Phu Giao: Sustainable development of VietGAP products
With the highest number of households and production facilities certified with VietGAP (Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practices) standards in the entire province, Phu Giao district has gone beyond simply obtaining certification. The district is actively working to enhance the quality of VietGAP products and assert their position in the market.
Improving product quality
To date, in the cultivation sector, Phu Giao district has had 713 households and production facilities applying high-tech farming methods. Among them, 353 households have grown netted muskmelons using greenhouse technology, drip irrigation and environmental sensors, which yields high economic efficiency and superior product quality. Additionally, 251 households have grown green-skinned pomelos, durians, oranges, tangerines, etc., using VietGAP standards, ensuring product safety and traceability. There are also 34 households growing safe vegetables using hydroponic systems and temperature-controlled greenhouses and 11 households cultivating various types of mushrooms, contributing to the diversification of high-tech agricultural products to meet increasingly varied market demands.
In terms of animal husbandry, the district has 207 households and facilities applying modern technology, including 113 pig farms using closed barns and biogas waste treatment systems, which helps reduce environmental pollution and generate renewable energy. There are also 68 duck farms using biosecurity measures, 25 chicken farms producing under VietGAP standards and 1 dairy farm applying cattle health monitoring technology. These households and facilities have helped improve livestock productivity and provided stable incomes for farmers. Leaders of Phu Giao district stated that in recent years, the district has prioritized expanding high-tech and organic agricultural production areas while strongly promoting the application of certifications such as VietGAP, GlobalGAP and traceability systems to enhance competitiveness and market credibility. As of May 2025, Phu Giao district has had 136 VietGAP-certified households and facilities, including 103 in cultivation and 33 in animal husbandry.
Strengthening market linkages
Phu Giao district is actively implementing training programs, technical support, policies and communication initiatives to raise farmers' awareness about VietGAP-compliant production. However, the journey towards safe agriculture does not end with a certificate. After certification, it is crucial to maintain and enhance the actual value of VietGAP products to ensure sustainability. To achieve this, it is necessary to strengthen inspection and supervision of households and production facilities producing VietGAP products, accompanying farmers during the post-certification phase to maintain VietGAP standards.
According to Tran Van Cua, Deputy Head of Phu Giao district’s Agriculture and Environment Office, the biggest current issue is the lack of strong linkages between production and consumption, which discourages farmers from maintaining VietGAP standards. Therefore, the district is working with relevant sectors to enhance business connectivity and form closed value chains. “VietGAP certification has helped me produce in a more methodical and safer way. However, maintaining the achieved results requires high costs while the selling price of VietGAP products remains no different from regular products. Without a stable market outlet, households producing VietGAP products will face many difficulties”, shared Nguyen Thanh Minh, a green pomelo producer in Tam Lap commune.
The issue of “maintaining VietGAP standards” in Phu Giao reflects a broader challenge across the province in sustaining and improving the quality of VietGAP products. Beyond efforts to establish model farms, the biggest challenge now is how to prevent products from falling into the situation of being “clean products, but still sold like ordinary products” after obtaining VietGAP certification.
According to Luu Dinh Le Thuy, Head of provincial Sub-Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection, for VietGAP products to truly serve as a foundation for sustainable agricultural development, decisive actions are needed in three key areas: expanding support policies for re-certification to maintain continuity; strengthening market linkages to bring VietGAP products into large, modern supply chains such as supermarkets, collective kitchens and wholesale markets; developing branded, centralized production areas integrated with digital technologies and traceability systems. Particularly, post-VietGAP certification monitoring should be viewed as a cycle of post-inspection – retraining – reconnection, enabling professional agencies to promptly identify and resolve practical challenges at production sites.
Phu Giao district currently has 136 VietGAP-certified households and facilities, accounting for approximately 27.5% of the total VietGAP-certified producers in the province. The district is actively calling for businesses to make investment in high-tech agriculture, aiming at creating tight linkages among enterprises, cooperatives and farmers. The district has also proposed the province to further implement policies encouraging businesses to commit to purchasing VietGAP products, particularly through public procurement programs and collective orders. |
Reported by Tien Hanh-Translated by Kim Tin
