Recognizing the importance of the OCOP program in economic development, especially in new rural construction, in recent years, Lam Dong province has had many policies to support and promote the development of the program...

Pioneer farmers doing OCOP

Duc Trong is one of the localities in Lam Dong with many potentials and advantages available to develop OCOP products.

Recognizing the importance of the One Commune One Product Program (OCOP Program) in economic development, especially in building a new model rural area, in recent times, Duc Trong district has issued a plan and directed relevant units and localities in the district to focus on developing plans and deploying them to each commune and town to select unique products to build the OCOP brand. In addition, every year, the district organizes training courses, coaching and capacity building for staff implementing the OCOP program; implementing trade promotion activities and product promotion...

Up to now, Duc Trong district has 35 OCOP products, of which 13 products have achieved 4 stars and 22 products have achieved 3 stars.

Mr. Le Nguyen Hoang, Vice Chairman of Duc Trong District People's Committee, said that with capital sources, especially capital sources from the National Target Program on New Rural Development, the district has had support policies for units, cooperatives, and individuals who have the need to develop products. OCOP products are often associated with the cultural identity of local ethnic groups with traditional values ​​and characteristics of the region.

Participating in the OCOP program will help improve the product in terms of production process, quality, packaging, labeling, distribution channels, etc. to meet the increasingly high demands of the market and help promote the product better. This will create changes in production activities, contributing to promoting the development of the economy and improving the quality of life of the people, especially in rural areas.

Coming to Loc Duc commune (Bao Lam district), everyone knows Mr. Nguyen Van Cay in Duc Thanh village, one of the first people to grow durian in Duc Thanh.

Mr. Cay shared that in 2000, when most of the people here were still growing tea, coffee and durian was still a specialty of the Southwest region, he boldly started experimenting with planting nearly 200 Thai Monthon durian trees. At that time, the output for durian was difficult and the price was low, however, Mr. Cay was determined to change. After 5 years, thanks to his meticulous care, the first durians were harvested. The good news is that these first durians were very sweet and delicious, with thick flesh and, importantly, were sold very well in the market.

In the following harvests, his durian garden yielded very high yields. On average, each tree yielded about 300 kg of fruit, and his entire durian garden yielded nearly 50 tons per crop.

“I take care of the durian garden organically, so the trees produce delicious fruit that meets export standards. In 2023, I participated in building an OCOP product of fresh durian with the brand name Mr. Cay durian and was certified by Bao Lam district as a 3-star OCOP product. I am very happy because Mr. Cay durian is the first agricultural product of Loc Duc commune to be certified as an OCOP product,” said Mr. Cay.

From here, Mr. Cay's durian products gradually gained a brand name in the market, not only reaching out to the domestic market but also exporting to other countries.

Thanks to “pioneers” like Mr. Cay, the commune’s agricultural sector has been developing in recent years, developing in a modern direction, applying high technology to production, so the productivity and output of crops have been improved; on average, each year the average household garden income in the commune reaches 150 million VND/ha. In addition to coffee, tea, etc., Loc Duc has become known to the people in the country for its durian products.

In 2022, the average income per capita of the commune reached 45.73 million VND/year, and in 2023, the average income per capita increased significantly, reaching 55.6 million VND/year. In 2023, the poverty rate of the commune decreased to 1.48%; the near-poor household rate was 4.59%.

Implementing the national target program on new rural construction, up to now, Loc Duc commune has maintained the criteria of a new rural cultural commune; 9/9 villages have met cultural standards; with the model of "typical residential area", "model residential area", up to now the commune has 7/9 typical residential areas.

Loc Duc commune continues to maintain the status of a commune meeting the new rural standards. With 19/19 criteria achieved, in early 2024, the Conference of the Party Executive Committee of Loc Duc commune issued a Resolution to lead the construction of an advanced new rural commune in 2024. Accordingly, the commune strives to complete the criteria to achieve the status of an advanced new rural commune in 2024 according to the plan for the period 2021-2025.

Contribute to building a prosperous new countryside

The OCOP program is a solution and task in implementing the National Target Program on New Rural Development. The OCOP program was established to sustainably implement production criteria and increase income for people, especially in rural areas. The focus of the program is to develop advantageous agricultural, non-agricultural and service products in each locality according to the value chain implemented by private and collective economic sectors; at the same time, it helps develop key products of each locality.

Identifying the core objectives of the OCOP program, promoting potentials and advantages to strongly develop OCOP products, in recent years, Lam Dong province has issued mechanisms and policies to implement the OCOP program in a practical manner, thereby contributing to the effective implementation of the program; certified products, constantly improving designs, thereby increasing the income of businesses and households.

According to Vice Chairman of Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee Pham S, the OCOP program has created momentum for local socio-economic development, while contributing to preserving and promoting traditional cultural values, especially contributing to building a prosperous new countryside.

OCOP products are certified, constantly improving designs, thereby increasing the income of businesses and households. Through the OCOP program, contributing to the socio-economic development of the locality; many OCOP products gradually enter the foreign market.

By the end of May 2024, the province's OCOP products increased rapidly in quantity and quality with 407 products, ranking 15/63 nationwide; many agricultural production models created unique OCOP products combining agricultural tourism and community tourism, attracting a large number of tourists to optimally exploit the potential of agricultural economy, creating multi-functional agriculture with higher multi-value than pure agricultural production.

In addition, OCOP products with the cultural identity of local ethnic groups such as rice wine, cuisine, household items, medicinal herbs, jewelry, brocade, etc. E-commerce development is among the fairly nationwide group; has contributed to the agricultural sector catching up with the requirements of digital transformation in the economy; diversifying the methods of consuming agricultural products.

The general goal of the new rural development program is to improve farmers' lives and shorten the gap between urban and rural areas. In particular, the OCOP program is a new development step, contributing significantly to poverty reduction and increasing sustainable income for people in rural areas. This is also the goal of Lam Dong in recent times, which has strived to promote the development of the OCOP program throughout the province.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/lam-dong-chu-trong-phat-trien-san-pham-ocop-de-xay-dung-nong-thon-moi-giau-manh-2304740.html