At the forum (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development incollaboration with the Vietnam Farmers’ Union (VFU) held the sixth National Farmers’Forum themed “Farmers with Agricultural Digital Transformation”.
Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment Phung Duc Tien said the country now has 4.1 million ha foragricultural production. Each year, Vietnam earns over 40 billion USD fromexports of agro-forestry-fisheries to 180 countries and territories, including10 key major currency earners such as rice, shrimp, tra fish, rubber, pepper,cashew nut, coffee, cassava and wooden furniture. Such data need to be digitalisedto serve production and value chains.
Chairman of the VFU Central Committee Luong Quoc Doan saiddigital transformation has become a compulsory requirement for each country,sector and individual amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a backbone of the national economy, digital transformation inagriculture will be one of the crucial factors to help farmers, farms,cooperatives and businesses improve their productivity and quality, optimise production,cut costs and increase profits, contributing to the success of national digitaltransformation.
Vice Chairman of the Bac Giang provincial People’s Committee Phan The Tuan saidover 8,000 tonnes of lychees have reached the hands of consumers at home andabroad via e-commerce sites.
The province also encouraged businesses and cooperatives to openstalls on domestic e-commerce sites and successfully held teleconferences with30 locations at home and abroad to promote lychee consumption, he said.
Director of CropLife Asia Dr.Tan Siang Hee said Vietnam hastaken initial steps in agriculture digitalisation.
According to a survey of over 130 rice, fruit, coffee andvegetable farmers, 42 percent of them wish to switch to digital agriculture.Meanwhile, 89 percent of the Vietnamese are using mobile phones and 68 percentof them are smart phone users, presenting a great chance for farmers to applyadvanced agriculture technologies./.
