‘Excessive epidemic prevention causes difficulties for Hai Duong agricultural products’

Mr. Luu Van Ban, Vice Chairman of Hai Duong Provincial People’s Committee, stated the above opinion when answering an interview with VnExpress, surrounding the consumption of agricultural products in this province.

– What is the current amount of agricultural products in the area that need to be harvested and consumed during the Covid-19 outbreak, sir?

– It is expected that the total value of agricultural products this season in Hai Duong is about 4,000 billion VND, 50% of which has been sold.

By March 3, when Hai Duong’s social distancing period ends, agricultural products in the province need to harvest and consume more than 62,000 tons of vegetables of all kinds.

For livestock farming, there are about 20,000 pigs, with an output of 2,150 tons;

With aquaculture, there are 3,350 hectares of ponds and 2,000 fish cages, with an output of about 20,000 tons.

Mr. Luu Van Ban, Vice Chairman of Hai Duong Provincial People’s Committee.

– Which ports do Hai Duong agricultural products mainly export through and what problems do they face during this epidemic?

– Currently, Hai Duong agricultural products exported through Hai Phong port are mainly carrots (accounting for 90%), vegetables exported to China through Lang Son border gate and bananas exported to Laos through Nghe An border gate.

Before the Covid-19 epidemic, the circulation of goods took place very smoothly.

This has caused many difficulties for Hai Duong agricultural products, especially carrot products.

Quarantine checkpoint in Hai Duong area.

– The government directed not to block the river and ban markets, so what do you say about restricting the transportation of goods mentioned above?

– The Prime Minister has directed epidemic prevention and control but must ensure smooth operation of the transportation of goods and production materials.

The restriction of goods circulation through the areas of many localities adjacent to Hai Duong in recent days is mainly due to inconsistent understanding and application in each province and city.

Faced with that reality, Hai Duong province has actively discussed and given opinions with central ministries and branches;

– Hai Phong recently allowed transport vehicles to pass through Highway 5, so are there still any problems with agricultural products from Hai Duong?

– On February 16, Hai Phong announced to stop receiving all citizens and goods from Hai Duong.

However, because there is no official document, the checkpoints in Hai Phong bordering Hai Duong control vehicles entering and exiting differently, leading to difficulties for businesses.

In order to promptly remove difficulties, especially Hai Duong’s agricultural products exported through Hai Phong International Port, Hai Duong province has issued a document to continue discussions, requesting Hai Phong to create favorable conditions for vehicles.

Up to now, with the latest document of Hai Phong City, allowing transport vehicles to pass through Highway 5, requiring drivers from Hai Duong to have a negative Covid-19 test certificate… then the

– Besides circulation problems, do Hai Duong agricultural products encounter any other difficulties, sir?

– In the early days when the whole province had to be quarantined due to the Covid-19 epidemic, the consumption of agricultural products was somewhat affected due to some traders’ fear of going into epidemic areas, and the selling prices of some agricultural products were also reduced.

Determining that promoting the consumption of agricultural products in the context of preventing and fighting the Covid-19 epidemic is an important task, we have focused on many solutions, especially implementing well the connection and consumption stage between businesses.

Agricultural products for sale in Chi Linh City during the quarantine days.

In the coming time, Hai Duong will continue to organize Covid-19 testing and issue negative confirmation for drivers to participate in transporting goods;

Recently, there have been concerns about using agricultural products in epidemic areas.

Therefore, Hai Duong province affirms that most of the province’s agricultural products always ensure quality and safety for domestic consumers and for export.

Hai Duong has about 105,000 hectares of agricultural land.

The total pig herd in 2020 is 370,000 heads (when there was no African swine fever, it was 580,000 heads), the total poultry herd is 15 million heads;

The total area of aquaculture ponds is 11,800 hectares and nearly 7,000 cages on the river, aquaculture output is 86,100 tons.

Gia Chinh