Green agriculture dream takes shape

Following its administrative merger, Dong Nai has gained greater room to restructure its agricultural sector toward greener, higher value-added  production, an advantage expected to play a key role in the city's long-term economic development strategy.

The expanded city is now home to more than 615,000 hectares of industrial crops and fruit trees cultivated under safe and clean farming practices, providing a solid foundation for advancing green and sustainable agriculture into a breakthrough phase and bringing Vietnamese farm produce to international markets.

Before the merger, one of the biggest challenges facing Dong Nai's agricultural sector was mounting pressure from rapid urbanization and industrialization. The merger with Binh Phuoc has opened up new opportunities for developing large-scale commercial agriculture linked to deep processing and exports, thereby generating greater added value for agricultural products. Dong Nai is widely regarded as one of Vietnam's leading production hubs for rubber plants, cashew nuts, fruit trees, pork and poultry. The expanded agricultural land also creates favorable conditions for developing large-scale specialized farming areas while facilitating the adoption of international production standards and overcoming the fragmented farming model that has long been the biggest obstacle to sustainable agricultural development.

Green agriculture, however, is not limited to clean cultivation. Its value chain can only become truly sustainable when supported by a strong food-processing industry. Dong Nai is currently home to more than 43 operational industrial parks, many of which house modern food and agricultural processing plants capable of meeting the stringent requirements of international markets. In the past, many processors in Dong Nai struggled to secure sufficient supplies of high-quality raw materials and were, at times, forced to import agricultural products for processing. With the expanded administrative boundaries, the city is now better positioned to build integrated supply chains that provide processors with more stable sources of raw materials while creating reliable market outlets for local farmers.

The advantages for the city's agricultural sector are set to grow further as regional transport infrastructure takes shape. An expanding expressway network, new ring roads, the rapidly progressing Long Thanh International Airport and the operational Phuoc An Port will shorten delivery times, lower logistics costs and enhance the competitiveness of Dong Nai's agricultural products in global markets.

The administrative merger is also expected to facilitate the development of large-scale green agricultural production zones, attracting leading domestic and international food-processing companies while making Dong Nai an attractive destination for leading global retailers seeking high-quality agricultural products for their international supply chains.

As Dong Nai steadily develops a greener, more sustainable and higher value-added agricultural sector, the transformation is expected to support the city's goal of achieving double-digit economic growth this year and sustaining strong growth momentum in the years ahead.

By M. Luan – Translated by M.Nguyet, Thu Ha