Vegetables grown in a net house in Tiền Giang Province’s Gò Công Tây District. — VNA/VNS Photo You Chí

TIỀN GIANG — Farmers, agricultural co-operatives and retail companies have strengthened linkages to guarantee sales outlets for farm produce in the Mekong Delta province of Tiền Giang amid travel restrictions during the pandemic.

Vegetable co-operatives, for example, in coastal districts have increased sales during the pandemic.

Trần Nhật Hoàng Nam, deputy director of the province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the vegetable co-operatives had previously sold 2 – 3 tonnes each a day, but sales had risen to 3 – 4 tonnes a day during the pandemic.

Sales went up for various reasons, including high demand from local markets, higher vegetable output because of favourable weather, and the efforts of co-operatives to increase linkages with retail companies.

The Phú Quới Trade - Service – Agriculture Co-operative in Gò Công Tây District, for instance, has 107 farmers who grow 100ha of vegetables and have secured outlets. 

Võ Minh Luân, director of the co-operative, said besides securing outlets, the co-operative buys vegetables from its members at a price of VNĐ100 – 300 a kilogramme higher than market prices.

The co-operative has also signed farm contracts with nonmember farmers to buy and sell their produce to retail companies. It has linked up with retail companies to buy pork, chicken, fish and essential food items to supply to local people.

Animal husbandry co-operatives have also set up linkages with retail companies, including companies in HCM City, to supply their products. 

In addition, rice co-operatives have guaranteed outlets for their members to grow rice on large – scale rice fields.

“The linkages among farmers and companies have been promoted effectively, especially for vegetables and rice,” said Nam.

The province has established 95 linkages between farmers and companies to secure outlets for agricultural products, including crops and aquatic species.

It has told co-operatives, companies and production establishments with OCOP products under the country’s "one commune – one product"(OCOP) programme, to register their products for sale on e-commerce platforms.

Thirty co-operatives and 13 companies have also signed contracts to sell their products to supermarkets and convenience store chains. 

As a result, they have increased their sales during the pandemic by 3 – 5 times compared to before the pandemic, according to the department.

Tiền Giang's agricultural co-operatives have earned total revenue of VNĐ141 billion (US$6.2 million) so far this year, up 11 per cent against the same period last year, according to the department.

The province has 166 agricultural co-operatives with  40,782 farmers and 310 co-operative groups with more than 50,000 farmers. — VNS