Rice of high standard produced on trial basis

Tien Giang (VNA) - 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.-Enditem