Hi-tech Agriculture Development in Integration Process

In Vietnam, hi-tech agricultural development is not only an immediate requirement but a long-term strategic evolution to gain sustainable development when Vietnam becomes an industrialised nation. Applying high technology to agriculture will add science and technology to agricultural products to make them more valuable, competitive and productive and increase incomes for farmers. In practice, the application of suitable modern scientific and technological achievements to agricultural production potentially maximises potentials and resists natural disadvantages to generate outweighing productivity, create products in large quantity and with high quality and uniformity, especially products of safety, purity and environmental friendliness. Therefore, such agricultural products will be surely chosen by intelligent consumers.

 

Vietnam entered the World Trade Organisation (WTO), its agricultural development is thus more favourable but it also poses to huge challenges because of stiffer competition among countries in the world. The world’s agricultural products market is vast but it is applied very strict WTO standards and principles. Rich countries tend to protect their domestic agriculture and erect extremely sophisticated tariff and non-tariff barriers characterised by a wide range of technical, safety, and environmental requirements on imported agricultural products that poor countries can hardly meet. Chris Pallen, European Union Commissioner for External Relations, said developed industrialised countries annually spend US$350 billion to subsidise their farmers, seven times more than international aids for poor countries.

 

In the world, as many as 1.2 billion people in agricultural countries are living below the poverty line with an average daily income of below US$1. According to many experts, poverty [in agricultural countries] is attributed to agricultural subsidy (protectionist) policies in rich countries and barriers to restrict agricultural products from poor nations. Another protectionist method preferred by rich countries is “antidumping” lawsuits. A typical example is antidumping case against the basa fish of Vietnam. For that reason, to enter and compete in the world market, there is no other way that Vietnam has to develop high-tech agriculture with safety, environment-friendly and high-valued products.

 

Vietnam is an agricultural country with huge advantages in agricultural production such as good soil, climate, thick rivers. According to international experts, Vietnam's industrialisation path is unlike other countries because it joins globalisation late and possesses a vast agricultural area. It does not need to repeat what European countries and the United States did the last century: Eliminating agriculture to develop industry or "depriving farmland to grow pasture to raise sheep" (in England).

Today, if Vietnam did likewise, it would lead to political turmoil and social collapses with enormous costs that might not be sufficiently paid by many generations. Meanwhile, the agriculture - tourism model applied in the suburbs in big cities (Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City) is proving the unique way to generate jobs and incomes and bring farmers to sustainable urbanisation and industrialisation.

 

The sixth Central Party Congress (Term 11) asserted that "Agricultural science and technology will continue to be developed to turn Vietnam into a country with advanced agricultural production, lead the world in production and export of rice, seafood and tropical agricultural products”. "In the past years, to meet sustainable development requirements, the agricultural sector has boldly changed crop varieties and animal breeds as well as applied new scientific-technological achievements to agricultural production to improve productivity and quality of agricultural products for domestic consumption and for export. Research agencies have completed a plenty of research processes, technical progresses and recognised dozens of crop varieties. Studies on soilless vegetable and flower growing covered by canvas sheet and drop-watered produced initial good results. Some high-tech agricultural zones invested by the State and domestic and international businesses are taken shape and developed across the country. Some localities have deployed high-tech agricultural production. For instance, Me Linh, Trang Viet and Tien Phong communes (in Me Linh district, Hanoi) have formed flower growing areas covering on 1,000 ha to supply Hanoi market and the country-wide. New technology consists of good varieties, greenhouse, nurseries, cool storage facilities, and advanced packaging. Tan Duc commune (Viet Tri, Phu Tho province) plants vegetables for cities. Vinh Phuc province has developed and transferred technology to many projects. Specifically, it built 100 mushroom farms with annual output of over 500 tonnes in Thanh Lang, Huong Canh, Thanh Tru and Hop Thinh communes which form the mushroom village model. It deployed organic vegetable cultivation project on 130 ha in 16 communes joined by 9,000 farmers with an annual production of 2,500 tonnes.

Applying high-tech to increased cattle and poultry husbandry is becoming a popular trend in major cities. Many foreign models using high tech are imported like filtered watering and automated feeding. In Lam Dong province, vegetable cultivation is applied two different technologies: One uses isolated greenhouse without using fertilisers and inorganic agricultural chemicals and other uses greenhouse with limited inorganic pesticides. Many farmers have applied biotechnology to flower reproduction and growing efficiently and profitably.

 

However, the high tech application to agriculture remains fragmented, shallow and disoriented. The mobilisation of social resources for agricultural scientific-technological application is not placed importance while investment for science and technology remains low and ineffective. So far, high-tech agricultural models are not popular in Vietnam and not many companies now get involved. Although the country has gained a lot of agricultural development achievements, agricultural products do not have stable quantity and quality, expensive and uncompetitive in domestic and foreign markets. High-tech agricultural application still spoils the environment, soil and water sources.

 

To effectively promote, develop and apply high-tech agriculture in order to build a comprehensively developed agriculture with modern large-scale production, high productivity, quality and efficiency and ensure food security and international competitiveness, Vietnam needs to perform following measures in the coming years:

First, clearly defining the role, position and importance of high-tech agricultural development; boosting up the understanding of purpose and meaning of high-tech agricultural development (creating productive, quality, economical and competitive products) to make a new face for rural agriculture.

 

Second, changing production methods and formulating new thinking of agricultural production for both farmers and officials; instructing farmers to modify, shift cultivation and husbandry modes; manufacturing clean, organic and hygienic products; investing in post-harvest technology to preserve and process agricultural, forest and aquatic products to reduce loss and add value; forming centralised production zones to apply biotech and develop agriculture in a more effective manner, etc.

Third, attracting investment capital for high-tech agricultural development.

 

Fourth, stepping up training and retraining of State officials to catch up with the new level of high-tech agricultural development.

 

High-tech application to agricultural production must be regarded as a major direction to industrialise and modernise agriculture and rural areas in Vietnam today. High-tech agricultural development is also an important factor to promote the country’s strengths and competitiveness in the process of international integration. Moreover, placed in the context of economic restructuring, high-tech agricultural development also helps change growth model towards sustainability.