Agriculture Advancing Agriculture with Hi-Tech Solutions and Organic Practices

Although Binh Duong is known as a strong industrial, commercial and service hub, its agriculture has certain contributions to the local economy. In the current context of intensive integration, this sector has extended its substantive development, enhanced its values and aimed for primary sustainable development and international integration goals, thus becoming an indispensable pillar of the province’s comprehensive development.

Maintaining sustainable economic foundation

In 2024, under the strong direction of the Central Government and the Provincial People's Committee, the agricultural sector achieved positive results: Maintaining forest coverage of 57.5% as planned; ensuring water access to all 96,180 rural households; having all communes certified to meet new rural development standards and improving the quality of achieved criteria (especially for recognized communes). By the end of 2024, all 38 communes met advanced new rural development standards, with four communes (10.5%) recognized to satisfy exemplary new rural development standards, and three out of six districts and cities (50%) accredited to meet or complete new rural development standards.

Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Van Loi pays a working visit to a hi-tech agricultural production model in Phu Giao district 

Mr. Pham Van Bong, Director of the Binh Duong Department of Agriculture and Environment, said that the province has also advanced agricultural restructuring towards high-tech, organic agriculture. Various crops are organically grown on some 600 ha of land, including 171.5 ha certified (run by two facilities). Binh Duong province has kept carrying out the One Commune One Product (OCOP) Project in the 2018-2020 period, with a vision to 2025.

To date, the province has 274 OCOP products (four 4-star products and 270 3-star products) made by 106 producers: 33 companies, 12 cooperatives, six farms, 54 business households and a cooperative ally. The locality has also integrated production development projects with biological pesticide and organic fertilizer projects to 2030, with a vision to 2050; the fruit tree, ornamental plant and vegetable production and processing development project to 2030; and the key industrial crop development project to 2030.

A pesticide-spraying drone and a banana harvesting system at An Thai High-Tech Agricultural Zone

Besides, all agricultural administrative procedures are provided online, partly or fully, on national and provincial websites according to Decree 42/2022/ND-CP. The province has publicized and simplified administrative procedures and supported agricultural organizations and individuals. It also worked with the Binh Duong Trade Promotion and Industrial Development Center and the Vietnam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency (the Ministry of Industry and Trade) to organize a training program on e-commerce skills to support cooperatives, OCOP producers and other entities to approach customers through e-commerce sales.

As for the province’s e-commerce platform (binhduongtrade.vn), it has to date updated 219 certified OCOP products of 3-star and 4-star classes made by 99 producers, including product images and producer information. The province introduced and supported entities to register accounts on its e-commerce platform and regularly updated information on certified OCOP products and producers on the website of the Department of Agriculture and Environment. Many chain-based producer cooperation models have been widely deployed.

Pioneering high-tech application and innovation

2025 is the final year of executing the resolution of the 11th Provincial Party Congress and the 5-year Socioeconomic Development Plan in 2021-2025. Director Bong emphasized that the province is firmly focusing on agricultural restructuring by increasing added value and sustainable development aligned with transforming the growth model and new rural development. In 2025, the province targeted to reach a forest coverage of 57.5%, ensure all rural people with access to clean water, maintain and improve the quality of communes certified to meet new rural development standards, with 15 communes recognized to meet exemplary new rural development standards. Binh Duong also has two districts recognized to meet or complete new rural development standards and one district certified to satisfy advanced new rural development standards. All communes will have OCOP products, with at least 240 products assigned as 3-star class or higher (including new recognitions, upgrades and re-recognitions), of which at least 10% are 4-star class or higher.

Accordingly, the agricultural sector will also closely follow key solutions to restructuring production, enhancing productivity, improving product quality and boosting production. In rural development, focus is placed on effectively carrying out the National Target Program on New Rural Development and the OCOP Program; realizing agricultural and rural development contents in the Binh Duong Provincial Planning for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050; scaling up e-commerce application and digital transformation; and completing procedures to speed up the progress of public investment projects. In particular, the sector will foster scientific and technological application in agricultural production to improve productivity and product quality.

We believe that, with a strong tradition together with the solidarity and creativity of all employees, the province’s agricultural sector will obtain more outstanding achievements by building ecological agriculture, modern countryside and civilized farmers, contributing to increasing the value of agricultural products.

By Phuong Hien, Vietnam Business Forum