Developing ecological rural areas integrated with circular agriculture

Promoting circular agriculture is a key objective set by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment for the new development phase. Building green, ecological, and circular rural areas linked to value chains is also a major direction outlined in the Draft Political Report of the Dong Nai Provincial Party Congress for the 2025–2030 term.

Cocoa shells dried into raw material for biochar at Trong Duc Cocoa Co., Ltd. (Phu Hoa commune). Photo: B. Nguyen

With many advantages in agricultural development after restructuring, Dong Nai province is closely following this goal, exploiting its strengths and potential to develop circular agriculture, in which environmental factors are tied to building ecological advanced new-style rural areas.

Pioneering in developing circular agriculture

Circular economy in agriculture is the process of agricultural production in a closed cycle, where waste and by-products of one process become inputs for another through the application of technical advances, biotechnology, and physico-chemical technologies. Thanks to this, circular agriculture brings many strong benefits that meet sustainable development goals, such as: saving input resources, promoting economic growth, increasing jobs, stimulating innovation, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Circular economy in agriculture in Dong Nai has great advantages as key crops and livestock have been planned, forming concentrated production zones and specialized cultivation areas suitable to natural conditions to promote development. One major advantage for Dong Nai in the new context is that the province has issued many programs and plans for agriculture development in general and circular agriculture in particular. This undertaking is the foundation and driving force for developing circular agriculture in the province in the coming time.

Thanks to attention to investment, Dong Nai has attracted enterprises, cooperatives, and farmers to participate, constantly expanding circular agriculture models.

The research project "Improving the process of collecting and treating manure and organic chicken waste to produce organic fertilizer" by Viet Farm Trading Co., Ltd. (Xuan Loc commune) is a pilot model for agricultural production in Dong Nai. The company has signed contracts to process poultry waste for major livestock corporations in the province. It uses manure and poultry waste to produce organic fertilizer with a daily capacity of 200 tons. The company is currently implementing a ministry-level project titled "Upgrading the system for processing manure and chicken carcasses into organic fertilizer using modern technology," with a target capacity of 500 tons per day.

Thanh Binh Cooperative (Bau Ham commune) is a pioneer in circular agriculture, with a model that includes exporting fresh bananas, processed banana products, and dried banana sheaths. In the past, banana trees were cut down and discarded after harvest. However, now they are dried and used as raw materials to produce a variety of eco-friendly handicrafts for export to demanding markets.

According to Nguyen Van Thang, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, enterprises play a central role and serve as the core driver in the development of agricultural production, including circular agriculture. This initiative creates momentum for businesses to invest in circular models through support in capital, technology, and market access, alongside policies that prioritize enterprises investing in recycling technologies for high-value agricultural by-products.

Creating new growth momentum

As a leading province in building advanced new-style rural areas nationwide, localities in Dong Nai pay great attention to technical infrastructure investment. Concentrated agricultural production zones have inter-field roads, irrigation, and power systems that basically meet farmers' production needs. The logistics system in the province is increasingly developed, creating favorable conditions for trade activities in general and agriculture in particular. Sectoral spatial planning is also a focus, concretized in the provincial master plan as a basis for investment attraction.

Que Lam Group Joint Stock Company (Ho Chi Minh City) has signed an agreement with the Dong Nai People's Committee to cooperate in building and expanding organic agricultural production models along value chains linked with processing and consumption for some key agricultural products of the province.

Chairman of Que Lam Group Joint Stock Company and Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Circular Agriculture, Nguyen Hong Lam, said: Dong Nai's administration is highly attentive, with a capable workforce, farmers, and many favorable conditions to develop circular agriculture. Many farmers in the province are now applying circular agriculture. Typically, many farms and households collect agricultural by-products for composting into organic fertilizer. Livestock farms collect waste for biogas production, selling it to fertilizer producers. Therefore, Que Lam has chosen to cooperate with Dong Nai in developing circular and organic agriculture by investing, transferring technical processes, and applying organic technology for farmers and cooperatives in the province.

According to Nguyen Van Thang, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, to promote the development of the circular agricultural economy, the agricultural sector will focus in the coming period on effectively implementing a range of targeted solutions. Specifically, priority will be given to developing a communication strategy on circular agriculture to enhance public outreach; studying the experiences of countries and enterprises that have successfully adopted circular agriculture; and guiding farmers in selecting suitable and effective models for utilizing agricultural by-products.

Knowledge of circular agriculture will be integrated into all training, capacity-building, and communication programs run by relevant agencies. The sector will also focus on guiding and supporting farmers and businesses in accessing and adopting technologies for recycling and reusing agricultural by-products and residues.

The province will continue to promote cooperation and linkages among economic stakeholders and social organizations in advancing circular agriculture. Enterprises and farmers will be encouraged to produce along value chains, with close and systematic coordination among businesses, producers, and the government.

By: Binh Nguyen

Translated by: Minh Hanh - Minho