Hanoi (VNA) - The northern province of Bac Giang is planning a series ofpromotional events as this year’s peak harvest season nears, to promote andboost the export of its specialty lychee amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Theprovince will host a video teleconference on June 6 to link with representativesfrom the Government Office, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development,the Ministry of Industry and Trade, trade offices and embassies in Vietnam ofChina, Japan, and Thailand, leading local and foreign retailers such as Aeon,the Central Group, Mega Market, Saigon Co.op, Hapro, and Vinmart, and a numberof major wholesale markets and distributors.

After theconference, a ceremony will be held at February 3 Square in the provincialcapital of Bac Giang city for a fleet of trucks carrying lychee to depart to other localities and overseas.

Luc Nganand Tan Yen districts, home of the largest lychee areas in the province, is preparing a list of foreign wholesalers with demand for lycheeand seeking permission from authorities to allow their entry into Vietnam to purchase the fruit. They willalso formulate plans to quarantine the traders, in line with regulations.

Bac Giangcurrently has more than 28,100ha of lychee, with output likely to increase10,000 tonnes to 160,000 tonnes this year. This includes 45,000 tonnes ofearly-ripened lychee harvested on an estimated area of 6,000ha and 115,000tonnes from the main crop, on an area of 22,100ha.


Theharvest of the early-ripened lychee is expected to last to June 10 while thatof the main crop will fall from June 10 to July 10.

VietGAP-standardlychee has been grown on 15,000ha this year, or half of the province’s totalarea. Output is forecast at 110,000 tonnes, or 68.7 percent of the total.

Bac Gianghas developed a host of plans and scenarios for lychee trade promotions thisyear given the COVID-19 outbreak, which is still ravaging many countries aroundthe world. It has set its sights on several main markets, such as Japan, theUS, Australia, the EU, and China.

Japan hasapproved a total of 19 Production Unit Codes (PUCs) for 103ha of lychee grownby 107 local households in Bac Giang. The area includes 98ha of the main cropin Luc Ngan and 5ha of the early-ripened crop in Tan Yen, which is forecast toproduce over 600 tonnes.


Theprovince has also received 18 PUCs for 218ha of lychee in Luc Ngan’s sixcommunes - Giap Son, Tan Moc, Tan Son, Hong Giang, Kien Lao, and Tan Quang - forexport to the US, Australia, and the EU. The area is expected to generate morethan 1,000 tonnes of high-quality lychee for export to these markets.

Theprovincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has worked with thePeople’s Committees of Luc Ngan and Tan Yen districts to monitor productionunits and support local farmers to engage in production links.

It hasalso cooperated with the Plant Protection Department to help the Global FoodJSC, a local food exporter, install a closed system for post-harvestpreliminary processing, classification, sterilisation, packaging, and storagethat meets Japanese standards. A trial shipment headed to Japan at the end ofMay./.