Điện Biên is a province with significant potential and advantages in agricultural development, boasting many specialty agricultural products such as rice, tea, coffee, green pumpkins, taro, and short-term crops like corn and cassava. However, the “bumper harvests, low prices” issue has long been a dilemma for farmers. To address this, localities have been doing well in regional production planning in recent years. At the same time, efforts have been made to connect and promote the “4-house” linkage (government, business, farmer, and scientist) in agricultural production, especially product consumption.

Điện Biên district has a high-quality rice material area with a total of over 4,100 hectares, mainly located in the Mường Thanh basin. In recent years, the district has focused on attracting businesses and cooperatives to participate in linking production, processing, and product consumption. To date, the locality has attracted several businesses to invest and establish a linkage chain for processing high-quality rice, which has helped increase the value of agricultural products and improve local people’s incomes.

Currently, the Tâm Thiện Cooperative (Noong Hẹt commune, Điện Biên district) is the leading entity in linking the production, processing, and consumption of high-quality Séng cù rice with a 150-hectare material area in the Mường Thanh basin. Each rice crop, the cooperative works closely with farmers in Thanh Xương, Thanh An, and Noong Hẹt communes in the entire production process, from selecting seeds, caring for crops, to pest control in a safe manner. When the rice is ripe, the fresh paddy is immediately bought from the fields.

Trần Thị Hương Quế, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of the Tâm Thiện Cooperative, shared: “To ensure the quality of the rice, we always buy directly from the fields at prices 1 price higher than the market. The product is then processed using modern methods, packaged, and labeled clearly before being brought to the market. The collaboration with businesses and cooperatives not only helps farmers reduce investment and labor costs but also ensures they are guaranteed a market for their products.”

In the last winter-spring crop, Nguyễn Thị Thủy from Chăn Nuôi 2 team (Thanh Xương commune) planted 5,000m2 of Séng cù rice. After harvesting, the entire product was directly bought from the fields by the Tâm Thiện Cooperative. Thủy shared: “This is the second time my family has partnered with Tâm Thiện Cooperative for high-quality rice production. Previously, after every harvest, it took me a week to dry the paddy and wait for a good price to sell. Now, the cooperative buys the fresh paddy right from the field, at a price higher than the market and saves me a lot of effort.”

Currently, Tuần Giáo district has 1,578.71 hectares of coffee, with around 491.9 hectares ready for harvest. The district is particularly focused on finding a stable market for coffee products. So far, the local government has signed an agreement with the Việt Bắc Coffee Import-Export Company to guarantee the purchase of coffee at market prices, with a minimum of VND 10,000 per kilogram until 2050. The district is actively attracting businesses to invest and create linkages for coffee production and consumption and is building a processing plant. They aim to establish purchase points and processing facilities in the communes and a 2.3-hectare coffee processing factory in Quài Cang commune, with a capacity of 120 tons of fresh fruit per day, laying the foundation for Tuần Giáo’s coffee industry to develop sustainably and effectively.

Building a brand for agricultural products is one of the solutions for finding stable and sustainable markets for agricultural products. Since 2019, Điện Biên province has focused on developing agricultural products to meet OCOP (One Commune, One Product) standards. As a result, the value of agricultural products has increased, and the market for these products has expanded. To date, the province has 104 OCOP products, including 5 products rated 4 stars and 99 products rated 3 stars.

Trịnh Huy Đông, Director of the Trade Promotion Center under the provincial Department of Industry and Trade, held: “After successfully building a brand for agricultural products, every year, the department carries out various trade promotion activities to introduce, advertise, and expand markets for these products. Many OCOP agricultural products now have stable markets, and some products are gradually reaching foreign markets, such as Tủa Chùa tea, Mường Ảng coffee, and Tuần Giáo macadamia.”