However, the country currently only boasts two irradiation centres. This is far too small to process Vietnam’s lychee let alone other fruit.
According to the director of the Hanoi Irradiation centre, the biggest challenge for raising added value in agro produce is a lack of funding. This irradiation centre cost 1.5 million USD. However, the centre needs another 500,000 USD to build frozen storage facilities, quarantine area and packaging plant.
To export lychees or longan to the US, Vietnamese enterprises have to provide irradiation certificates. They also have to commit to not let already irradiated products to be infected again.
Minister Cao Duc Phat, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said: "The issue now is to find the fund the operations of the northern irradiation centre. Next week, I will talk to Minister of Science and Technology to find a solution to this issue".
If this system runs properly, it will radiate 20 to 30 tonnes of lychee daily. According to Minister Phat, technology is the key solution to raise added value for agro produce.
Increasing the added value for Vietnamese agro-produce is a key solution to raise the competitiveness of Vietnamese products in the global market./.
