The Prime Minister and delegates visited the product display booths at the 2022 Vietnam Fruit and OCOP Products Festival held in Son La.
Photo: PV

During his visit, working trip, and participation in the 2022 Vietnam Fruit and OCOP Products Festival in Son La, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh assessed: "Bringing fruit trees to the slopes is a crucial shift in mindset, helping people prosper in their homeland without having to leave home for work; it's proof of the success of innovation, turning nothing into something, making the difficult easy, and making the impossible possible.".

Policies to transform the agricultural sector

In the 1990s, the Provincial Party Committee adopted a policy of developing several key crops: coffee, tea, fruit trees, and mulberry. By 2015, the entire province had over 23,600 hectares of fruit trees, mainly old varieties with low productivity and quality. In some localities, there was a situation of cutting down fruit trees and returning to planting corn and upland rice.

In carrying out the task of relocating people to serve the Son La hydropower project, the average amount of agricultural land owned by households has shrunk, while growing corn and upland rice yields low returns. This creates a practical need for production transformation and income improvement for the people.

Comrade Hoang Van Chat, former Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and former Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, shared: In preparation for the Provincial Party Congress for the 2015-2020 term, the Provincial Party Committee organized an assessment of 25 years of implementing the province's policy on developing key crops, including coffee, tea, and fruit trees, to find more effective production methods. At that time, the Agricultural Academy announced a research project on grafting new fruit tree varieties onto old tree trunks, resulting in higher yields and better fruit quality, which some households successfully applied. After 30 years of reform, the Party and State have issued many policies to develop agriculture and rural areas. Based on these foundations, the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee issued Conclusion Notice No. 121-TB/TU dated November 30, 2015, on some policies for planting fruit trees on sloping land until 2020.

Fruit-growing area in Hat Lot commune, Mai Son district.
Photo: PV

The Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Council have issued numerous policies and guidelines, providing over 77 billion VND in support, integrating programs and projects, expanding the area of ​​fruit trees to replace less efficient food crops, encouraging the application of high technology, production according to VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards, building brands, promoting, and supporting consumption and export.

The groundbreaking policy was Resolution No. 28/2017/NQ-HĐND dated March 15, 2017, which provided support of 200,000 VND per household for grafting to renovate unproductive orchards. On average, each household received support for 16 grafts to renovate mango and longan trees with new varieties. Thousands of farmers received technical training and became proficient in grafting, like agricultural engineers. In two years (2017-2018), the entire province grafted and renovated over 13,000 hectares of fruit trees; converting tens of thousands of hectares of low-yield crops to fruit tree cultivation... These figures surprised many policymakers, scientists, and agricultural experts.

The province mobilized the entire political system, creating a strong momentum to encourage farmers to change their production mindset from small-scale and fragmented to commodity production. It developed new-style cooperatives to act as intermediaries, assisting households in applying science and technology, practicing good agricultural production methods, and building production, processing, and consumption chains for agricultural products.

Son La has rapidly expanded its fruit tree cultivation area, becoming the largest in Northern Vietnam and the second largest in the country. The province currently has 85,050 hectares of fruit trees and hawthorn, representing a 219% increase in area and a 332% increase in production compared to 2016. The sloping terrain, high altitude, and significant temperature differences between day and night and between seasons present challenges in agricultural production, but these also become advantages, giving Son La's fruits a unique flavor and quality.

Delegates visit booths at the Son La Province Plum and Agricultural Products Festival in Ho Chi Minh City.

The province has issued 63 economic and technical standards for crop cultivation; 62 crop production processes, regulations on organic farming, technology transfer for grafting, pruning, and shaping to "rejuvenate" trees, techniques for staggered and off-season harvesting, and increasing product value many times over. The entire province has 5 fruit-growing areas recognized as high-tech application zones.

Farmers are "dressing up" their fruits, implementing good agricultural practices, and have established 202 export-oriented fruit growing area codes. Thirteen fruit products bearing the province's geographical names have been granted protection certificates by the Intellectual Property Office; and 201 safe fruit production, processing, and trading chains are maintained. Fruit products that have been granted protection certificates, OCOP certifications, VietGAP certifications, and have labels and packaging that ensure product traceability are maintained.

The Phuong Nam Cooperative, located in Long Phieng commune, Yen Chau district, was established in 2016. Starting with 80 hectares of longan orchards, it now manages over 300 hectares of longan orchards under a cooperative model. Cooperative members apply advanced irrigation technology and install surveillance cameras for traceability purposes.

Mr. Tran Nhu Kien, Director of Phuong Nam Cooperative, said: The cooperative's longan production area has been granted a planting area code and recognized by the Provincial People's Committee as a high-tech production area. The cooperative's longan products are sold domestically and exported to the US, Italy, Japan, etc. The average income is 200 million VND/ha.

Greening the sloping hillsides, bringing sweet fruits to reach further.

After 10 years of implementing the policy of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, fruit trees have "greened" the hillsides of Son La, filling the beekeeping industry with fragrant blossoms and promoting agricultural tourism with an abundance of delicious fruits.

