On December 1, 2022, the leadership team of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Connecting Agricultural Products Information Forum (Forum Connecting Agricultural Products 970) organized the “Connecting Consumption Southern Key Products Serving the Lunar New Year 2023” forum in direct and Online form at many places of need.

FARMERS AFRAID of losing New Year’s Eve due to low hog price

Mr. Vu Minh Viet – a member of the leadership team of the 970 Agricultural Product Connection Forum, said that in 2022, the New Year and the Lunar New Year will be relatively close, so it is expected that the demand for agricultural products and commodities will be rising and quite high be practice for a short time.

“The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development calls for propaganda, information, and production and business orientation to meet market demand, limit price-influencing factors, and ensure people’s interests. Aiming to resolutely not disrupt the supply of agricultural products and food during Tet 2023,” stressed Mr. Vu Minh Viet.

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Dat, vice chairman of the Vietnam Livestock Association, said the livestock industry faced many difficulties in 2022, with low efficiency for farmers. In the fourth quarter, the prices of live pigs fell very low, currently the slaughter price in the southern places varies only between 48,000 and 53,000 VND/kg. While the prices for feed and care products are currently anchored at a very high level, pig farmers are losing money.

Acknowledging the risk of pig farmers “losing the Tet season” this year, Mr Dat said the problem that needs to be addressed now is that large cities and towns in both the south and north still have a high Food demand during Tet have been unbalanced and can only meet about 20-40% of consumer demand.

“In order to meet the high demand, the communities must continue to transport and import goods from the surrounding satellite provinces. Therefore, it is necessary to have a solution to shorten the meat trade chain and reduce transportation costs between places and strengthen the link to buy pigs directly from farmers at a reasonable price,” advised Dat.

Experts at the forum agreed with the opinion of Mr. Dat and the heads of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of some southern provinces, saying that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development should take the necessary measures and coordinate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to bring the hog price to a level in line with the market to ensure balanced benefits between the parties.

Regarding vegetables and fruits, Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen, secretary-general of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, said that the Vietnamese fruit and vegetable market is still heavily influenced by the Chinese market. Annual export turnover to the Chinese market accounts for 50%. Chinese culture is quite similar to Vietnamese, so there will be high demand for vegetables and fruits for Tet to serve the spiritual culture. This affects the price and the quantity consumed.

The secretary-general of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association also made suggestions such as opening fairs to introduce products; Opening fruit shops with food hygiene and safety control on streets, traditional markets, creating a Tet atmosphere, as well as a solution for people to eat vegetables, tubers and fruits; Connection consumption in supermarkets, shopping centers.

From Ho Chi Minh City Bridgehead, Mr. Pham Huy Hue, Director of Center for Agricultural Advice and Assistance, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh City said that during the Lunar New Year, Ho Chi Minh City needs about 370,000 tons of vegetables and fruits, of which the city will cover about 20%; pork demand is 230,000 pigs, the city can cover 8-10%; For seafood, the demand is about 450,000 tons, the supply capacity is about 15%… In the ornamental flower market, the demand is expected to decrease compared to Tet in previous years. Therefore, flower growers and ornamental plants are also concerned.

Information on Binh Duong province’s ability to supply agricultural products during the holidays in late 2022 and early 2023, said Mr. Le Thanh Tam, deputy director of the province’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, currently for agricultural products, vegetables, tubers, fruits and fresh fruit, the province is currently only able to meet about 20-35% of local consumers’ needs.

The total pig herd of Binh Duong is about 13.7 million head, the daily supply capacity is about 7,000-8,000 head, including 1,500 for local market, the rest for the city. Ho Chi Minh City and adjacent provinces. Every day, Binh Duong can supply about 70,000 broilers, of which 35,000 are supplied to the province and the rest to the city. Ho Chi Minh City and adjacent provinces.

Efforts to bring QUALITY PRODUCTS to market

Ms. Nguyen Kim Thuy, Director of Ky Nhu Cooperative in Hau Giang Province, said the cooperative is currently focused on providing breeds of eels and frogs, purchasing and consuming products, and processing products from scads, eels, frogs, etc .have specialized in 2022 and Lunar New Year 2023, the supply capacity of the cooperative is as follows: 200 tons of strabismus, 300 tons of raw eel, 50 tons of snakehead fish per month, pre-packaged products about 60 tons snakehead fish tons/month…

“Currently, the products are grown according to VietGAP and HACCP standards, the company has 11 products with 4-star OCOP and is offered in some supermarkets, but there is a problem that supermarkets have to bring products to every place shops while companies only supply large warehouses,” Ms. Thuy said.

Pham Thi Huan, representative of Ba Huan Joint Stock Company, said the company planned to reserve goods in many forms to coincide with the upcoming Tet holiday in 2023. At the same time, the company also committed to keeping prices stable before, during and after Tet to meet consumer needs.

According to Ms. Dinh Thi Hai Yen, director general of Tu Tam Clean Food Processing Trading Joint Stock Company, the company currently supplies products to 300 outlets in Hanoi and other provinces. The company would like to work with farms to find raw material areas according to the company’s clean and safe criteria to provide consumers with good farm products during the Lunar New Year.

Mr. Hoang Trung Do, chairman of HDO Business Joint Stock Company, said that the problem of post-harvest preservation, storage, packaging, transportation…of many enterprises and agricultural cooperatives is still limited. This not only affects the product quality, but also significantly impedes the circulation and transport of goods over long distances. Therefore, the unit wants to work with southern units and provide transport storage infrastructure that want access to the northern market.

At the end of the forum, Mr. Le Thanh Hoa, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Products Processing and Market Development (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), said that during the Tet, the market demand for fresh fruit in China is very strong. The fruits of mango, banana, dragon fruit, rambutan…are under pressure to ensure supply for both domestic and export markets.

The Chinese market is currently continuing the “zero Covid” policy, so the export is still difficult. With two border provinces, Yunnan and Guangxi in China, there have been very effective measures to prevent Covid. Therefore, right after the Secretary-General’s visit to Beijing, many small border gates were reopened and many agricultural export activities were supported in the last months of 2022 and early 2023.

“Most importantly, I hope that companies who have been considering launching quality products not only in the south but also in the north, please ensure that the food hygiene and safety process can meet the consumption needs of the country’s people and to export market,” emphasized Mr. Le Thanh Hoa.