A standout product is Dao Village honey, produced by the Dao Thong Nhat Village Agricultural Cooperative in Thong Nhat ward, Hoa Binh city. It has earned a three-star OCOP (One Commune, One Product) rating.
In line with the provincial Party Committee’s Standing Board's Plan No. 03-DA/TU, dated September 9, 2021, on agricultural development and product consumption in tandem with new-style countryside building for 2021–2025, the Hoa Binh city People’s Committee has issued action plans to boost the work.
Local communes and wards have focused on cultivating high-value fruit crops such as pomelo, orange, dragon fruit, guava, and banana while repurposing low-yield land for more profitable crops. For instance, 21.37 hectares in Thinh Minh commune were converted to arrowroot cultivation, nearly 10 hectares in Hoa Binh and Thinh Minh communes were shifted to growing ramie and wild eggplant (Solanum procumbens), and 20 hectares in Doc Lap commune is now under wax gourd and pumpkin.
Nguyen Trung Kien, Director of the Doc Lap Agricultural Services Cooperative, noted that the cooperative is investing in post-harvest processing to ensure market access and steady incomes for farmers. It produces organic soaps, herbal teas, loofah fiber swabs, and bamboo charcoal soap from crops like bitter melon, wax gourd, and loofah.
To promote agricultural products, the city has expanded models using advanced technology and production chains. It has also assisted farmers and cooperatives to gain production unit codes and apply traceability stamps for high-quality products with great potential in domestic and export markets. So far, 25 hectares of land under banana and 14 hectares under pomelo have been granted production unit codes.
The city now boasts 31 OCOP products rated 3 to 4 stars, with several such as the Da River fish floss, lemongrass oil, and herbal teas sold in major supermarkets, e-commerce platforms, and abroad.
Marketing and sales efforts have been focused on the domestic market, particularly Hanoi and neighbouring areas. Over the past four years, 160 farmers, production and business households, and cooperatives have been trained to sell products on e-commerce platforms like Postmart.vn, Shopee.vn, Voso.vn, and the local e-marketplace at hoabinhtrade.gov.vn.
Linking agricultural production with processing, sale, and export has helped boost productivity and value, with earnings per hectare reaching 130 million VND (about 5,000 USD). By the end of 2024, the city’s average per capita income reached 100.98 million VND per year.
ViceChairman of the Hoa Binh city People’s Committee Do Viet Trieu commented that after more than four years of implementing Plan No. 03 of the provincial Party Committee's Standing Board, the city’s agriculture and rural areas have transformed, especially in terms of agricultural production mindset and methods, thereby substantially improving living standards and creating high-value production models that generate employment and steer the agricultural sector on the right track.