HCM City continues to make hi-tech, clean agriculture a priority

HCM City (VNS/VNA) - The Ho Chi Minh City agriculture sector continues giving priority to high-tech and clean agriculture development to adapt to climate change.

According to the city’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the city’s agriculture sector continues restructuring agriculture production and developing key products.

It fosters the development of urban-oriented farming models amid the continued loss of agricultural land due to rapid urbanisation.

It encourages farmers to switch to high-value crops, and reduce unproductive rice and sugarcane fields.

It seeks to boost the value of its agricultural output to 640-660 million VND (27,400-28,200 USD) per hectare this year.

In addition, the city focuses on biotechnology to develop high-quality and high-yielding plant varieties and animal breeds, striving to become a regional hub for the development and supply of high-quality seeds.

The city’s agriculture is recovering strongly after the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The gross regional domestic product (GRDP) value of agriculture, forestry and fishery products in 2022 was estimated at nearly 8.4 trillion VND (358 million USD), up 3.7% year-on-year.

The production value of the agricultural sector reached 19 trillion VND (810 million USD) last year, a year-on-year increase of 3.8%.

Many new urban-oriented farming models have been successful and achieved impressive growth thanks to the application of advanced technologies.

The city now has more than 113,600 hectares of agricultural land, accounting for about 54% of the total natural land area. Of this area, there are more than 400ha of hi-tech agriculture.

The value of high-tech agricultural products accounts for about 48% of the city's total agricultural production value.

Le Van Cua, deputy head of the management board of the city’s High-tech Agriculture Park, said the park promotes research and the application of technology in production to create high-quality plant varieties and animal breeds for the development of three key areas - crop cultivation, animal husbandry and seafood.

It has conducted technology transfer for enterprises in the city and other provinces, and provides 1-2 million seedlings of plants a year.

It strives to supply five million seedlings of plants a year.

Dinh Minh Hiep, director of the city’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the city's government has offered preferential policies on developing high-tech agriculture.

They include solutions for science and technology development, information technology application in agriculture, conducting research, and technology application and transfer activities.

The city also demonstrates the role of a high-tech agriculture park and a centre for biotechnology, and creates links between scientists, enterprises, cooperatives and household farmers.

The department has also worked closely with the city’s Farmers' Union to develop effective high-tech production and business models in the city./.