The One Commune One Product (OCOP) program is expected to be a boost for commodity-oriented agricultural and forestry production. There, products that are characteristic and strong of the locality have the conditions to reach out, become commodity products in a closed chain and bring high economic value to farmers. After many years of implementation, the program has initially achieved positive results, however, many products, after being awarded stars, still flicker and are at risk of… disappearing!
Precarious
Nearly 30 years of experience with specialty fried fish farming, Mr. Nguyen Van Thiet, Director of Yen Nguyen Fisheries Cooperative (Chiem Hoa, Tuyen Quang)
I couldn’t hide my joy when the fried fish products of cooperative members were recognized as 3-star OCOP products. He said, the specialty of raising fried fish has been with the people along the Lo River for nearly 30 years. During prosperous times, people developed up to 60 cages, each year providing the market with several tons of fish and meat and becoming the main source of income for people. However, the happiness for cage fish farmers in Yen Nguyen did not last long. When the water level of the Lo River in recent years has been unstable due to the construction of many hydropower plants in the upstream and downstream areas, the water continuously opens and closes, causing heavy damage to the fish cages.
In 2023, when it was time to re-evaluate the product, the Cooperative had a written request to the Commune People’s Committee not to evaluate, because there were no more products to maintain. Comrade Cam Van Dung, Chairman of Yen Nguyen Commune People’s Committee, shared that after Yen Nguyen Fisheries Cooperative asked to stop re-evaluating the OCOP fried fish specialty product, Yen Nguyen commune had difficulty finding the product. Mr. Dung explained that, in fact, although Yen Nguyen is one of the leading localities of Chiem Hoa district in agricultural production, to find a key product, a specialty, with strong local characteristics such as Specialty fried fish is relatively difficult. Quynh Nhi sachi oil product of Quynh Nhi Production – Service – Trading Cooperative, Doi Can ward (Tuyen Quang city) is also in danger of… disappearing.
A promotion and market development trip for OCOP entities in Thanh Hoa
Certified as a 3-star OCOP product from 2020, with many uses such as rich in Omega 3 nutrients, lots of Vitamin A and E, helping to develop and improve intelligence, reduce cholesterol, regulate blood pressure,
Balances nerve cells, reduces the risk of sudden death due to cardiovascular diseases, increases the body’s immunity and helps protect cells from the harmful effects of free radicals…Cooperative Director Nguyen Thi Huyen once expected that this would be the main product of the unit and made efforts to build and cultivate to upgrade the product in the future.
However, in just a few years, the Cooperative is now having to turn to other products such as polyscias fruticosa, gac… There are many reasons why the Cooperative has to change its path. The production of sachi oil is still carried out mainly by manual method, the selling price of the product is high (about 700 thousand VND/liter). The cooperative’s initial goal was to export products, but finding markets was not favorable due to the Covid-19 epidemic.
Domestically, consumers do not know much about the uses and products, while the selling price is not cheap, making the products unsellable. In addition, the source of raw materials supplied for production is not guaranteed. Ms. Huyen said that previously, the Cooperative affiliated with Tuyen Quang Organic Sachi Production Cooperative to purchase raw materials for production. However, the expansion and development of the raw material area did not meet expectations, the raw material source for production did not meet the needs, so the Cooperative has stopped producing this product for more than a year now.
Currently, the Cooperative Board of Directors is asking for members’ opinions on whether or not to re-evaluate the product after 3 years, so that there can be long-term orientations.
Not only Yen Nguyen fried fish or Quynh Nhi sachi oil, in fact, many OCOP products after being certified are almost absent from the market. Recently, through the assessment of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Chiem Hoa district, many products have no ability to recover such as Yen Nguyen fish, Yen Lap lentil fish, Pa Then Linh Phu tea, Kim Binh banana wine.
Don’t sign up for it
One of the reasons why OCOP products, after being certified for many years, are still sluggish behind the village bamboo wall, is that there is still the mentality of… registering for free of many subjects.
Vinh Hoa Agriculture and Forestry Cooperative, Tho Binh commune (Lam Binh) currently has 2 OCOP products certified with 3 stars: Gynostemma tea and Vegetable beef declaration. Cooperative Director Ma Thi Hoa admitted that currently there is only one “standing” product left: Gynostemma tea. Vegetable beef declaration, due to seasonality and decreasing area, has long been absent from the market.
