company as the consultancy agency during the process of applying for certification of the product’s quality.

The company has collaborated with professional agencies of Tan Yen, the People’s Committee of Phuc Hoa commune, and 11 households in Quat Du 2 village to apply new farming procedures and diary writing in line with regulations to lay the foundation for applying for GlobalGAP certification./.