Members of the Tuấn Tú General Service Co-operative in Ninh Thuận Province’s Ninh Phước District do post-harvest processing of asparagus before selling them. – VNA/VNS Photo Nguyễn Thành

NINH THUẬN – The south-central province of Ninh Thuận has stepped up measures to sustainably develop its collective economy. 

The province has 84 co-operatives and 1,300 co-operative groups with a total of 44,600 members that operate in agriculture, forestry and salt production besides many non-agricultural fields.

They have helped improve the lives of their members and create jobs, according to the province’s Co-operative Alliance.

Trần Quốc Nam, deputy chairman of the province People’s Committee and head of the province Steering Committee for Renewal and Development of Collective Economy and Co-operatives, said collectives had contributed much to the province’s socio-economic development by creating jobs and helping reduce poverty and build new-style rural areas.

To develop the collective economy, the province was focusing on reorganising co-operatives based on the 2012 Co-operative Law.

It would help them access land and credit and provide advanced technologies for production.

It would also provide guidelines for the establishment of new co-operatives, attract new members, increase the capital of co-operatives, build brands, and promote trade.

It planned to establish eight to 10 new co-operatives and focus on developing agricultural co-operatives this year.

It wanted each commune to have at least one efficiently operating co-operative that produces and consumes specifically identified local products by this year.

It wanted to increase the rate of highly efficient co-operatives from the current 36 per cent to 45 – 50 per cent by the end of this year.

Co-operative members had an average income of VNĐ35 million (US$1,500) last year.

Highly efficient co-operatives

Many co-operatives in the province have been operating highly efficiently and developing value chains for their products, most of them specifically identified ones such as grape, asparagus and goat and sheep.

The Châu Rế Agriculture and Service Co-operative in Ninh Phước District, established in 2018 with 73 women members, mostly trades vegetables and agricultural inputs.

It grows asparagus and rice in Phước Hải Commune, which has sandy soil and is drought – prone. 

Châu Thị Xéo, its director, said the co-operative used advanced farming techniques to grow asparagus, improving yields and quality.

“Asparagus … is harvested daily, and provides jobs and steady incomes for many women.”

The province Department of Industry and Trade has helped it build a facility for post-harvest handling of asparagus.

It has also helped co-operatives find outlets, invest in advanced facilities for processing agriculture produce and in generating solar energy for drying the produce, and has helped agriculture co-operatives produce to Vietnamese good agricultural practices (VietGAP) standards.

It has acted as a link between co-operatives and companies to develop their production and secure outlets.

The Suối Đá Agriculture and Service Co-operative in Thuận Bắc District’s Lợi Hải Commune found more outlets after the province helped it participate in a seminar on linkages between supply and demand in Bình Định Province last year.

Đỗ Huỳnh Hoàng, its director, said after the seminar that the co-operative signed a contract with the Bình Định Sài Gòn Co.op Limited Company in Bình Định to sell its black pigs and Thuận Bắc chicken.

The co-operative was also promoting its products in other cities and provinces, he said. – VNS