The northern province of Bac Giang is planning a series of promotional events as this year’s peak harvest season nears, to promote and boost the export of its specialty lychee amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Packaging lychee at a purchasing centre in Luc Ngan district, Bac Giang province

The province will host a video teleconference on June 6 to link with representatives from the Government Office, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, trade offices and embassies in Viet Nam of China, Japan, and Thailand, leading local and foreign retailers such as Aeon, the Central Group, Mega Market, Saigon Co.op, Hapro, and Vinmart, and a number of major wholesale markets and distributors.

After the conference, a ceremony will be held at February 3 Square in the provincial capital of Bac Giang city for a fleet of trucks carrying lychee to depart to other localities and overseas.

Luc Ngan and Tan Yen districts, home of the largest lychee areas in the province, is preparing a list of foreign wholesalers with demand for lychee and seeking permission from authorities to allow their entry into Viet Nam to purchase the fruit. They will also formulate plans to quarantine the traders, in line with regulations.

Bac Giang currently has more than 28,100ha of lychee, with output likely to increase 10,000 tonnes to 160,000 tonnes this year. 

This includes 45,000 tons of early-ripened lychee harvested on an estimated area of 6,000ha and 115,000 tonnes from the main crop, on an area of 22,100ha.

The harvest of the early-ripened lychee is expected to last to June 10 while that of the main crop will fall from June 10 to July 10.

VietGAP-standard lychee has been grown on 15,000ha this year, or half of the province’s total area. Output is forecast at 110,000 tonnes, or 68.7 percent of the total.

Bac Giang has developed a host of plans and scenarios for lychee trade promotions this year given the COVID-19 outbreak, which is still ravaging many countries around the world. It has set its sights on several main markets, such as Japan, the U.S., Australia, the EU, and China.

Japan has approved a total of 19 Production Unit Codes (PUCs) for 103ha of lychee grown by 107 local households in Bac Giang. The area includes 98ha of the main crop in Luc Ngan and 5ha of the early-ripened crop in Tan Yen, which is forecast to produce over 600 tonnes.

The province has also received 18 PUCs for 218ha of lychee in Luc Ngan’s six communes - Giap Son, Tan Moc, Tan Son, Hong Giang, Kien Lao, and Tan Quang - for export to the U.S, Australia, and the EU. The area is expected to generate more than 1,000 tons of high-quality lychee for export to these markets.

The provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has worked with the People’s Committees of Luc Ngan and Tan Yen districts to monitor production units and support local farmers to engage in production links.

It has also cooperated with the Plant Protection Department to help the Global Food JSC, a local food exporter, install a closed system for post-harvest preliminary processing, classification, sterilisation, packaging, and storage that meets Japanese standards. A trial shipment headed to Japan at the end of May.- VNA