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Rice of high standard produced on trial basis
The My Thanh Cooperative in the Mekong delta province of Tien Giang has kick-started a programme to produce rice that matches the Global Good Agricultural Practice (GLOBALGAP) on a trial basis in the Summer-Autumn crop this year.
Around 14.4 ha of rice paddies in My Thanh Nam commune have been chosen for the implementation of the programme which aims to coordinate efforts of scientists, farmers, and enterprises in improving the quality of rice in the region.
Participating farmers are required to apply steps of a production process in line with strict criteria for quality under the supervision of agricultural experts.
The GLOBALGAP standard rice programme is the follow-up of the farmer participatory research (FPR) programme which has been carried out in My Thanh Nam commune since 1995. FPR programme required farmers to refrain from spraying insecticides during the first 40 days after planting in order to produce high-quality and safe rice.
According to the local agricultural department, the My Thanh cooperative has signed a contract to sell rice produced under the GLOBALGAP standard rice programme at a price of 20 percent higher than the usual rice.
The GLOBALGAP is a standard primarily designed to reassure consumers about how food is produced on the farm by minimising detrimental environmental impacts of farming operation, reducing the use of chemical treatments and ensuring a responsible approach to worker health and safety as well as animal welfare.
It is a single integrated standard with modular applications for different product groups, ranging from plant and livestock production to plant propagation materials and compound feed manufacturing.
Tien Giang province is one of the provinces lying along the Tien River in the Mekong Delta, where Good Agricultural Practice has been applied in the cultivation of fruit trees since early 2007.
VNA
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