Binh Thuan province is building a “green chain of dragon fruit” to trace the origin of products as well as authenticate information from the production phase to consumers.
With a favorable climate and soil, Binh Thuan province has developed and become the center of dragon fruit in Vietnam. Dragon fruit is identified as an advantageous tree and also a local specialty. Currently, the province has about 26,000 ha of dragon fruit, down about 4,000 ha compared to before the Covid-19 pandemic, with an average output of 600,000 tons/year.
Binh Thuan Agricultural Extension Center visited a “green” dragon fruit garden.
To improve the productivity and quality of dragon fruit, Binh Thuan’s agricultural sector has been promoting the application of new advances in production. At the same time, digital transformation is identified as the core of innovation in growth models, playing a very important role in the current economic integration context. Accordingly, it is necessary to be clear and transparent in the stages of production, preliminary processing, and processing to meet the needs of domestic and foreign markets.
The question is that although Binh Thuan dragon fruit strictly complies with the process and achieves VietGAP and GlobalGAP certifications, the products of farmers and cooperatives before being purchased by enterprises must be tested, causing costs and waste. The reason is that the enterprises do not trust the product quality, and the farmers and cooperatives cannot prove that their products are safe.
Farmers are trained to participate in the “green” dragon fruit chain.
Faced with the above situation, Binh Thuan Agricultural Extension Center has built a “green” dragon fruit chain to trace the origin of products and certify information from the production stage to consumers.
Mr. Nguyen Duc Tri, Deputy Director in charge of Binh Thuan Agricultural Extension Center, said that so far, the unit has successfully built a “green” dragon fruit production process. In addition, the unit has been promoting the application of technical and technological advances in production to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change.
According to Mr. Tri, to prove that the production is “green” and clean, the unit has developed a “carbon footprint tracking” model associated with the electronic diary application of product traceability through the integration of databases and production information from farmers into the portal “https://thanhlongxanhbinhthuan.vn”. With this transparency, enterprises can track, learn, and order “green” dragon fruit products.
At first, Binh Thuan Agricultural Extension Center supported four dragon fruit enterprises and cooperatives, including 128 members, to participate in the “green” dragon fruit value chain. These are Thuan Tien dragon fruit cooperative, Ham Liem Commune (Ham Thuan Bac); Hoa Le clean dragon fruit cooperative, Ma Lam Town (Ham Thuan Bac); Ham Minh 30 dragon fruit production service cooperative, Ham Minh Commune (Ham Thuan Nam); and Phuc Ha Juice Co., Ltd., Hai Ninh commune (Bac Binh).
Binh Thuan Agricultural Extension Center has supported four enterprises and cooperatives to trace the origin of products.
“The above enterprises and cooperatives are trained on digital transformation skills and application of digital technology. Thereby, members of the cooperative will record an electronic diary in the process of production, processing, and meeting the carbon footprint tracking roadmap, “said Mr. Nguyen Duc Tri.
The electronic diary on this software is easy for farmers to apply. Therefore, it meets the needs of factors in the dragon fruit value chain including input suppliers, producers, buyers, processors, support agencies, and state management.
According to Binh Thuan Agricultural Extension Center, all information on the software is provided and interacted 24/7 in the cooperative system (from the provincial level down to the cooperative and its members). The software regularly updates fluctuations in production, business, and markets related to the target audience, communication, and information on relevant guidelines and policies.
In particular, the software automatically updates, statistics, forecasts, and reports on the production situation of cooperatives in the whole province, as well as provides information on products including output, specifications, production processes, and production diary for e-commerce platforms and online consumer platforms to improve market access capacity.
Dragon fruit products are clearly and transparently traced through the software.
Currently, the software system not only meets the requirements of the 04 cooperatives in the project but also expands the participation of dragon fruit cooperatives in Binh Thuan province.
In addition, Binh Thuan Agricultural Extension Center also built an e-agriculture business portal to introduce and provide information on “green” dragon fruit production and processing facilities in the province to customers. The clear and complete content of products is provided such as basic information; estimated output of each product; production diary for each batch of products; product origin, and “carbon footprint” of each production batch.
Customers can place orders online on the portal and automatically contact each supplier by using the electronic platform through the mobile application. Thereby, it ensures the link to the portal of 04 enterprises and, cooperatives in the project as well as other enterprises and cooperatives in case of replicating the model in Binh Thuan province.
According to Binh Thuan Agricultural Extension Center, in the coming time, the unit will continue to develop the application “Green Dragon Fruit Chain” using the traceability platform of agricultural products, providing tracing services, and certifying information from the production stage to consumers. Since then, it has well managed and supervised the origin and supply chain of products, ensuring fast, transparent, accurate, and safe food hygiene./.