A representative of the Fivimart chain stressed the need to clearly define standards and conditions of licences and certificates, particularly for semi-processed animal products, and also make it easier for farmers to introduce more products to supermarkets.
Truong Kim Hoa, director of the centre for varieties and transfer of breeding procedures, said the centre is strong in producing safe agri-products and is ready to cooperate with farmers to produce quality products. Representatives of some cooperatives and breeding farms committed to following safe and organic production practices.
Hanoi has 157 large-scale fields and areas producing high-quality commercial rice, 157ha of fruit trees and over 80ha of tea meeting VietGap standards. The city also has 5,000ha for growing safe vegetables, including 352.7ha applying the VietGap standards and 40ha of organic vegetables.
The city has 76 key poultry breeding communes and 3,232 farms outside residential areas. It has 11 supply chains for safe vegetables and 21 supply chains for products from farm animals. Despite this progress, many limitations exist in production and distribution of agri-products because of the poor connection between producers and traders.
The awareness of farmers should receive appropriate attention from authorised agencies as they are important to thoroughly tackling unsafe food, which is now a conundrum in society. Mr. Dang said farmers should be encouraged to participate in cooperatives so that they will be guided in following VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards. Meanwhile, policies must be fine-tuned to promote the formation of big production chains.
In the near future, the municipal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development will strive to put an end to the use of banned substances in animal husbandry, curb the smuggling of plant protection products, and control the use of antibiotics in livestock farming and aquaculture, the official noted.
