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Journal of Modern Agriculture
April 2014, Volume 3, Issue 2, PP.23-27
Inspiration from Measures on Vegetable
Production in Developed Countries
Feng Zhong
1, #
, Yujing Sun
2
, J ingjing Yan
2
, Qianzhu Wang
2
, Deliang Ren
2
, Zhigang Yang
2

1. Jilin Agricultural Machinery Experiment Appraisal Station No.6236 Xian Road, Changchun, 130062, China
2. College of Biological and Agricultural Engineering,Jilin University,No.5988 Remin Avenue,Changchun, 130025,China
#Email: jdzzhongfeng@163.com
Abstract
Production and management techniques to promote vegetable quality and safety in the United States, Japan, Canada, the
Netherlands, Spain and Germany are studied in this paper. Vegetable quality control technologies, standardized vegetable
production systems, socialized information services and law monitoring systems are analyzed. In order to improve vegetable
quality in China some suggestions were put forward. Study results suggest that first step to promote vegetable production level is
to introduce standard production practice and quality traceability system. It is also of benefit for improving vegetable safety and
farmers interest to reform socialization vegetable production service system and regulation system.
Keywords: Vegetable; Safety; Production; Standardization; Measures
1 INTRODUCTION
Vegetable industry grows quickly in China. Vegetable area increased 35.119% from 2000 to 2010, and the annual
vegetable yield increased from 356.89 million tons to 496.2 million tons
[1]
. With over 0.7 million tons annual
increased export, annual vegetable export increased from 3.203 million tons to 8.027 million tons from 2000 to
2009
[2]
. On the other hand, vegetable quality accidents occurred frequently. 9 persons were injured by poisonous leek
in Qingdao in April of 2010, and another 10 persons injured by the same accident was reported in Henan province in
March of 2011. Trade disputes caused by vegetable quality increased also. Safety risk factors may lurk in any section
among farm practice, processing, transportation and distribution of vegetable production. To promote vegetable
quality and safety, its important to establish quality traceability system and to strengthen supervising in vegetable
production.
Good vegetable quality is provided by standard operations, social information services and regulation supervising
systems in developed countries. With high-level mechanization, specialization and standardization, vegetable
production operations in developed countries, from soil preparation, planting to post-harvest processing, are carried
out by machines, and some of them are operated by automatic systems, in which manual operations are only
supplement to machinery systems
[3, 4]
.
Vegetable production technologies, management measures and methods to improve vegetable quality and safety in
the United States, Japan, Canada, the Netherlands, Spain, Germany and other developed countries are investigated in
this paper. Suggestions to develop vegetable quality traceability system in China are brought forward at the end of
this paper.
2 VEGETABLE QUALITY CONTROL TECHNIQUES IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
Quality control methods in vegetable production include vegetable and its circulation operation skills.
2.1 Vegetable Operation Techniques
Growing environment and input materials are important safety factors in vegetable production. In addition,
information-based operation management, such as archival records of soil measurement and operation plans, is

