Promoting the role of farmers in digital age

At the Conference to review the work of 2025 and implement tasks for 2026 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized: In the coming years, to become a developed, high-income country, Vietnam must still rely on agriculture as a pillar, continue industrialization and modernization, and take science and technology (S&T), innovation, and digital transformation (DT) as the foundation for rapid and sustainable development.

Provincial Party Committee member, Vice Chairwoman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Thi Hoang (2nd from left) visits a booth displaying high-tech agricultural products at the Dong Nai Provincial Agricultural Achievements Exhibition 2025. Photo: Binh Nguyen

In particular, it is necessary to build a new generation of farmers who are "Knowledgeable - Creative - Digital - Self-reliant - Resilient - Pioneering - Aspirational - Devoted".

Bringing technology into production

Implementing Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW of the Politburo on the development of S&T, innovation, and national DT; in which bringing S&T to the center of agricultural production is identified by Dong Nai province as a key driving force, creating a breakthrough in the development of modern, sustainable, and internationally integrated agriculture. In this, farmers in the dynamic and creative industrial province have early accessed and applied new, modern technologies in production.

After the merger, Dong Nai province continues to maintain its position as the "capital" of livestock farming nationwide. Livestock farmers in the province are pioneers in applying S&T and DT with the goal of developing on an industrial, modern scale, and increasingly integrating deeper into the global value chain.

At the industrial chicken farm of Long Thanh Phat High-tech Agricultural Cooperative in Xuan Dong commune, there are 5 two-story rows of barns with 10 chicken coops raising white chickens in accordance with a closed, cold-storage process. In each coop, chickens are raised in separate, multi-tiered cages; with an automatic conveyor belt system below for collecting manure and waste. The entire process of feeding, providing water, and controlling the environment in the barn is automated. With the same area, the multi-tiered cage chicken farming model is a solution to maximize the use of barn space, allowing farms to raise several times more chickens than traditional floor-based rearing methods on an equivalent production area. In particular, the application of an automated barn system helps save labor.

Nguyen Van Huan, Manager of Xuan Dong Chicken Farm of Long Thanh Phat High-tech Agricultural Cooperative, explained: With 10 coops raising over 200,000 chickens/batch, the farm only needs 3 workers. Workers also do not need to be constantly present in the barn; as they only conduct 4 inspection trips to adjust machinery so that the production line runs automatically in the feeding and watering stages. Temperature regulation and control in the barn are all automatically set; waste collection in livestock farming also only requires a few simple operations on the machine.

In the field of cultivation, farmers in the province have also early applied high technology to production. In particular, in the model of growing vegetables and fruit trees in net houses, farmers have pioneered DT, applying technologies such as IoT, sensors, and automation to manage environmental factors such as temperature and humidity in net houses; applying automatic irrigation and fertilization, in crop monitoring..., helping to optimize yield and quality, while reducing labor and production costs.

Vinh Tam Agricultural, Commercial and Service Cooperative (in Tan An commune) pioneered in the locality by investing in net houses for hydroponic vegetable cultivation. All production stages of the cooperative are automated, helping farmers measure and control, optimizing almost all factors affecting crop development such as temperature, humidity, light, and nutrition.

Dang Van Phi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vinh Tam Agricultural, Commercial and Service Cooperative, said: Applying high technology to production helps shorten cultivation time, achieve higher crop yields, and save labor costs to reduce production costs. Thanks to this, with only a small production area, farmers can still produce large quantities of vegetables, meeting the increasingly high quality standards of the market.

Dong Nai province's agricultural sector leads in implementing DT and applying high technology to production. To date, the value of high-tech agricultural products in the province accounts for nearly 51.3% of the total value of the province's key agricultural products. The entire province has formed 11 high-tech agricultural production zones, replicated hundreds of high-tech agricultural models, and developed hundreds of high-tech agricultural cooperatives in production and business activities.

Implementing a two-tier local government, Dong Nai province focuses on promoting digital transformation and applying digital technology to develop the rural economy and form civilized and modern rural areas. To date, people in many remote communes in the province have accessed applications serving the government's digital transformation. As a result, the farming community is becoming increasingly professional, not only applying science and technology to production but also participating in the entire agricultural value chain, affirming their position in integration.

Farmers are the center of digital transformation

In the context of building modern rural areas, DT has become a mandatory requirement, where even farmers in remote areas not only switch to smart production but also apply digital transformation in product traceability, promotion, and consumption of agricultural products.

Since 2019, Dong Nai province has implemented projects to manage livestock and poultry farms and a Project on Tracing the Origin of Essential Food Products of Animal Origin in the province. The province also leads in effectively implementing schemes to trace livestock products to enhance management capacity, control product quality, and meet consumer demand for product transparency in the supply chain.

According to Nguyen Truong Giang, Head of the Sub-Department of Livestock and Fisheries, the province has many policies to support individuals and collectives participating in the traceability chain of livestock products. The province has established a model for managing, identifying, and tracing the origin of livestock products based on information technology applications. The goal is to enhance management capacity, control quality, identify, and trace the origin of livestock products from breeding, slaughtering, transportation, business, and product consumption, thereby, contributing to brand building and enhancing the competitiveness of the province's livestock industry.

In the field of cultivation, cooperatives and farmers have long been interested in applying agricultural digital data platforms and product traceability. In particular, establishing planting area codes and export packing facility codes is a necessary condition to increase the export of fresh fruit products.

Dang Thi Thuy Nga, Director of Xuan Dinh Agricultural Trade and Service Cooperative (in Xuan Dinh commune), said: Participating in building planting area codes, cooperative members are trained in durian care techniques according to export market standards. But more importantly, once granted a planting area code, the product is eligible to participate in the export market. Thanks to transparency from the planting, care, and plant quarantine processes, export products are good and associated with sustainable development.

In recent times, thousands of cooperatives and farmer households in the province have been supported with accounts on e-commerce platforms; hundreds of agricultural products have been updated on the e-commerce platform of the Department of Industry and Trade (ecdn.vn), the e-commerce platform of Vietnam Post (Postmart), Lazada, Tiki, Shopee... Through that, many key and typical agricultural products of the province have been supported and guided to build brands and trademarks.

Nguyen Van Thang, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, shared: In the context of the entire country vigorously implementing Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW of the Politburo, the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Dong Nai province identifies DT as a strategic pillar, serving as both a breakthrough solution and an important driving force for developing modern, ecological, and sustainable agriculture. To date, DT efforts in the agricultural sector have achieved important initial results. Notably, awareness and mindset regarding DT among farmers have significantly improved. Consequently, smart production models and sales through e-commerce channels have been widely replicated.

By Binh Nguyen – Translated by Mai Nga, Thu Ha