On May 23, the Institute of Agricultural Science for Southern VietNam in collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology held a ceremony to announce the certification of crop products in accordance with national standards of good agricultural practice (VietGAP) for Edor longan products of Cooperative Group in Phu Quy hamlet, Hoa Hiep commune, Xuyen Moc district. The program is part of the project "Building an organic production model of VietGAP longan in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province".

Attending the ceremony, on the side of the Department of Science and Technology, there were Mr. Tran Duy Tam Thanh - Deputy Director of the Department and leaders of the Department of Science and Technology Management. On the side of Institute of Agricultural Science for Southern VietNam, there were Dr. Ngo Minh Dung - Chief of Office, MSc Chu Trung Kien - Head of Plant Protection Department - Project Manager and project members. On the local side, there were Mr. Tran Van Phuong - Secretary of the Party Committee of Hoa Hiep commune, Xuyen Moc district; Mr. Pham Hong Truong - Vice Chairman of Hoa Hiep Commune People's Committee, Xuyen Moc District. In addition, there were more than 75 delegates representing leaders of departments of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of BR-VT province; departments and divisions of Xuyen Moc district and other departments in the province; with experts in the field of organic agriculture and businesses.

The program under the project "Building an organic production model of VietGAP longan in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province" was approved by the People's Committee of Ba Ria-Vung Tau in Decision No. 3510/QD-UBND dated December 20, 2019 and Decision No. 148/QD-SKHCN dated September 17, 2020 of the Department of Science and Technology approving the content of the project. The project is implemented in 3 years (from June 2021 to April 2024) led by Ba Ria - Vung Tau Department of Science and Technology. The Institute of Agricultural Science for Southern VietNam is the lead agency. MSc Chu Trung Kien is the project manager.

The objectives of the project are to improve the quality and economic value of longan fruit, contributing to sustainable development of longan trees following organic direction according to the policy of developing high-tech agriculture of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province. Accordingly, the project built 20ha of organic longan VietGAP model (10ha Euphoria longan in Dat Do district and 10ha longan Edor in Xuyen Moc district) and linked from production to consumption. The project built 10ha of Euphoria longan and Edor longan in the basic construction phase following the direction of organic. In addition, the project applies information technology to product traceability of labels and exploitation of geographical indications for Euphoria in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province; training and transferring techniques for producing longan following VietGAP standard and the organic direction.

After nearly one year of project implementation, on April 4, 2022, the project in cooperation with Hoa Hiep Commune People's Committee established the Edor Longan Cooperative Group in Phu Quy Hamlet, Hoa Hiep Commune, Xuyen Moc District. On April 2023, the Edor Longan Cooperative Group was granted a production certificate in accordance with the requirements of the National Standard on Good Agricultural Practices in the field of cultivation according to VIETGAP (TCVN 11892-1:2017); certificate number TQC.26.4403. The certification is valid for 3 years to 2026.

According to Mr. Tran Duy Tam Thanh, domestic and foreign market demand for safe agricultural products increases. Therefore, improving the quality and economic value of longan fruit, contributing to sustainable development of longan fruit following the direction of organic, is the province's policy of developing high-tech agriculture. After the success of the Phu My Hamlet Cooperative Group, the province will continue to support localities to replicate this model.

After the certification ceremony, the Institute of Agricultural Science for Southern VietNam will continue to support the Phu Quy Edor Longan Cooperative Group  build the traceability code and logo to meet export requirements. At the same time, the project will support the group to contact agricultural exporters to expand output for VietGAP longan products.