Around 128,000 tonnes of vegetables, meat and fish in the province were waiting for consumption. — Photo thanhnien.vn

HÀ NỘI — Efforts are being made to promote the sale of crops, fruits and meat of farmers in coronavirus-hit provinces, including the two hardest-hit Hải Dương and Quảng Ninh, as the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday nears.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the total winter crop area which had not been harvested was more than 7,830 ha, or 35 per cent of the northern province’s total crop area. In Kinh Môn District, there was about 3,500 ha of onion, 350 ha of carrot in Nam Sách and 400 ha in Cẩm Giang, 200 ha of vegetables in Gia Lộc, 200 ha in Tứ Kỳ and 400 ha in Kim Thành.

In Quảng Ninh, the total unharvested crop area was more than 2,000 ha, mainly potato, corn and vegetables with a total yield of about 30,000 tonnes.

The ministry said that it was important to raise solutions to promote the sale of farm produce for farmers in locked-down areas.

The ministry said that prices of farm produce in Hải Dương had decreased by around 10-20 per cent since the outbreak of virus clusters late last month.

Nguyễn Như Cường, Director of the ministry’s Department of Crop Production, the sale of carrot and potato was the most difficult at the moment because these two products had high output volume while domestic consumption accounted for just 10 per cent and the rest must be exported.

The capacity of cold storage in Hải Dương was limited, which would be a problem if the virus was not put under control before Tết, he said.

He added that the transportation of goods to/from locked-down areas was very difficult. Local markets were also tightening disease control measures.

Hà Nội, Hải Phòng and Quảng Ninh were the major markets for the consumption of Hải Dương’s farm produce. However, these provinces were banning all vehicles and people from Hải Dương, which affected the consumption. Wholesalers from other provinces did not want to come to Hải Dương to collect farm produce with hesitation over the virus and worries that they must practice social distancing.

According to Hải Dương Province Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, around 128,000 tonnes of vegetables, meat and fish in the province were waiting for consumption.

In that context, it was important to promote consumption in the province, increase storage and implement processing for longer preservation, the ministry said.

It was a must to apply prevention measures following the guidance of the Ministry of Finance when transporting products out of the virus-hit areas, the agriculture ministry said.

At the same time, preparations must be made for the next cultivation season.

Recently, Quảng Ninh Province Department of Industry and Trade helped connect for the sale and 17 million potatoes, worth VNĐ153 million (US$6,600).  

Six enterprises also bought more than 10,000 chickens for farmers in Chí Linh City. — VNS