Da Nang calls for hi-tech farms

Da Nang (VNA) - The central city of  Da Nang has called for 1.5 trillion VND (66.3 million USD) investment in five high-tech farms to create a centre for hi-tech-farming in the central and central highlands region.

The farms, part of the city’s hi-tech farm master plan, will include livestock farms and a processing zone, mushroom, organic and safe-vegetable farms, herb gardens, a fishing port and fish trading centre on 144 ha in three communes - Hoa Vang, Ngu Hanh Son and Son Tra.

The city has offered favourable conditions and support for investors, including slashing the land-clearance fee by 50 percent to 20 million VND (884 USD) per hectare per year for five years. Moreover, the city will also offer financial support for investors by giving them 20 million VND a hectare each year for five-years. If an investor develops a 5ha farm, they will receive financial support of 100 million VND per year. 

Vice chairman of the city’s People’s Committee, Ho Ky Minh, said the hi-tech farm project would help increase the value chain of the city’s agriculture and provide unique products to serve tourists. He said agriculture now contributed about 2 percent (873 billion VND) of the city’s production.

Minh said land for farming had narrowed due to rapid urbanisation and expansion of industrial parks during past decades, while infrastructure investment and human resources for farming were in poor condition.

Director of Vietnam’s Institute of Economic Studies Tran Dinh Thien suggested the city’s agriculture should be restructured to host waves of mass investment.

He said the city’s farms must create products for tourism as well as attract local and foreign investors.

Thien said only 4,000 businesses - just 1 percent of total investment in Vietnam - invested in agriculture in 2017. Most projects were small-scale and of little value.

Earlier this year, the city planned seven suburban communes to boost high quality and safe agriculture in Hoa Vang district over a total area of 540 ha.

It also allocated 130 ha for safe vegetable farming and 310 ha for aquaculture and livestock.

The city has a total of 50 farms, but these provide only 10 percent of the demand for vegetables and farm produce.

All supermarkets welcome "made-in Da Nang" products, but farmers in the city have yet to supply sufficient quality products, including vegetable, seafood and quarantined poultry.

Only 12 suburban farms in Da Nang have certifications of safety and quality - or brand names.

The city is helping local farms attain the Vietnam Agriculture Practice (VietGAP) green-label certificate.

It has one million population who consume 145,000 tonnes of seafood and 140,000 tonnes of vegetables each year.

Da Nang, in cooperation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), has also launched a project to recycle organic waste.

Last year, the Vietnam Dairy Products Joint-Stock Company (Vinamilk) invested 26.5 million USD in a dairy farm on 124 ha in Hoa Phong commune in Hoa Vang district.-VNA