Viet Nam Improves Food Safety and Increases Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability with Nuclear Science

As the climate changes, the range of insect pests is increasing as territories become newly habitable for species that would never previously have been able to support breeding populations there. Invasive pests can damage environments and ravage agricultural production. Strict controls prevent them from spreading, including restrictions on trade in fresh fruit and vegetables.

Facilitating trade with other countries while preventing the spread of pests is important for countries such as Viet Nam, where agriculture accounts for a quarter of gross domestic product and provides a livelihood for 60 per cent of the population.

The intensifying heat makes food-borne infections and toxins more common and promotes the spread of fungal growth and spoilage. With the support of the IAEA, through its technical cooperation programme, Viet Nam is using nuclear technology to improve food safety and increase agricultural productivity and sustainability.

By irradiating food with electron beams (e-beams), X-rays or gamma rays, Viet Nam can ensure that its imports and exports of fresh fruit and vegetables are free from insect pests, enhance food safety by preventing food-borne illnesses, and extend the shelf life of food products that would otherwise be spoiled by the growth of bacteria and fungi.

The IAEA has been supporting Viet Nam with food irradiation since 1999, supplying both a gamma irradiator and an e-beam irradiator and providing training in their use. Recently, the IAEA supported staff training at the Viet Nam Atomic Energy Institute’s Research and Development Center for Radiation Technology, which is responsible for irradiation treatment.

“Different types of foods can be irradiated, either using gamma rays from radioactive cobalt-60 or caesium-137 or, increasingly, with electron beams generated in machines, and X-rays. There are many health, quality and economic benefits of irradiation treatment capabilities that several other Member States can take advantage of while learning from experienced countries such as Viet Nam,” says James Sasanya, Acting Head of the Food Safety and Control Section at the Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture.

Food products have been irradiated in Viet Nam for more than 50 years. Initially only lucrative products such as spices were irradiated, but now the market for other irradiated food products is flourishing. Viet Nam now irradiates more than 120,000 tonnes of food each year, ensuring that it is safe for consumption.

Tropical fruits from Viet Nam, such as dragon fruits and mangoes, are a particularly popular export. The value of the country’s fruit and vegetable trade increased by 350 per cent between 2012 and 2019, with growing demand from the United States of America, the European Union and China, according to the Asian Development Bank.

“I am proud to highlight the transformative role that nuclear science plays in enhancing food safety and agricultural productivity. Through technical cooperation projects at national, regional and interregional levels, the IAEA has empowered us to harness these advanced technologies. This collaboration fosters sustainable agricultural practices and contributes to the overall health and wellbeing of our nation,” says Tran Bich Ngoc, Director General, Department of Atomic Energy of the Ministry of Science and Technology.