VN veggie growers go hi-tech to resume exports to EU

VN veggie growers go hi-tech to resume exports to EU After the door to penetrate the EU market was closed to them in 2012, some vegetable growers and exporters adapted hi-tech cultivation methods to find their way back to the lucrative market, a challenge they eventually defeated more than a year later.

In early 2012, five types of Vietnamese-grown vegetables, including basil, sweet pepper, celery, bitter gourd, and coriander failed to meet EU food hygiene and safety regulations.

The EU side announced that they would stop importing Vietnamese produce if five more batches of exports were found violating regulations.

The Plant Protection Department thus decided to temporarily suspend issuing quarantine certificates for other exports of such produce, in order to avoid having other fruit, such as blue dragon or grapefruit, added to the EU’s blacklist.

Following the suspension, the plant protection department and businesses have rushed to find a solution to resume exports as soon as possible.

Applying technology and adapting new cultivation methods was the final resolution, and the Center for Post-Entry Plant Quarantine together with two vegetable growers in Ho Chi Minh City were chosen to participate in an experimental project.

One of the selected businesses, Rong Do Co Ltd, stopped growing its produce in outdoor fields, but set up a greenhouse and equipped it with an automated drip irrigation system. It also reviewed all procedures, from selecting seeds and fertilizer to harvesting.

Company director Mai Xuan Thin admitted that the new method required its employees to work much harder compared to the traditional one.

But the result was rewarding. In mid-2013, the company exported its first batch of sweet pepper back to an EU country and passed all requirements regarding quarantine and pesticide residues.

“Non-epidemic zone”

Meanwhile, Thinh Cat Co Ltd, which used to export green produce to the EU and many other strict markets, opted for quite a different approach to return to the EU.

After consulting the Center for Post-Entry Plant Quarantine, the company invested in a one-hectare farm in the outskirt district of Cu Chi and made it into a “non-epidemic zone,” said director Dong Dang Huan.

“This was to make sure that no pests or diseases could enter our farm,” Huan said.

In mid-2013, Thinh Cat exported 300kg of basil to the EU, and received positive responses from its European partners.

Six months later, the company continued to ship its coriander, grown under the same method at its non-epidemic zone, to the EU.

The company has also managed to sign contracts on stable shipments for their European customers. It is exporting 500kg of basil, 150kg of coriander, and 50kg of sweet pepper to the EU on a weekly basis.

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