Workers pack dragon fruit for export at Cat Tuong Agriculture Products Production and Processing Ltd Co in the southern province of Tien Giang (Source: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) - Post-harvestlosses not only refer to the quantity of lost crops, but also any reduction intheir quality and access to international markets, experts have said.
Former head of theInstitute of Agricultural Science of Southern Vietnam, Bui Chi Buu, said thatpost-harvest losses in Vietnam were significant, but the country had little inthe way of post-harvest technology or machinery.
Buu was quoted by the ThanhNien (Young People) newspaper as saying that harvesting andpost-harvesting technologies in Vietnam were on the edge of industrialrevolution 2.0, implying they showed modest development, except someindustrial husbandry models which had recently received good investment.
Buu said that 70 percent ofVietnam’s export fruits and vegetables went to China, most of them fresh andunprocessed.
Few of Vietnam’s fruit andvegetable exports went to the Republic of Korea, Japan, the United States orthe European Union because of Vietnam’s limitations in storing andpost-harvest processing, he said.
Vietnam’s seafood facessimilar issues, particularly with ocean tuna. Japan is a big market for thisfish and is willing to pay high prices for it. A number of Japanese expertshave attempted to assist Vietnamese fishermen in post-harvest processing, butso far, little difference has been made.
According to the Food andAgriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), Vietnam’s post harvestinglosses accounted for 10 percent of rice production, 10-20 percent of root andtuber crops, and 10-30 percent of fruits and vegetables.
In the Mekong Delta region– a major rice bowl for Vietnam, post-harvest rice losses were more than 3trillion VND (132 million USD) a year, or 10-12 percent of total riceproduction.
Buu said that to reducepost-harvesting losses, it was necessary to call on investors to make furtherinvestments in agricultural production.
This means the Governmentneeds to offer incentives to encourage farmers. Additionally, research andstudy centres should be assisted with post-harvesting related work, he said.
According to the Ministryof Agriculture and Rural Development, between 2011 and the middle of last year,loans worth about 8.1 trillion VND (356.6 million USD) were offered tomechanise farming activities. The Government spent 600 billion VND to subsidisethe interest rate for borrowers.
But the financialincentives failed to encourage investors because the interest rates of thepreferential loans - 8.55 percent per year - were still high, Thanh Nien reported.
Nguyen Quoc Vong from NewSouth Wales’ Agriculture Department in Australia said that to develop anagricultural product, it was necessary to study all stages of seeding,producing, processing and marketing. Specialised sciences and technologiesshould be used at each stage, he said.
Dr Arjo Rothuis fromWageningen University and Research Centre in the Netherlands, saidthat when it came to post harvesting, it was not only about technologies thatkept food fresh and delicious, but also extended their expiry dates.
Another new requirement bycustomers and importers was about energy saving in packaging, storage andtransportation, he said, adding that investments in post harvesting andlogistics were needed to make farming products reach markets earlier.-VNA
VNA