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adopted to improve vegetable quality in developed countries.
To enhance market competition, regionalization vegetable production plan is executed in the U.S., Spain, and Japan
so on. According to the plan, each vegetable base or vegetable farm is designed to supply several specials of most
appropriate vegetable to all over the country. There are four main vegetable areas in the United States, which lied in
the middle south, southwest, southeast and north of America. Winter vegetables are grown in middle south and
southwest. While early winter- spring vegetables and cold vegetables are mainly produced in southeast and north of
U.S., respectively
[5]
. Vegetable areas in Spain focus on five districts, Mediterranean coast, west Andalucia, Canary
Islands, the inland areas and North Atlantic. The off-season cultivation of most summer vegetables is carried out in
Canary Islands. Vegetables in North Atlantic coast are mainly supplied to domestic markets
[6, 7]
. Most vegetable
bases of large and medium-sized cities in Japan are moved to exurbs. Soil, water and air are rigorously detected in
vegetable base selection to protect vegetables from contamination
[8]
.
To reduce amount of plant-protect productions, coated seed, insect-absorbed machine advanced bio-techniques are
extensively studied in developed countries
[9]
. The coating agents with agricultural chemicals that would cause
excessive pesticide residues are forbidden in the United States
[5]
. Film mulch, plant extracts and mineral oil are
applied to control pests and diseases, and microbial herbicides, manual or mechanical weed are extensively used in
Japan. Meanwhile biophysical methods, such as release the natural enemies, are utilized to control pests and diseases
[3, 8]
. New vegetable varieties, such as Eggplant, tomato, cucumber, pumpkin with disease resistance, insect
resistance, cold resistance, and other characteristics already exist in America, Germany, Netherlands and Japan
[10]
.
To increase soil organic content, concentrated & organic fertilizers, and straw returning techniques are advocated in
Japan
[5]
. Only vegetable parts with commercial value are taken during harvest, while other vegetable parts remained
in the field. At the same time, vegetable rotation or fallow systems are implemented in order to restore soil fertility,
to improve soil structure, and to reduce the dependence on chemical fertilizers
[8]
.
2.2 Circulation Operation Skills
Vegetable circulation after harvest includes pack, transportation, delivery and sales, etc. Cold chain operation is
extensively used in developed countries, in which vegetables are kept in suitable physiological temperature from
pack to consumers refrigerator. Cold chain, with 1% ~ 2% vegetable depletion rate, includes pre-cooling, cold
storage, transport in refrigerated trucks, cool storage in wholesale market, storage in supermarket freezer and
consumers refrigerator. In order to tracing vegetable quality, the identifiers, such as vegetable name, specifications,
manufacturer name, origin and bar code must be labelled on the packaging.
The organization mode of vegetable circulation in developed countries often exists in powerful international combo.
Vegetable supply in the United States is mainly taken over by a few international companies, who master advanced
vegetable processing, preservation and delivery techniques and operate in global scale with worldwide subsidiaries.
75% ~ 95% vegetables in Netherlands are sold by cooperative association.
Vegetable production in Japan characterizes by dispersive production and centralized sale. Vegetable circulation is
divided into within market and outside market. Vegetable exchange is organised by the Agricultural Association.
The procedure of circulation within market is generally as follows: production - market reception - wholesale - retail
- consumption. There are three wholesale market levels, from central to local, in Japan. More than 80% vegetables
are transited in wholesale market
[3]
. High-priced vegetables take the spot auction. Circulation outside market, in
which vegetables are supplied from the origin, is used only by a few farmers, and carried out by retailer.
3 STANDARD VEGETABLE PRODUCTION SYSTEM
In order to improve the competition of vegetable industry, there are stringent operating standards on vegetable
production, storage, transportation and sale in developed countries. For example, vegetable quality standard, size
standard and packaging standard etc.
The fruit and vegetable quality standard was enacted in early 1960s in the United States. Tied with laws and
regulations, the vegetable product standards and service standards almost cover all sections of vegetable production,

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circulation and trade. With multi-area person involved in, such as government officials, experts and scholars, as well
as people in industry, etc., vegetable grading standards are easy to absorb opinions from all sides, and facilitate their
implementation and application. Vegetable production information, such as breed, weight, picking time, origin, and
maturity, etc., must be labelled on the package to facilitate consumers choice of vegetables. Main vegetable quality
and safety standards include: Vegetable identification standards. They are basic standards to protect consumers
from deception of shoddy products or misleading labels; Vegetable quality standards. They can protect consumers
from buying a unknowing product with big defect; Vegetable container filled standards. They specify how to full
containers, and how to mark on labels, in order to avoid misleading by fraud; Vegetable quality grading standards.
Formulated and recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, these standards are the basis to grade, inspect
and certify vegetables
[11]
. There are very detailed provisions on vegetable size, weight, colour, and maturity, etc., in
vegetable quality grading standards. Pesticides, fertilizers, food additives, preservatives and other chemical
substances are restricted strictly in vegetable production, storage and transport.
Vegetable circulation standards play important role in Japan. Vegetable appearance qualities, such as shape, colour,
no rot, no pest damage, clean, free of sand and other foreign matter, are specified in Japanese national standards.
Grading standards are different on vegetable breeds. Indicators in grading standards include single weight, length,
diameter, numbers of vegetable in a package unit, etc.
[11]
.
4 SOCIALIZED INFORMATION SERVICES
In order to reduce vegetable risk issues, comprehensive information service systems on vegetable production are
founded in developed countries. Information service agencies provide not only information and technology services,
but also finance and insurance services for vegetable operators.
To ensure vegetable chain operation quality, seed companies, fertilizer and pesticide sellers, transportation
companies, processing plants, agricultural associations and other service agencies cooperate with each other to
provide technical advices, soil measurement, agricultural materials, purchase and sale information, laws and account
and other services in the United States
[11]
. Governments attach great importance to the dissemination and exchange
of vegetable safety information. Vegetable safety information is opened by public meetings, Federal Gazette
notice, national and global electronic communication systems, internet or other ways. The Ministry of Agriculture in
United States help vegetable producers in many ways by long-term Fruits and Vegetables Plan, such as to provide
grading and inspection services, price and product information, and to supervise the implementation of trade laws
and regulations
[4]
.
Agricultural Association is the services center of vegetable production in Japan. Except for providing vegetable
technology services and financial service, agricultural association agencies at different levels help governments to
formulate vegetable development program and key investment plans
[5]
.In recent years, electronic information nets of
vegetable circulation in Japan make great progress. Centered with the convenience chain stores and large retail stores,
POS system rapidly comes to popularity. Currently, large-scale retail stores in Japan introduced automatic ordering
system (EOS) and value-added communication network (VAN) linking to food industry and wholesale trade. At the
same time, wholesale markets are equipped with advanced information system, by which linked with major
wholesale markets all over the world. With advanced information system, trade and demand information of
vegetable at each store can be exchanged quickly. Thus, vegetable inventory turnover is greatly improved
[10]
.
Due to the dependence of vegetable production on climate, agriculture insurance is introduced in vegetable
production in Canada and America. Coinsurance of government and farmers is implemented in Canada.
Governments encourage farmers to participate in insurance program by risk-sharing and afford part of insurance cost.
Net-income fluctuation insurance program (NIFIP) is taken by the Department of Agriculture Risk Management
Bureau in the United States. With NIFIP, farmers can get compensated for not only the loss of vegetable hit by
natural calamity, but also the effect of price fluctuations in market. If excess production happened, the Ministry of
Agriculture would uniformly purchase to ensure vegetable price stability, and to decrease producers loss. In case of
a disaster, even uninsured vegetable can also get a compensation sane 40% interest as the average production level.
Agricultural Association in Japan absorbs a lot of circulation fund through the financial system, and affords farmers

