Application of technology in processing

To date, Son La province has over 83,757 hectares of fruit trees, of which 63,207 hectares are harvested, with an output of over 379,000 tons. To preserve agricultural products for a long time, increase product value and serve exports, the province has increased investment, supported and promoted the development of 17 factories and 543 agricultural processing facilities.

BHL Cassava Starch Processing Factory, Mai Son Industrial Park.

Quyet Thanh Agricultural Cooperative is a typical unit in growing fruit trees and processing to increase the value of agricultural products, contributing to diversifying OCOP products on the Moc Chau plateau. Established in 2018, the cooperative initially had 7 members with 8 hectares mainly growing crispy persimmons and plums. Up to now, the cooperative has developed to 26 members with 28 hectares of plums, 6 hectares of crispy persimmons produced according to VietGAP standards, the cooperative sells an average of over 300 tons of various fruits to the market/year, with a revenue of over 4 billion VND. Director of the Cooperative Pham Van Quyet shared: Currently, the cooperative maintains 6 processing and drying lines for all kinds of fruits, with a capacity of 1.2 tons of fresh fruit/day. The cooperative's investment in a dried fruit processing line has contributed to creating stable output, increasing the value of local agricultural products.

The province's processed industrial products are increasingly diverse, rich, high-quality and stylish. The whole province has 154 OCOP products, of which 1 product has achieved 5 stars; 56 products have achieved 4 stars and 97 products have achieved 3 stars... The value of processed products has been significantly increased, and has been well received by domestic and foreign consumers. Notable products are tea, coffee, milk, tapioca starch, sugar, dried fruits... Of which, coffee has been exported to Germany, Malaysia; tea to Japan, Taiwan, Afghanistan; tapioca starch to China, Canada; longan to China, Korea...

Packaging dried mango at Quyet Thanh Agricultural Cooperative, Moc Chau Farm town.

In October 2023, Phuc Sinh Son La Joint Stock Company opened a Cascara tea processing line in Mat village, Chieng Mung commune, Mai Son district. Mr. Vu Viet Thang, Director of the company, said: After nearly 1 year of launching the new Cascara tea product, in the 2024 coffee crop, the Cascara tea processing line reached a capacity of 10 tons of ripe fruit/day, equivalent to 1 ton of finished tea/day. The line has a fruit washing, peeling, UV drying, and multi-functional cold drying system, ensuring cleanliness and preserving the original flavor and color. Along with that, the automatic packaging process produces square filter bags and triangular filter bags. The Company's Cascara tea products have contributed to environmental protection and sustainable agricultural development, because the raw material for tea production is ripe coffee husks.

Focusing on developing the agricultural processing industry, contributing to the consumption of most of the agricultural products of the province and some neighboring provinces, such as: Processing 100% of fresh tea, fresh coffee, milk, sugar cane; processing over 40% of cassava output; over 20% of various fruits output... contributes significantly to sustainable consumption, increasing the value of agricultural products, improving farmers' income and life, and increasing local budget revenue.

Promote research work

In the past 3 years, Son La province has implemented 32 scientific and technological tasks, of which the agricultural sector accounts for nearly 70%. Typically, with coffee trees, research has been conducted to select new coffee varieties with high quality and productivity, replacing old varieties and suitable for the soil and climate conditions of Son La; research on pest and disease treatment and waste treatment from coffee husks... contributing to expanding the area to nearly 20,000 hectares, with an output of about 400,000 tons of fresh fruit/year, an increase of about 15-20% compared to old varieties and high resistance to rust, resistance to some types of pests and diseases, increasing the quality for export.

Pineapple classification, put into production at Doveco Son La Vegetable and Fruit Processing Center.

For fruit trees, research on selection, breeding, and experimental planting of avocado, mango, plum, and crispy persimmon varieties has been successful. In particular, the urgent national local project "Research on scientific and technological solutions to improve productivity, quality, and develop sustainable longan production in Son La and some northern provinces" has been implemented in Son La province. As a result, 4 longan varieties/lines have been selected with the ability to grow well, have good quality, and have a natural harvest lasting over 60 days, such as early ripening longan NS203; main ripening longan T6, and golden longan 205.

