President of Lina Network Vu Truong Ca delivers a presentation on blockchain application in value chains (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Blockchain has been introduced at a recent forum as a solution to maximising the transparency of information about agricultural products.
“Using the technology in the supply chain, customers can update the information of products anytime and anywhere,” said Vu Truong Ca, President of Lina Network, one of the companies doing research on blockchain application in agriculture.
“Costs for using blockchain to track products’ origin will be sharply cut down, even up to zero dong because they do not depend on the number of users”.
Applying technologies in tracking the origin of products is considered a need to boost customers’ trust in local farm produce.
“That customers do not know clearly about the origin of the products they buy may lead to the fact that some products have good quality but slowly being consumed,” Dr Dao The Anh, Vice Director of the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences said at the Vietnam Spring Agriculture Forum 2018 recently held in Hanoi.
In the light of the development of the 4.0 scientific and technological revolution in the management of agricultural supply chains, the application of advanced technologies in tracking the origin of products is necessary to gain customers’ confidence as well as helping maximise benefits to be gained by farmers and enterprises.
Vietnamese farm produce displayed at the Vietnam Spring Agriculture Forum 2018 (Photo: VNA) However, “the application of these advanced technologies in tracking the origin of products remains tough for farmers and enterprises,” said Assoc Prof, Dr Nguyen Duc Thanh, President of the Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research.
Some enterprises have paid attention to applying technologies in tracking products’ origin but most of them are old and costly if they are used on a large scale.
“Products with clear origins have higher prices as compared with those with unclear origins,” Thanh clarified.
The Vietnamese agricultural sector is still in first steps in technological application to improve transparency of information about its products.
“We got unclear understanding of value chains. While transparency in information of products is required, the application of advanced technologies in value chains has yet gained much development”.
“As the tracking of products’ origin is clear, producers can survive and products’ values can be increased. As a result, value chains will be developed and customers’ benefits will be higher,” he added.
However, the application of those technologies upon the whole sector may face some barriers, such as institutions and production restructuring, Thanh said.-VNA
