By Huynh
Kim
Monday, Mar 11, 2019,15:58 (GMT+7)
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| 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.
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Times Daily 11-3-2019:
