Developing high-tech agriculture in Nghe An: Don't be left behind

(Baonghean) - According to assessment, Nghe An is a province that is "ahead" of many other provinces and cities in the country in applying high technology in agriculture.

However, the results that Nghe An has achieved are not really worthy of the province’s potential and determination. How to “go ahead” and not “fall behind”, not fall behind high-tech agricultural centers such as Lam Dong and Hanoi is a problem for Nghe An.

Processing medicinal herbs at TH Group. Photo: Chau Lan

Identifying limitations of Nghe An

It can be said that Nghe An's high-tech agriculture (HTA) developed quite early and had good results.

However, Nghe An's NNCNC still has many limitations. Agricultural production applying CNC in the province has only focused mainly on applying technical advances in plant varieties, livestock and aquatic products. Most of the applications have only been applied at each stage, not reaching the chain. For example, when raising fish, the breed must be selected, when growing fruit, the irrigation or greenhouse stage must be selected... without considering the processing and consumption stages. Therefore, the efficiency is not high.

According to statistics, in Da Lat, the efficiency of 1 hectare of NNCNC has reached about 400 - 500 million VND, while in Nghe An it has reached an average of 200 - 250 million VND/ha.

The application of information technology, production automation, biotechnology, advanced farming processes (ICM, VietGAP)… is still limited.

Agricultural production according to clean and safe standards (GAP) has been emphasized, but regular maintenance is a problem. To achieve this standard, producers must send samples to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City for testing (Nghe An does not have this yet), which is expensive and testing is seasonal, so products are certainly tested very little and not regularly.

The price of NNCNC products is also not competitive with conventional products. Vegetable products from China (consumed heavily in restaurants and eateries) cost only 2/10 compared to NNCNC products, so NNCNC products are having difficulty in consumption.

Another limitation is that the role of the State and localities has not yet "given wings" for NNCNC, and the technical, scientific, and breeding research centers are not convincing. Most of the varieties are purchased in Hanoi and research institutes outside the province. Local science and technology have not yet clearly demonstrated their role in the stages of NNCNC.

Another limitation is that the incentive mechanism and policies for high-tech agricultural production are unclear and lack resources. Production is focusing on quantity without considering output. The organizational form in high-tech agricultural production is still limited. Everyone does their own thing, everyone runs their own way. Enterprises have not yet connected with the people, with cooperatives and vice versa. There are no forums or associations in this field to exchange experiences, summarize and evaluate, and there is no mechanism to control each other over the products produced before they reach consumers.

Everyone believes that their products are clean and safe, but the media’s demonstration of this to consumers is limited. The writer of this article once witnessed a Japanese expert breaking raw vegetables in Da Lat and eating them deliciously, but in Nghe An, this is still a problem.

Things to do now

High-tech agriculture is the right development orientation of the Government when the demand for clean, safe and high-quality agricultural products is increasing. Land for agriculture is increasingly shrinking due to urbanization.

In particular, the impacts of climate change are increasingly threatening traditional production. Storms and floods like this year have even destroyed all vegetables, and the supply is not enough to have to import many Chinese vegetables that do not ensure food hygiene and safety.

Strongly developing NNCNC in the coming time is the direction that Nghe An Agriculture sector is aiming for as an inevitable thing that the world is doing. The goal is to bring the proportion of NNCNC production value to account for about 15-20% of the total agricultural production value of the province.

Herbal rice of Vinh Hoa company (Yen Thanh). Photo: Thai Duong

The province also sets a target by 2020, with a vision to 2030, to develop about 500 - 600 hectares of high-tech vegetable production area, of which 3-5 high-tech vegetable production areas will be formed and developed with a total area of ​​450 hectares.

Forming a high-tech agricultural zone concentrated in Nghia Dan district, with a scale of 200 hectares; Developing about 800 - 1,000 hectares of high-tech tea area, about 600 - 800 hectares of orange area and about 800 - 1,000 hectares of high-tech medicinal plants area...

Mr. Nguyen Van Lap - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shared: Attracting businesses with potential and passion for NNCNC production is a solution because these businesses are the leaders in applying technology, are not limited in capital and can implement the right goals.

Currently, the clean fruit market is a potential land for businesses to research and invest. Vietnamese people in general and Nghe An people in particular have begun to fear eating Chinese fruits while Nghe An fruits are very valuable such as oranges, grapefruits, persimmons, avocados, guavas...

Innovation in production organization is important. Nghe An will have to reorganize cooperatives, build specialized cooperatives, such as vegetable cooperatives, fruit cooperatives, livestock cooperatives... and link with businesses to apply high technology and carry out more professional production and business.

Policy is an important boost for NNCNC. The province must allocate resources to support investment in this field. Currently, some districts such as Con Cuong and Dien Chau have pioneered in dedicating resources to building very good models for NNCNC to help people understand why NNCNC production is necessary, which is for public health and to increase value.

The policy must support greenhouses and chain sales locations for businesses. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is proposing to the Provincial People's Committee and Provincial People's Council to allocate resources to support chain sales locations. About 3 million VND per month for locations. For greenhouses, no more than 300 million VND/model, minimum 1,000m2.

We see that an important issue is not mass production. What plants and animals should be chosen to be consumed and profitable? If every household grows melons and vegetables, the risk of surplus products is very high. Nghe An is an attractive agricultural province, with vegetables, rice, tea, sugarcane, oranges, passion fruit, medicinal herbs, dairy cows, beef cattle, pork, white-leg shrimp farming... so which subjects should be chosen also needs to be reconsidered and oriented.

NNCNC is an inevitable step, the future of agriculture, the sooner it is implemented, the more advantages it will have. Currently, in Nghe An, only the role of enterprises and entrepreneurs in developing NNCNC is clearly seen, while the role of the State, scientists, and farmers is not clear.

Even land needs to be accumulated, allocated and leased to businesses for long-term stability to ensure investment in technology. To gather farmers to produce high-tech agricultural products, there is no better solution than to establish cooperatives and attract farmers to them, this is what developed countries have done and Da Lat and Ho Chi Minh City have done.

Recently, storms in Nghe An devastated agriculture, however, greenhouses in Con Cuong, Nghia Dan... were not affected. This shows that choosing a production area for NNCNC is also very important.

For young people who are passionate about NNCNC production, it is necessary to create conditions for capital to start a business because NNCNC requires management using technology, information and agility.

And above all, consumers expect NNCNC products to ensure standards, cleanliness, safety, produced with their own hearts and responsibility to society. If we can do that, we are confident that Nghe An CNC agriculture will soon take off.

PV Group