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with loan on concessional terms.
5 LEGAL AND REGULATORY SYSTEM ON VEGETABLE PRODUCTION
Fully matured laws and regulations systems in developed countries guarantee that problems in vegetable production
can be well checked and processed according to related laws. Vegetable production, processing, distribution and sale
operation are generally supervised by one department to eliminate administrative loss.
Food safety regulatory system in U.S. is divided into three section, federal, state and region levels. Federal agencies
implement vertical management, which is a top-to-bottom package management for matters within the jurisdiction.
In order to unify supervision of food safety, the European Union established the European Food Safety Authority,
which is a directly Authorized agency under the EU institutions.
There are more than 30 laws and regulations related to vegetable quality and safety in the United States. For instance,
the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA), the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), the
Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (FPLA), the Food and
Health Transport Act (FHTA), the Product Liability Act (PLA), the Federal Environment Pesticide Control Act
(FEPCA), the Public Health Service Act (PHSA), etc.. All aspects of vegetables from planting to marketing are
formulated clearly in related laws. In addition, some procedures, which must be accordance with the law, are also in
possession of legal force.
At the same time, the procedure to formulate new regulations and to amend law is very transparent in the United
States. According to some laws, vegetable industry person, consumers and other people are permitted and
encouraged to participate in the process of regulations development, revision and promulgation. On the other hand,
the formulation of vegetable safety laws and regulations, and policy is based on risk assessment. Public health
experts with good scientific qualifications, and scientists from the non-government regularly invited to provide
suggestions on law clauses and their enforcement process
[10]
.
Food quality and safety supervision system in Japan is balanced by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries, the Labor Ministry of Health and the Food Safety Commission
[12]
. So far, about 10 laws and regulations
on vegetable production, such as the Wholesale Market Act, the Vegetable Production Listing Stability Act and
so on, were promulgated Japan. The three designated, origin, variety and consumptions, are formulated in the
Vegetable Production Listing Stability Act. The city with more than 200 thousand people and their surrounding
areas are designated vegetable consumptions. On the other hand, the breeds in bulk demand, high quality varieties
and their time-to-market are opened as decree, and adjusted according to changes of market. The designated
vegetable accounted for 71% of total vegetable circulation
[5]
.
6 SUGGESTIONS TO VEGETABLE PRODUCTION IN CHINA
Although vegetable industry makes great progress in recent year, vegetable safety problems remain serious. For
instance, dispersive production & circulation operation, immature technology & service system, insufficient policy
support and lack of supervision, are main factors to restrict vegetable production development. Some suggestions to
solve these problems are as follows:
1) To establish vegetable quality safety traceability system. With the vegetable traceability, we could not only detect
the vegetable pesticide residues, but also trace back to the origin, the farmer, circulation, fertilization and other
relevant information.
2) To carry into execution of vegetable production standards, for example, to bring Good Agricultural Practice
(GAP), Good Manipulate Practice (GMP) and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) into vegetable
practice.
3) To reform socialization services system in vegetable production. Decentralized small-scale and domestic
production should be combined and found farmers professional co-operatives to complete production and
circulation information service system. We should promote government financial support on advanced technology

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study and extension, and bring insurance system into vegetable production.
4) To improve legal and regulatory systems. In order to form an effective vegetable supervision and management
system, vegetable producers, businesses, consumers, and other personnel should be involved in revision and
promulgation process of relevant regulations.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This research is sponsored by World Bank loan program in Jilin province Research on Greenhouse Vegetable
Quality and Safety Traceability System (2011-Z56) and Greenhouse Quality Safety Traceability System Research
(20110255).
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AUTHORS
Yujing Sun got the BE in Mechanical Design and Manufacturing in formal Jilin University of Technology, ME
Agricultural Mechanization Engineering in Jilin University and PhD in Agricultural Mechanization Engineering
in Jilin University, 1993, 2000 and 2005, respectively. He is with the Jilin University, China. His main research
interests include intelligent mechanical system design and simulation, quality measurement in agricultural
products and food, and agricultural robots.