The application of basic Good Agricultural Practices (Basic GAP) needsto be expanded since the standard set has increased markedly safevegetable production as well as people’s awareness of food safety, saidparticipants at a workshop in Hanoi on December 9.
Basic GAP,including 26 most basic criteria among 65 standards of VietGAP, has beenbuilt by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) withthe support of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) witha view to promoting safe farming.
MARD Deputy Minister LeQuoc Doanh said VietGAP, issued in 2008, has been applied in nearly2,000ha out of 830,000ha of vegetables cultivated a year due to itsmultiple criteria.
The current wider global integrationrequires the country to give food safety the main focus of attentionwhile developing agriculture, he added.
Truong Xuan Dinh, deputyhead of the MARD’s Cultivation Department, said Basic GAP is simple andensures the safety of produced crop and makes it easier to trace back toproducts’ sources.
The northern province of Hung Yen has pilotedthe application of Basic GAP and succeeded in turning out qualifiedproducts with higher economic values, said Doan Thi Chai, DeputyDirector of the provincial Department of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment.
However, the conventional use of fertiliser andpesticide has sometimes been maintained by growers since they are yetrequested to provide product certificates, she added.
Arepresentative from a safe vegetable production cooperative admitted theBasic GAP project has yet paid due attention to marketing activity,thus failing to create a brand for safe products and attracting farmer’swider participation.
Truong Xuan Dinh said much work is neededto do to make both producers and farmers aware of food safety, overhaulthe planning of cultivation areas, and devise policies supporting theapplication of Basic GAP.-VNA
Basic GAP,including 26 most basic criteria among 65 standards of VietGAP, has beenbuilt by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) withthe support of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) witha view to promoting safe farming.
MARD Deputy Minister LeQuoc Doanh said VietGAP, issued in 2008, has been applied in nearly2,000ha out of 830,000ha of vegetables cultivated a year due to itsmultiple criteria.
The current wider global integrationrequires the country to give food safety the main focus of attentionwhile developing agriculture, he added.
Truong Xuan Dinh, deputyhead of the MARD’s Cultivation Department, said Basic GAP is simple andensures the safety of produced crop and makes it easier to trace back toproducts’ sources.
The northern province of Hung Yen has pilotedthe application of Basic GAP and succeeded in turning out qualifiedproducts with higher economic values, said Doan Thi Chai, DeputyDirector of the provincial Department of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment.
However, the conventional use of fertiliser andpesticide has sometimes been maintained by growers since they are yetrequested to provide product certificates, she added.
Arepresentative from a safe vegetable production cooperative admitted theBasic GAP project has yet paid due attention to marketing activity,thus failing to create a brand for safe products and attracting farmer’swider participation.
Truong Xuan Dinh said much work is neededto do to make both producers and farmers aware of food safety, overhaulthe planning of cultivation areas, and devise policies supporting theapplication of Basic GAP.-VNA