As a large longan growing area of ​​the province, Song Ma district has researched and introduced new varieties, currently planting more than 10 hectares of 205 golden longan, of which 4 hectares are for harvest, with a yield of 15 tons/ha. Mr. Hoang Manh Doan, Doi 3 village, Chieng Khoong commune, Song Ma district, shared: In 2019, his family grafted and renovated more than 200 local longan trees with 205 golden longan variety; he found that the golden longan grew healthily, with large, even fruit clusters, dry flesh, and a rich sweet taste. After 1 year, it was ready for harvest, the harvest time was longer, making it convenient to transport the product far away, especially the selling price was 40-50 thousand VND/kg, twice as high as that of the regional longan variety.

Harvesting longan at Ngoan Hau Agricultural Service Cooperative, Chieng Khuong commune, Song Ma district.

Along with that, the branding of the province's key agricultural products is being carried out. Mr. Luu Binh Khiem, Director of the Department of Science and Technology, said: Up to now, the whole province has 28 agricultural products bearing the province's geographical name granted protection certificates by the Department of Intellectual Property, Ministry of Science and Technology, including 3 geographical indications, 22 certification marks; 3 collective marks; 2 products are protected abroad, including: Moc Chau Shan Tuyet tea products are protected in the Thai market in 2017; Shan Tuyet tea and Yen Chau round mango are protected in the European market according to the commitment in the EVFTA agreement between Vietnam and the European Union, which took effect in July 2020, contributing to enhancing the reputation of the quality of agricultural products and products processed from agricultural products.

Science and Technology Application Solutions

Promoting the application of science and technology in factories and agricultural processing facilities in Son La province, contributing significantly to improving the quality and value of agricultural products. At the same time, improving productivity and income for farmers as well as processing facilities. However, the implementation is still limited due to both objective and subjective reasons.

In which, objective reasons Due to inconvenient transportation, costs are still high and the time to transport goods to economic centers and large product consumption markets is long, not attracting many businesses and investors with strong potential to the locality. The import markets for Son La's agricultural products are increasingly tightening standards on traceability, regulations, packaging design standards, quarantine procedures, and customs clearance.

Subjective reasons include fragmented agricultural production in the province, low resources for implementing programs to support enterprises applying science and technology in the province. Enterprises have not focused on investing in research and development activities, technological innovation and product improvement. Investing in modern technological equipment requires large costs, beyond the financial capacity of many small-scale establishments. Some processing establishments do not have enough capacity to absorb advances in science and technology, leading to the inability to fully utilize the potential of modern technologies...

A production shift at Son La Coffee Processing Factory.

Talking about solutions to promote the application of science and technology in agricultural production and processing, the Director of the Department of Science and Technology added: Our province really needs synchronous solutions, such as building mechanisms and policies to support agricultural processing facilities, improving technology absorption capacity and potential to improve production technology.

Apply policies such as: Tax reduction, preferential loan support or providing technology development funds, helping establishments have resources to invest in new technology; promote application activities, technology transfer and technical progress, especially in developing typical, strong and key products of the province.

At the same time, applying science and technology to agricultural production, ensuring strict compliance with the announced production and processing procedures for each product associated with implementing the development perspective in the region and area "Identity - ecology - connection - happiness", forming a 6-house connection including "State - farmers - enterprises - scientists - banking system - distributors".

Processing dried longan at Son La Fruit Import Export Joint Stock Company.

Promoting the application of science and technology in planting, caring for crops, and developing the agricultural processing industry is an inevitable trend, not only ensuring productivity, product quality, improving competitiveness in the market, but also reducing labor and production costs. The effective implementation of policies to support the application of technology in agricultural production and processing will certainly create a transformation for the province's agriculture, contributing to many targets of Resolution No. 06-NQ/TU dated January 21, 2021 of the Provincial Party Committee on the development of the agricultural processing industry of Son La province in the period of 2021-2025 and orientation to 2030 exceeding the set plan.

Quynh Ngoc