Measures discussed to facilitate sustainable high-tech agricultural development

Over 300 agriculture experts, from both at home and abroad, gathered at a forum in the central coastal city of Da Nang on November 23, in order to discuss the issues relating to the development of high-tech agriculture in Vietnam and work out measures for the sustainable development.

Participants at the forum.
Participants at the forum.

The event was co-organised by the State Agency for Technology Innovation, under the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), the Mekong Business Initiative of the Asian Development Bank (MBI-ADB), and the Da Nang Department of Science and Technology.

Addressing the forum, MOST Deputy Minister Tran Van Tung highlighted the significant role played by the agricultural sector, stating that the sector has provided employment for 30 million labourers, accounting for 40% of the country’s total jobs.

In order to develop agriculture in an effective and sustainable fashion, the Resolution of the 12th National Party Congress specifies the orientation of “building the agricultural sector of large-scale commodity production and technology application, enhancing the quality of farm produce and ensuring food hygiene and safety, improving the added value and boosting exports,” he said.

Over the past few years, the ministry has organised technology displays and technology supply-demand connection activities, whilst supporting agribusinesses to gain access to technology renovation policies through a number of programmes, which have contributed to comprehensively developing the agricultural sector towards modernity, large-scale commodity production, and high yields and competitiveness, Tung noted.

Participants at the forum talked over the demand for technology renovation in agribusinesses, the new approach to building up the farming technology renovation ecosystem, and the production and application of natural agricultural products.

Nguyen Hoang Anh, a member of the Prime Minister’s Private Economic Development Research Board, affirmed the development of high-tech agriculture as an inevitable trend, aiming to create breakthroughs and strengthening competitiveness of the agricultural sector in the international economic integration process.

Without strong changes in terms of technology, the Vietnamese agricultural sector will be faced by many negative challenges and impacts, such as the technology lag and the exhaustion of natural resources, amid the strong competition triggered by the integration process, he added.

Pointing out several shortcomings of the Vietnamese agricultural sector and agribusinesses, Vu Kim Hanh, Chairwoman of the Business Association of High-quality Vietnamese Goods, suggested that functional agencies guide farmers on clean and safe cultivation, seek additional markets for clean farm produce, help farmers updated of the market information, connect businesses and farmers, and issue policies which will support high-tech enterprises.