Thứ Năm, 14 tháng 3, 2019

Workshop seeks to aid farmers with hi-tech agriculture

By Huynh Kim
Monday,  Mar 11, 2019,15:58 (GMT+7)

Guests visit Ecofarm's hi-tech farm in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap – PHOTO: HUYNH KIM

HAU GIANG – A workshop was held in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang last week to show farmers how to adopt hi-tech agricultural practices.

Held by the People’s Committee of Hau Giang Province, the Saigon Times Group and the province’s television station HGTV, the workshop, called “Helping farmers farm smartly,” saw the attendance of around 150 officials, scientists, entrepreneurs and farmers.

The province’s chairman, Le Tien Chau, said the workshop was aimed at contributing to the adoption of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s directive on transforming the agricultural sector in the province from agrochemical to organic and smart agriculture, and further developing services and processing and supporting industries to serve the sector.

Chau noted that the agricultural sector is being restructured in the province at an accelerated pace. The move is meant to promote sustainable production and develop new rural areas in the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, or Industry 4.0.

Since 2018, the province has been promoting green economy models toward smart agriculture and the creation of development links aligned with a market mechanism based on the logistics platform, with seafood, vegetables and rice as priorities.

The province has set up a 5,200-hectare hi-tech agriculture complex in the outlying district of Long My, and has offered many supporting policies for residents and investors to develop 4.0 agriculture and clean agriculture, as well as value chains for farming produce.

However, according to the local leader, many farmers are unsure of how to apply new technologies in the 4.0 platform. As a result, more polices are needed to facilitate their production chains in order to help raise the value of their products and increase their income.

Nguyen Duy Can, head of the Faculty of Rural Development at Can Tho University, pointed out that the agricultural sector in the province has a small production scale, insufficient information technology infrastructure, and limited knowledge among the manpower.

“This is why we need to develop a mindset to approach Industry 4.0  and apply advanced technology,” he said. Hau Giang has the potential to take this foward across various fields, such as rice production, basa fish breeding, and the combined cultivation of aquaculture and flowers or vegetables.

“The Faculty of Rural Development at Can Tho University is located in Hau Giang, which is advantageous to the exchange and development cooperation, especially in the field of hi-tech application,” he said.

Nguyen Hong Quang, general director of Ecology Farming Corporation (Ecofarm), said his company used to support watermelon and seedless lemon projects, in line with the Vietnamese Good Agriculture Practice standards, in Hau Giang.

Ecofarm plans to invest in smart agriculture projects combined with tourism in the province. “We are also willing to share information and resources with local agencies, firms and farmers,” he added.

After 15 years of establishment, Hau Giang Province has waterways and road transport routes, which link with the entire Mekong Delta region and HCMC. Last year, local farmers produced around 1.3 million tons of rice, 300,000 tons of fruit and 70,000 tons of seafood.

* Đã đăng Saigon Times Daily 11-3-2019:

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