When she first started implementing the linked production chain, Ms. Hoa also expected these two crops to take root and be maintained by farmers. However, the area of vegetable vegetables, which initially expanded to more than 8 hectares, now only remains about 0.2 hectares. During the harvest season, a whole week can only yield a few dozen kilograms of vegetables. Ms. Hoa said that when re-certifying the product, the Cooperative will only re-certify the Gynostemma Lam Tea product, but only the Bo Khai product, because in reality the whole raw material area and the whole market … are not okay!
Melon – OCOP product of Son Duong district is promoted at the Provincial Trade and Tourism Fair in 2023
Or like the story of certifying Com products of a highland cooperative of Na Hang district. The Director of this Cooperative did not hide and shared that the reason for this OCOP product is because… the commune could not find any product to make OCOP. Registering for free is not convenient for the market or transportation, making product owners confused about how to buy and sell products when the green rice season is approaching.
Mr. Ta Van Tinh, Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Yen Son district, said that this year, the district aims to “cover” the program to the remaining 7 communes: Chan Son, Lang Quan, Trung Minh, Hung Loi, Cong Da, Phu Thinh. With the goal of not allowing communes to register for free, Yen Son’s approach is to send district officials to join efforts, review and select products that truly have strengths and are competitive.
In which, many products have not been registered as OCOP products but have been favored by many consumers such as dried bamboo shoots, leaf yeast wine…
Needs effort from the subject itself
The entire province currently has nearly 200 OCOP certified products. Of these, there are only more than 40 products certified 4 stars, no 5-star products. According to the assessment of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the ability to expand scale and develop some products is still low. The whole province still has 44 communes, wards and towns that do not have OCOP products rated 3 stars or higher, while there is only 1 product with 5-star potential. Some packaging products have not been improved; the packaging materials, shapes, and styles do not have unique characteristics to identify the products, leading to limited product branding development.
According to statistics from the Rural Development Department, by the end of this year, there will be 79 products that will have to be re-certified after 3 years. Among these, there are many products that are absent from the market. As Mr. Ta Van Tinh, Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Yen Son district admitted, there will be a few products that do not meet the new evaluation criteria. And withdrawing the “passport” is unavoidable.
Currently, the province is making efforts to promote the One Commune One Product Program, with the goal being that all communes can choose products to participate in the program.
Many support policies from the province have been issued to promptly boost the OCOP Program, including Resolution 03 of the Provincial People’s Council on policies to support the development of production, processing, business, and consumption of products. agricultural, forestry, and aquatic products; OCOP products and new rural construction in Tuyen Quang province in the period of 2021 – 2025.
According to Ms. Ngo Tuyet Nhung, Deputy Director of the Rural Development Department, during this period, many other policies were also implemented simultaneously such as Resolution 10 of the Provincial People’s Council regulating the level of support for implementation of development projects. , linked along the value chain, community production development projects under national target programs in the province in the period 2021 – 2025. To make the OCOP Program more effective and sustainable, localities need to flexibly and proactively integrate production capital from other programs to “breathe life” into recognized OCOP products, thereby bringing production into depth.
Policies to support and develop the market also do not forget the subject of OCOP. This year alone, the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development has guided OCOP subjects such as Hop Hoa Solanum Tea (Son Duong), Green Black Bean Tea (Chiem Hoa) to reform improve product design and packaging; Support Duc Uy Cooperative Group (Trung Son, Yen Son), Tea Cooperative
Luan Ky Lang Bat (Tan Thanh, Ham Yen), Cuong Dat Dried Bamboo Processing Cooperative (Tan Long, Yen Son) apply advanced technology to production and processing of products… At the same time, organize market expansion trips in many provinces and major cities throughout the country.
Comrade Nguyen Van Thuan, Director of the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development, said that in fact, for OCOP products to truly shine, there is no more practical support policy than the efforts of OCOP products. power of the owner. Only when the subject agonizes over his own “brainchild” will any “support” policy truly be a lever to bring the product to new heights.
Translated by Xuan Dung
Source: baotuyenquang.com.vn
Tuyen Quang Portal – tuyenquang.gov.vn
