LOC TROI: THE STRATEGIC TRANSFORMATION FOR VIETNAMESE FARMERS

agricultural group which has a world-class sustainable value chain”.

Loc Troi Group’s agricultural engineers have been working closely with farmers over the years

Prosperous farmers, sustainable Loc Troi

During the inaugural ceremony of the new group, Chairman Huynh Van Thon repeated time and again that farmers remain a powerful force in its development in the new phase. “Farmers are the group’s real owners,” he said. This business philosophy was recapitulated succinctly by Thon in a sentence: “Prosperous farmers, sustainable Loc Troi.”

Founded in 1993, An Giang Plant Protection Joint Stock Company (AGPPS) is the leading distributor and a manufacturer of crop protection chemicals (CPC) in Vietnam.

In order to develop the good connectivity with local farrmers, since 2006 AGPPS has initiated the programe namely “Together with the farmers”. This programme was designed to supply consulting services with modern scientific and technical solutions for Vietnamese farmers.

A special feature of this programme is the establishment of anagricultural engineer force, named “3 Together”, which is currently risen to over 1,200 agricultural engineers. Those engineers will be directly presence in the rice fields to instruct and assist rice farmers in order to improved rice cultivation techniques for better productivity and quality.

“Eat, live and work together with farmers, we can understand their thoughts, aspiration and requirements in production along with the Vietnamese government, scientists help farmers to achieve the target of ‘bumper crops – better prices’,” Thon says.

At the event, Guinness Vietnam official recognized Loc Troi’s “Together with the farmers” programme as the biggest of its kind in Vietnam.

Loc Troi provides more possibilities for growth and expansion

“As a multidisciplinary business of such a scale and quality, the transformation from a joint stock company to a business group is essential for growth and expansion,” said Huynh Van Thon, board chairman and CEO of AGPPS, now Loc Troi Group. Thon said the existing name which is associated with An Giang Province and plant protection may not be convenient in one way or another for building the group’s exclusive brand names of farm produce. The An Giang Plant Protection brand name will be retained exclusively for the crop chemical business to continue to be one of the group’s strengths.

How about Loc Troi (literally means “Heaven’s Grace”)? “Since its very first day in 1993, our group has been closely attached to farmers throughout the 22 years of development,” Thon says. “All ourproducts, from rice to corn, are grains of gem. They are produced by farmers and also heaven’s grace. We are endowed with the vast rice fields and fertile land where plants grow lushly. It is the source of life. Doing business in agriculture, we have found no word which is as effective and meaningful as Loc Troi.”

In 2014, of AGPPS’s total sales worth almost VND8.85 trillion, that of the rice business reached VND2 trillion, or 22.6% of the total. The figure is expected to amount to some VND3 trillion this year. Together with the impressive sales, rice yielded by AGPPS in line with self-contained production (from seeds to cultivation, harvesting, processing, packaging and delivery) has been exported to more than 30 countries and territories worldwide, including Japan, the U.S., Canada, and European nations, to name just a few. Notably, AGPPS’s rice has met the strict requirements of over 600 standard tests of quality and food hygiene effective in Japan.

Thon affirmed that his group is going to adhere faithfully to the core competence which includes strengths in the agricultural business based on well-founded scientific and technological researches. “In the next 10 years, following the sustainable value chain of the rice paddy, we may build new value chains related to coffee, tea, black pepper and fruit trees depending on actual market demand,” he said.

HL