Mekong Delta farmers embrace new technology

Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta provinces are making efforts to develop digital farming, enabling farmers to use technologies to take care of their farms remotely. — Photo baocongthuong

MEKONG DELTA — Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta provinces are making efforts to develop digital farming, enabling farmers to use technologies to take care of their farms remotely.

Since 70 per cent of the delta’s population works in the agricultural sector, it is an ideal place to develop new farming models and agricultural start-ups.

Furthermore, like the rest of the country, a large proportion of people here use the internet, creating favourable conditions for them to apply hi-tech farming.

In fact, digital farming is already widespread here.

In Bến Tre for instance modern technologies have been used in agriculture for a long time.

Phan Văn Mãi, deputy permanent secretary of the province, said the province has the High-tech Agriculture Centre and Cái Mơn Biotechnology Centre with the main aim of adopting modern technologies in farming.

Đồng Tháp Province is a pioneer in applying smart farming. Many modern technologies such as using laser to level fields and online mango planting are used here and the Việt Nam Sustainable Agriculture Transformation project and ecofarm project have been carried out.

Blockchain technology is used to help consumers identify Mỹ Xương Mango through a QR code stuck on the fruit.

In Bạc Liêu, a high-tech agriculture centre has been set up and has attracted 20 investors, who have sunk big money in high-tech shrimp farms and feed manufacture.

In recent times many companies have brought to the delta region technology-based farming solutions.

Cargill Group offers a solution called iQShrimp, which provides shrimp farmers information about water quality and weather conditions and also helps them optimise farming methods.

It is now reportedly available in Bạc Liêu and Tiền Giang provinces.

Smart Agri developed by Global CyberSoft is a technology-based solution widely used around the country including the delta. It helps farmers track the weather and fruit and crop quality through smart phones and remotely take care of and water crops.

Digital farming is handy for farmers but they need further support from authorities to use more technologies and for training human resources.

Besides, investors and scientists need to keep developing more farming technologies.