Prioritizing organic agriculture

Although it is an industrial province, Dong Nai places great emphasis on agriculture, farmers, and rural areas to create a more solid foundation for development and economic growth.

According to evaluations from central ministries and sectors, Dong Nai has quickly integrated into international markets. In particular, in the field of agriculture, the province has always encouraged farms and garden households to apply science and technology in production to create clean, safe products for both domestic and export markets. This aligns with the global trend of developing organic agriculture (NNHC) to protect the health of producers and consumers while reducing emissions and mitigating the negative impacts of climate change.

The Resolution of the 11th Dong Nai Provincial Party Congress, for the 2020–2025 term, set a breakthrough mission for the agriculture sector: developing organic agriculture. In recent years, organic and semi-organic production models have been widely replicated across localities. Up to now, the province has had 9 certified organic models cultivating vegetables, pepper, durian, pomelo, watermelon, papaya, guava, and chili with a total area of nearly 29 hectares. In addition, the province has 122 organic-oriented agricultural production models and zones, covering a total area of nearly 2,500 hectares—several times higher than the targets set by the Resolution for 2025. This achievement comes from the efforts of the province, localities, businesses, and farmers in learning from domestic and international experiences to apply to agricultural production. The ultimate goal is to build a green, circular, low-emission agricultural economy.

Recently, Dong Nai collaborated with Ritsumeikan University (Japan) to apply Sofix technology in organic agriculture. The province plans to pilot this technology in cultivating durian and pomelo. If successful, it will be expanded to other crops to further increase the organic farming area in localities. In addition, the province will build policies to support farmers in implementing organic agricultural models linked with building agricultural product brands. This will help Dong Nai’s agricultural products gain market share in both domestic and export markets.

Currently, developed countries prioritize importing organic agricultural products and are willing to pay a premium for them. This presents a great opportunity, encouraging businesses to partner with farmers and scientists to expand the area of organic agriculture.

Dong Nai currently has many large-scale specialized farming regions such as banana, mango, rambutan, pomelo, orange, dragon fruit, vegetables, durian, etc. If produced organically, these crops have significant opportunities to expand into European, U.S., Japanese, and South Korean markets. The export value of these products could be 5 to 10 times higher than that of domestic sales.

Reported by Khanh Minh