HCMCity (VNA) - A programme to improve vegetable and fruit processingis set to be submitted to the Government for approval, focusing on both growingzones and processing facilities.

TheMinistry of Agriculture and Rural Development revealed this at a conference itheld in Ho Chi Minh City on October 30 to discuss it with experts andbusinesses.

NgoQuang Tu, head of the agriculture processing and market developmentdepartment’s agriculture products processing and preservation division, saidthe country had over 157 industrial-size facilities for processing fruits andvegetables and thousands of smaller ones as of last year.

Butwhile the installed capacity is 1.1 million tonnes of products a year, inreality it is only around 700,000 tonnes.

Processedproduce accounted for 15.2 percent of produce exports last year.

Theindustry’s contribution to increasing added value is small, and it onlyprocesses 10 percent of the annual vegetable and fruit output.

Investmentin processing is modest, with too many small facilities using outdatedtechnologies, and the result is that the volume of products with high addedvalue is low.

UngThe Lam, Chairman of Lam Nong 007 Transparent Cooperative, said: “Businessesneed access to high-quality, certified growing zones. The State should helpregions register their farming zones and qualifications, which would helpbusinesses identify zones that suit their business requirements.”

Theproject aims to increase exports of fruits and vegetables to 10 billion USD by2030, with processed items accounting for 30 percent.

Oneof its solutions is to encourage regions to form concentrated growing zones tomeet processors’ raw material needs and adopt advanced agriculturaltechnologies and farming practices.

Theprocessing facilities will be linked up with the growing zones. Investment inthe facilities will be facilitated with favourable policies.

Businesseswill be encouraged to process regional specialties and key produce such asdragon fruit and lychee that are currently processed at low rates and toproduce a wide variety of products.

Theproject will also foster research, technology transfer and the use of advancedprocessing and preservation technologies.

By2030 all concentrated growing zones, farming co-operatives and purchasingbusinesses are expected to have at least one light processing, packaging andcold storage facility to optimally preserve produce.

Greaterattention will be paid to quality, food safety and traceability, and businesseswill be kept abreast of these requirements.

Effortswill be put into developing logistics and supporting industries (especiallycold supply chain), domestic and export markets and a skilled workforce.

TheMinistry of Agriculture will work with other ministries and local authoritiesto implement the project.

Fruitand vegetable exports have been growing well, Deputy Minister of Agricultureand Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh said, adding that improvement ofpreservation and processing facilities would open up new markets./.