Post-harvest technologies needed to increase farm produce competitiveness

The event was held by the Tropical Agricultural Research and Consultancy Centre in HCM City and the Biotechnology Centre of HCM City on July 15.

Director of the Protective Packaging Solutions company SancoPack Pham Quoc Bao said developing preservation technologies is important to help farmers reduce losses in quantity and to maintain the quality of farm produce.

In Vietnam, post-harvest losses for seed plants were estimated at 10%, tubers at 10-20 percent and vegetables and fruits 10-30%, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisations (FAO).

This is mainly due to incorrect harvesting, packaging, transporting and preserving techniques, the FAO said, adding that packaging technologies in Vietnam are underdeveloped.

To increase the competitiveness of Vietnamese farm produce, post-harvest preservation will receive special attention from farmers and businesses.

Notably, the Chemistry Institute under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology has studied a technology called “GreenMAP” which keeps vegetables and fruits fresh three times as long as traditional methods without chemical impacts.

This new technology is simple, cheap and reduces post-harvest losses by 5 percent.

Experts suggested attracting young human resources to the agricultural sector and providing training courses for them.