According to a conference held by the Hai Duong provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development on April 20 to launch a plan on expanding international standard-lychee and longan cultivation areas and lychee consumption connectivity this year, Hai Duong is building 23 international standard lychee and longan growing areas covering a total area of 220ha.

In order to prepare for 2020 lychee crop, the province is overseeing cultivation areas and holding activities to facilitate lychee consumption.

The areas meeting plant quarantine and food safety standards of Japan, the US, Australia and European Union countries are mostly in Thanh Ha district and Chi Linh township.

To realise the plan, the provincial agriculture sector coordinated with Thanh Ha district and Chi Linh township to control epidemic and pesticide residue in areas growing lychee for export.

Mrs Nguyen Thi Lua from Lai Xa 2 village, Thanh Thuy commune, Thanh Ha district said it is the first time farmers have been helped with pesticide spray using unmanned aerial vehicles.

Farmers actively used modern technology to yield clean and delicious lychee, meeting demand of choosy markets and winning stable consumption sources.

The sector also met farm produce exporters to discuss cooperation plan and popularise incentives to facilitate production and consumption connectivity.

Photo: Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Nguyen Manh Hien and delegates at Thanh Ha lychee festival 2019 (Source: Vietnam News Agency).

Tran Van Quan, Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said in order to meet export demand, the sector advocated closely managing cultivation areas, working with Thanh Ha and Chi Linh districts, and assigned plant protection sector to review and manage the use of pesticides to ensure product quality.

Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, agriculture officials came to each household to check production, and regularly discussed implementation via phones or emails.

Recently, the Plant Protection Department announced growing area codes for export to Japan, the US and Australia, including issuing 11 new codes and reissuing 12 others.

Hai Duong is now home to 62 cultivation areas and 120 packaging facilities eligible for export to China.

In order to ship fresh lychee to Japan for the first time, one local firm was recently licensed by the Plant Protection Department to offer methybromide treatment to lychee for export.

Amid COVID-19, the agriculture sector urged farmers to heed farming. A number of firms also expressed their interest in signing lychee purchasing contracts with the locality.

As of April 20, three businesses registered to grow and export lychee to Japan and other countries.

Specifically, Bamboo International JSC registered four cultivation area codes and consumption of 220 tonnes.

Ameii Vietnam JSC registered three codes with about 200 tonnes. Rong Do company sold products to the US, Australia and the Middle East for three areas covering about 20ha.

Nguyen Khac Tien, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ameii Vietnam JSC, said he is most concerned about quality, especially pesticide residue.

The company is working with the Plant Protection Department and the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to closely monitor farming. If Hai Duong lychee wins over the Japanese market, access to other markets will become easier, he said.

Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Van Quan said Hai Duong will enhance joint work with competent agencies to popularise local lychee brand and devise a plan to hold lychee weeks in major cities and provinces.

Hai Duong is now home to 9,700ha of lychee. Its total output is estimated at 45,000 tonnes this year. About 65-70 percent of lychee trees are blooming and yielding young fruits./.