On 21 September 2021, the Vinh Phuc Provincial Department of Plantation and Plant Protection held a conference to announce the publication of the Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) for safe vegetable application guidelines. The conference was attended by several units of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Rikolto, plant protection organisations both at district and city level, and safe vegetable production cooperatives.
The Vietnamese province of Vinh Phuc published PGS application guidelines
The Vietnamese province of Vinh Phuc published PGS application guidelines
Vuong Tuyet Nhung
Communications Officer
Ms. Nguyen Thi Den, Rikolto’s Programme Officer sharing about the process of supporting the province to apply PGS
An Hoa Cooperative is one of the five cooperatives 1 covering nearly 30 hectares of land, supported by Rikolto since 2018 through the project "Building a sustainable vegetable value chain for smallholders in Vinh Phuc". Throughout the project, cooperatives received training not only on integrated pest management (IPM), safe vegetable production and post-harvest processing, but also on organisational management, business orientation and market research.
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Thanh Ha Safe Vegetable cooperative, Van Hoi Xanh Safe Vegetable cooperative, Vinh Phuc Safe Vegetable cooperative and Hop Thinh 88 Spices Agricultural Service cooperative ↩︎
Farmers learned how to apply the Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) in the quality management of safe vegetables. During 3 years of its application, An Hoa Cooperative's products have always met the food hygiene and safety standards, enjoying good success on the market. The average output of the Cooperative has increased from 4-5 tonnes/day (in 2018) to 10-20 tonnes/day (2021) depending on the season, an increment reflected in farmers’ income. Farmers also diversified their product offering, meeting the demands of an increasing number of customers such as company canteens, processing companies, supermarkets and large traders in neighbouring provinces.
PGS is really suitable for small producers! It’s a cost-effective quality control system that certifies all products in the field, while helping farmers to increase their responsibility and self-discipline. When complying with PGS, farmers reduce the use of toxic pesticides that affect the health of producers and consumers.
In the future, Rikolto, together with the Vinh Phuc Plantation & Plant Protection Department, will continue supporting farmers’ cooperatives in realising their business and production expansion goals, and State agencies in mobilising more companies and individuals in the implementation of the PGS system. The common goal? To build a safe and sustainable food system.
In November 2020, Rikolto was honoured to receive a certificate of merit from the People's Committee of Vinh Phuc province for outstanding achievements in supporting the province's agriculture in the 2016-2022 period.
