VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the People's Committee of Ha Noi are implementing a programme to ensure supplies of safe vegetables and meat.

The two organisations believe that this can be achieved by clearly identifying the origin of products, raising the responsibility of producers and businesses as well the general public.

Ha Noi currently meets only about 40 per cent of demand for vegetables and meat, the rest must be imported from other regions. The city consumes about 800-1,000 tonnes of fruit and vegetables per day and 1,000 tonnes of meat

Despite a huge demand for healthy, clean produce, vegetables meeting Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practices (VietGap) standards are in short supply in the marketplace.

Moreover, applying GAP creates a number of difficulties in market development, organisation and management due to small-scale and scattered production.

Bui Nhu Y, deputy director of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department in northern Vinh Phuc Province, said 40 per cent of meat was consumed locally and the rest sold to other provinces.

The programme of safe product supply chain for Ha Noi is compounded by the absence of companies to buy products, Y said.

In addition, production and consumption of high quality products has faced many difficulties due to loose controls by Ha Noi's authorities, Y added.

In some provinces, farmers do not know of any specific demands for Ha Noi, they focus on producing, an official from Bac Giang province said.

Nguyen Huy Dang, deputy director of the Ha Noi's Agriculture and Rural Development Department, said to ensure a supply of safe vegetables and meat for Ha Noi, provinces needed to provide information on their supply ability so that city people could handle any transport difficulties.

Hoang Thanh Van, head of the Animal Husbandry Department, said that each province should set up a chain to supply the best provincial farm produce. This would also help in building a brand name.

Vu Van Tam, deputy minister of MARD, said Ha Noi and provinces should also enhance co-operation and exchange information about supply and demand to avoid mass production.

VNS