“OCOP” program taps local potential, raising value of agricultural products

The "One Commune One Product" (OCOP) program is currently being directed by Binh Duong to promote implementation and this is considered as an important task, contributing to tapping the local potential, raising the value of. agricultural products, promoting the local agricultural and rural economic development.

Initial results

The “OCOP” program has officially been implemented nationwide since 2018 with focus on developing agricultural, non-agricultural products and services with advantages in each locality along the value chain, with high competitiveness in the market. Especially, economic development in rural areas in the direction of upholding internal resources and adding value is an effective solution in new-style rural construction. After the Prime Minister's Decision No. 490/QD-TTg approving the OCOP Program for the 2018-2020 period, provinces and cities across the country implemented it. And many localities such as Quang Ninh, Bac Giang, Quang Nam, Ben Tre... implemented the program successfully with many products being promoted and exported to foreign markets.

The province’s potential agricultural products participate in the OCOP program

Over the past time, Binh Duong province directed relevant units to promote communication about the OCOP program among all-level authorities, sectors and people, considering this as an important economic development program in the community, especially for rural areas. Provincial People's Committee instructed sectors and localities to support and create conditions for the subjects participating in the program to strengthen, upgrade, standardize and improve the quality of products participating in the OCOP program at product quality assessment criteria as stipulated.

According to the assessment of provincial Rural Development Sub-Department, the province has many advantages in implementing activities to support agricultural production and rural development. Transport infrastructure, electricity system, information ... are convenient to each hamlet with the whole country’s highest per capita average income... Along with that, the province’s Innovation Project has established many focal points, organizations and policies to support the application of modern science and technology in all aspects of socio-economic life.

As a result, provincial People's Committee last year recognized 28 OCOP products; in which, there were 20 products with 3 stars and 8 products with 4 stars of 19 subjects. This is a new program, so localities are still confused in the implementation process, do not understand the process of evaluating and classifying OCOP products…The achieved results have not brought into play the full potential of the local product value yet.

Implementation accelerated

In order to further promote internal resources and add value, provincial People's Committee has issued the Plan No. 2504/KH-UBND on the implementation of the OCOP Program in 2022. To create proactiveness, determination and unity in the implementation of the OCOP Program, provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DoARD) organized an extensive propaganda conference on the program to departments, localities and potential subjects in the province while improving the local apparatus of implementation.

At the conference, delegates were deployed many important contents of the program, including its viewpoints, goals, meaning and benefit; roles and responsibilities of authorities at all levels in the implementation of the annual OCOP cycle for leaders and officers in charge of the program at agencies. Through the conference, departments, sectors, localities and potential subjects can understand more about the OCOP program and continue accompanying the agricultural sector to support producers in the province.

Le Thanh Tam, Deputy Director of provincial DoARD said that the conference aimed at continuing widely propagandize the purpose and meaning of the OCOP program to departments, localities and potential subjects in the province while improving the apparatus of implementing the program. It is also expected that through the conference, departments, sectors, localities and potential subjects can understand more about the program and continue accompanying the department to support the local producers.

For the OCOP program bringing more positive results, the local agricultural sector has put forward solutions to promote and introduce OCOP products that are recognized with 3 stars or more. The sector will set up a plan on coordinating with the industry and trade sector to promote and introduce them through a number of forms, such as: Forming up a display site for OCOP products at provincial level to support subjects with  OCOP products at requirements from 3 stars or more; building provincial OCOP website to support subjects to introduce and sell products; supporting the implementation of the province's common booth to participate in OCOP fairs in and out of the province…

Along with that, the province will continue widely disseminating the content, cycle and set of criteria for evaluating and ranking products; further encourage and expand the scale of production and business for cooperatives and enterprises with conditions and capabilities, put new products into production on the basis of promoting product advantages, exploiting land conditions, facilities and human resources at a maximum level at market demand; strengthen the existing value chain associated with the development of OCOP products; build and implement projects linking production along the value chain in order to tap the strong points of agriculture and rural areas in association with the economic development of the communes.

Reported by Thoai Phuong-Thao Truc-Translated by Kim Tin