A shipment of Song Ma longan has departed for export to the EU, the United Kingdom, and China.

Developing fruit tree cultivation on sloping land also creates jobs and income for farmers in the province. Farmers not only escape poverty but also become wealthy from fruit tree cultivation. In 2024, the entire province had 26,201 outstanding farming households at various levels, with fruit tree cultivation being the most prominent.

Muong Bu commune has the largest fruit-growing area in Muong La district with over 1,600 hectares of various types of fruit trees, providing stable income for the people. It is also one of the communes with the most households excelling in production and business at all levels in the district, with 312 households.

As a resettlement household for the Son La hydroelectric project, Mr. Lo Van Thuong's family moved to sub-district 2, Muong Bu commune, Muong La district, and started their lives with 1.2 hectares of land planted with corn and cassava, barely making ends meet. Recognizing the effectiveness of fruit tree cultivation, his family gradually expanded their planting area, combining it with the production and sale of seedlings. With 13 hectares of fruit trees, they earn over 2 billion VND per year, becoming a top-performing household at the provincial level, creating jobs for dozens of seasonal workers. Mr. Thuong said: "When the province implemented the policy on fruit tree development, my family switched to planting mangoes, longan, apples, and custard apples. Applying techniques to make longan bear fruit out of season and mangoes bear fruit in staggered seasons, the selling price is much higher than in the main season, averaging 200 million VND per hectare per year."

Ten years ago, Hat Lot commune in Mai Son district mainly grew corn and cassava, but the people's lives were only at a basic level. But now, Hat Lot has become a prosperous, advanced new rural commune; its hillsides are covered with lush fruit trees. The commune was honored to have Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visit its organic agricultural production area.

"Son La plums" are being served to passengers on Vietnam Airlines flights.

Mr. Tong Van Tam, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Hat Lot commune, happily stated: "The entire commune has nearly 1,900 hectares of various fruit trees, produced organically and according to VietGAP standards, with the establishment of export-oriented growing areas. Nearly 270 hectares have been recognized as high-tech production areas; and 1,020 hectares of fruit trees are produced using high-tech methods. On average, each hectare of fruit trees yields 180-200 million VND per year. The people's living standards are improving, with an average income of over 55 million VND per person per year."

Son La's fruit products are now available in almost all supermarkets nationwide, e-commerce platforms, wholesale markets, included in meals on Vietnam Airlines flights, and especially exported to 15 markets including China, Australia, South Korea, Japan, the EU, the US, Taiwan, and the UAE...

From 2015 to the present, localities have organized many fruit festivals; the province has organized over 70 fairs and conferences to connect consumption and introduce Son La fruit products in provinces, cities, and internationally. A notable event was the successful coordination and organization of the 2022 Vietnam Fruit and OCOP Products Festival, affirming the brand and position of Son La agricultural products in domestic and international markets.

Comrade Hoang Van Chat, former Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and former Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, said: The province directs the production of clean, delicious, and beautiful products and ensures markets for farmers' products. Exporting to high-demand markets such as the US and EU... helps create brands for products in other markets.

Farmers in Tu Nang commune, Yen Chau district, wrap mangoes in bags.

In addition, the province is also actively attracting businesses to invest in fruit and vegetable processing plants. The province currently has 560 agricultural processing plants and facilities, including 17 factories and 543 establishments; over 2,994 facilities for drying longan and other agricultural products; and 40 cold storage facilities. The province has 59 OCOP (One Commune One Product) products made from fruit, contributing to increasing the value of Son La's fruit products.

Green and sustainable development

Son La province's policy on developing fruit trees is likened to hitting three targets with one arrow: economic efficiency, social efficiency, and environmental efficiency. The value of fruit tree production reaches 150-300 million VND/ha/year, a 4-10 fold increase compared to 2016. Many areas are planted with new, high-economic-value fruit tree varieties: SR-1 custard apple and Queen custard apple yield 600-700 million VND/ha; golden longan yields over 500 million VND/ha; and strawberries yield over 800 million VND/ha...

People in Co Noi commune, Mai Son district, package custard apples after harvest.

Son La province plans to stabilize 90,000 hectares of fruit trees by 2030, ensuring a supply of raw materials for processing as Son La becomes a center for agricultural product processing in the northern mountainous region. The province will continue to implement comprehensive solutions to organize production, promote the application of science and technology, and invest in infrastructure systems to support production, preservation, processing, and consumption of agricultural products; and develop markets for agricultural products.

Comrade Nguyen Thanh Cong, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee and Head of the Provincial Steering Committee on the production, processing, consumption, and export of agricultural products, informed: The province continues to organize production according to VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards to improve product quality and competitiveness; develop production and consumption chains between cooperatives, enterprises, and processing plants. Emphasis is placed on establishing export-oriented planting area codes; increasing the scientific content and deep processing of agricultural products and fruits.

Becoming an "agricultural phenomenon" is a crucial prerequisite and driving force for Son La province to continue fostering creativity and innovation, transforming the development of fruit trees on sloping land in Son La from a "phenomenon" into an iconic model of rapid, green, and sustainable development.

Pham Duc