Building OCOP products contributes to sustainable agricultural development.

As a mountainous district, the income of ethnic minorities in Yen Lap district mainly depends on agriculture and forestry. To create a stable source of livelihood for the people, Yen Lap has implemented many solutions to develop sustainable agriculture and forestry, increasing the value of agricultural and forestry products.

Luong Son commune, Yen Lap district, invests in expanding the area of Dinh Van specialty sticky rice towards building OCOP products, increasing income for local people.

Implementing the National Target Program on socio-economic development of ethnic minority and mountainous areas for the period 2021-2025, including Project 3 on Sustainable Agricultural and Forestry Production Development, Yen Lap district has proactively allocated capital sources to specialized agencies and communes in particularly difficult areas to build economic models, thereby expanding to help ethnic minorities in the district increase their income.

One of the highly effective sustainable agricultural and forestry economic development programs in Yen Lap is the One Community, One Product (OCOP) program. Since the program began to be implemented (2021), Yen Lap has developed 18 OCOP products, including 2 4-star products and 16 3-star products of 13 entities in 10 communes in the district. With agricultural products recognized as OCOP products, many agricultural products have increased their selling prices by 10-25%. In addition, developing OCOP products has also helped nearly 120 workers in the district have a stable income, averaging 6–8 million VND per person per month.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ha, Director of Phuc An House Company Limited in Dong Thi area, Dong Lac commune, shared: "Through research, I realized that roses and honey have very good effects on health, while Yen Lap is an area with suitable soil and climate conditions for growing roses and raising bees for honey. After discussion, we decided to invest in raw rose growing areas, build essence processing factories, and cooperate with households and beekeeping cooperatives in the district to build OCOP products. Up to now, the company has had 3 products recognized as OCOP, of which 1 product is 4-star rated, which is Phuc An rose honey; the remaining 2 products, Phuc An honey and Phuc An rose tea, are also recognized as 3-star rated. On average, each year the company supplies the market with about 1.5 tons of tea and 1,500 liters of honey, bringing in revenue of nearly 1 billion VND. In addition, the company also creates stable jobs for 12 workers with an average income of more than VND6.5 million/person/month."

The Provincial OCOP Product Evaluation and Classification Council evaluates the production process of Phuc An honey products of Phuc An House Company Limited.

In 2024, Yen Lap plans to develop about 17 more OCOP products with a rating of 3 stars or higher, bringing the total number of OCOP products in the district to 35, focusing on local products with advantages such as Dinh Van sticky rice, green tea, honey, medicinal herbs, cinnamon essential oil, cinnamon products, grapefruit, livestock...

Comrade Phan Thanh Phuong, Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said: In the process of implementing the National Target Program on socio-economic development of ethnic minority and mountainous areas, the focus of Project 3 is sustainable agriculture and forestry development, so the District Party Committee and the District People’s Committee identified investment in developing OCOP products as one of the important contents, creating sustainable livelihoods for the people. Therefore, in addition to the program’s capital, the district also proactively integrates many capital sources to support entities with conditions to focus on building and improving the quality and design of OCOP products.

In addition to capital support, to create conditions for entities to promote, introduce, and consume products, Yen Lap district also closely coordinates with sectors to participate in trade promotion programs such as fairs, exhibitions, participating in product introductions at festivals, building points of sale, and introducing products... At the same time, encourage entities to focus on investing in product standardization; promote linkages from building raw material areas, preliminary processing, and processing to product consumption for sustainable and long-term development.

Phan Cuong