Gia Lai takes initiative to standardize planting areas

Aspiration for the sustainable agricultural sector

Amid increasingly stringent export market requirements on traceability, plant quarantine, and food safety, Gia Lai province is showing clear determination to restructure its agricultural sector toward sustainability. Planting area codes and packing facility codes are foundational to this effort, as they are crucial for enhancing product competitiveness.

In recent years, Gia Lai has focused on systematically developing and managing planting area codes and packing facility codes in line with international standards on traceability, plant quarantine, and food safety.

The province has issued 348 planting area codes covering more than 11,100 hectares, including 293 codes serving exports with over 10,650 hectares. These codes are concentrated in key crops such as bananas, durian, passion fruit, sweet potatoes, jackfruit, watermelon, mango, and dragon fruit. These are products with strong export potential, and their position in international markets is being solidified.

Gia Lai has also granted 40 codes for fruit packing facilities to serve export, with a processing capacity of 1,650 - 1,800 tons of fresh fruit per day. This infrastructure plays a crucial role in ensuring post-harvest handling, sorting, and packaging meet the standards of each market.

The province is actively expanding standardized planting areas, having completed applications for an additional 134 planting area codes, covering over 2,700 hectares. This reflects a strategy not limited to current achievements but aimed at scaling up standardized raw material zones for long-term export.

According to Tran Xuan Khai, Head of the Gia Lai Sub-Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, the unit regularly conducts training and technical guidance for farmers and cooperatives to sustainably develop planting area and packing facility codes.

The training focuses on plant quarantine regulations, food safety standards of different markets, and procedures for establishing and monitoring planting areas and packing facilities. Regular inspections and supervision of granted codes are also strengthened to maintain compliance and reduce export risks.

“Facing increasingly demanding international markets, standardizing planting area and packing facility codes is not only mandatory but also an opportunity for Gia Lai’s agriculture to restructure toward modernization, transparency, and sustainability. When all links from production to packaging are tightly controlled, Gia Lai’s agricultural products will gain stronger competitiveness in the global export market,” Khai said.

Strong transformation from production practices

One of the bright spots in the standardization process in Gia Lai is the clear shift in mindset among businesses, cooperatives, and farmers. Reality shows that many cooperatives in the province are proactively making changes and boldly applying international production standards to meet export requirements.

In Chu Pah commune, Le Van Thanh from Group 3 is one of the pioneering farmers participating in the development of planting area codes for export-oriented durian. His family currently has 5 hectares of durian, granted a planting area code, meeting the conditions for official export to the Chinese market.

Previously, with a sustainable-development orientation toward durian, his family proactively registered for the code. In meeting the required criteria, they received strong support from cooperatives, local authorities, and the provincial Sub-Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection.

According to Thanh, to obtain a planting area code, all durian orchards must strictly follow safe production practices, avoid using unauthorized pesticides, minimize chemical use, and prioritize organic fertilizers and biological products.

“Complying with the process to obtain a planting area code not only improves product quality but also opens opportunities for official export with higher value. We expect more stable output and better prices in the future. We hope the State, businesses, and farmers will jointly build a structured roadmap and sustainable linkages for long-term development of the durian sector,” he said.

Hung Thom Gia Lai Agricultural and Service Cooperative (Hra commune) is another typical example, having been granted seven planting area codes for passion fruit with a total area exceeding 126 hectares. The cooperative organizes production linkage with farmers under GlobalGAP standards, achieving yields of 45 - 50 tons per hectare.

“Thanks to the codes, cooperation with export businesses has become more convenient, enabling the cooperative to expand into European and Chinese markets. When farmers participate in linkages and build planting area codes, the profits they gain are very high. The most important thing is that product output is stable, and the situation of price pressure has been eliminated,” said Do Thi My Thom, a member of this cooperative.

In a similar case, the Ia Mo Nong Agricultural Production - Trade - Service - Tourism Cooperative (Ia Ly commune) has been granted three planting area codes for 124 hectares of durian. Currently, its entire annual output of nearly 2,000 tons is exported to China. Director Le Van Thanh said, “In the early stages of building planting area codes, many farmers were hesitant due to strict and complex production standards. However, as products gained access to large markets with stable prices and higher value, awareness has clearly shifted toward more professional production.

From the business side, Hung Son High-Tech Agriculture Joint Stock Company (Ia Bang commune) is a pioneer in standardizing banana production for export in Gia Lai. The company has developed seven planting area codes across more than 400 hectares and three packing facility codes. The company’s annual banana output reaches 20,000 - 25,000 tons, generating revenue of USD 12 - 15 million.

“Planting area codes has enabled the company’s bananas to access multiple export markets, increasing product value by 20 - 30%. It serves as a ‘passport’ for stabilizing markets and enhancing product value,” said Le Hoang Linh, Project Director of Hung Son High-Tech Agriculture JSC.