In Tien Giang, the Center for Testing, Verification and Quality Services (RETAQ) - Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) recently held a workshop to contribute ideas on the data system guiding processes, procedures and non-tariff standards to support the export of agricultural, forestry and fishery products.

At the workshop, RETAQ introduced the AgriDataGo project. This project provides free AgriDataGo software to support agricultural, forestry and fishery production, processing and trading entities nationwide, especially small and disadvantaged entities, to have fair and complete access to information on standards, regulations and necessary procedures to meet domestic and export markets. In addition, it provides product development consulting, trade promotion, and capacity building for entities to enhance their ability to penetrate and compete in the market.

According to Dr. Tran Dang Ninh, Director of RETAQ, currently, vulnerable groups (small enterprises, cooperatives, farmers) are facing many difficulties when connecting their agricultural products to the market due to lack of understanding of legal regulations and market requirements, especially in some countries that frequently change regulations and standards.

Therefore, AgriDatatGo was born to help farmers have a tool to quickly access market requirements. The basic design of the project helps farmers answer two major questions: the market that the product will target and how the product meets the requirements of that market.

“To solve these seemingly simple problems, farmers, cooperatives or businesses have to look up huge amounts of information on websites or go to relevant agencies.

There is a lot of information available, but connecting it into a chain of information that is easy for producers and traders to understand is a difficult task. Therefore, this project hopes to turn information about the huge demands of the market into the simplest, easiest to understand things and help people easily implement to achieve those demands. This is our desired goal", Dr. Tran Dang Ninh clearly stated.

According to Dr. Ninh, the initial product of the project was designed with a data framework to simplify the cumbersome and complicated regulations for agricultural products when they are brought to market or exported. For example, in a legal document that is 10-20 pages long, it is difficult to understand it. The information selection process will select the most important information that directly affects the product to help readers grasp the most general and easy-to-understand information.

At the workshop, Dr. Tran Thi Hong Thuy (working at the Post-Import Plant Quarantine Center I - Plant Protection Department) introduced the data on durian export guidance on AgirDataGo software for delegates to refer to and give suggestions for improvement to enhance the ability to meet the needs of businesses and farmers.

Through the workshop, delegates highly appreciated the urgency of the project in providing free software to inform issues related to durian export in Tien Giang as well as agricultural products of the whole country in the coming time. Delegates also shared and gave suggestions for the project leader to change the data structure, vivid visual images, more suitable to the needs and tastes of users.

Dr. Tran Dang Ninh acknowledged the delegates' comments. He said that the Center will improve the software to best meet the needs of each target audience. Specifically, farmers, businesses, cooperatives, and state management agencies in the coming period.

According to Dr. Ninh, the project is currently isolating information for three groups of industries: crop production, livestock farming, aquaculture and some other industries, from which the software will be completed. The project hopes that this software will be the fastest and best channel for information exchange to users.

“In the next phase, we hope the software will be a channel to connect supply and demand information. That means product suppliers to potential buyers, including consumers, can come here to review current regulations and product quality,” added Dr. Tran Dang Ninh.

The AgriDataGo project is sponsored by Thien Tam Fund (Vingroup Corporation). The AgriDataGo software is in the testing phase. You can download it to your phone from the App store (IOS operating system) or CH Play (Android) or access the web versions: AgriDataGo.com; AgriDataGo.com.vn; AgriDataGo.vn