According to experts, digital transformation in the agricultural sector is an urgent requirement to do in the current context in order to meet requirements from the market. In particular, large enterprises will have to pioneer in the digitization of agriculture.
Do industry in agriculture
Under the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, the agricultural sector had been in a state of “turmoil” when agricultural products were congested and could not be exported to countries that were mainly export markets such as China, EU …
Mr. Nguyen Huy Hoang, Member of the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Digital Agricultural Association shared: During the Covid-19 period, not only was agriculture “forbidden by rivers,” but in all sectors. However, with agricultural products with short storage time, how to get the product straight to the table of consumers as quickly as possible is a remarkable story at the moment.
As a leader of an enterprise with 25 years of experience in the field of agriculture, having relations in agricultural exports in 60 countries around the world, Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nafoods Group, said that Vietnam is looking forward to to be the place where logistics supplies the world with goods, we have to do strong digitization. “We have to change the mindset that is to do industry in agriculture, then we can apply information technology to it” – Mr. Hung said.
According to Mr. Hung, digitization must complete the whole process, right from the care, you must apply the sensor system, analyze the elements from water, humidity, light …. reduce the human factor. Then use technology in processing, consumption and digitization in both management. The ultimate goal is so that when they reach the table, the user can know the origin of the product, the process of formation and care, even transportation, the customer knows where the shipment came from, which port, warehouse. Come on.
Assoc.Prof.Dr Dao The Anh, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, also said that the role of digital transformation in agriculture is very necessary, in the current agricultural conditions of Vietnam is mostly production. Small-scale, farmer households, and enterprises are playing a more role than processing and distributing products.
According to Mr. The Anh, consumers are very concerned with the origin of products to ensure safety and the question is how to prove to consumers that products are safe and clean. Will digitization solve that problem?
Currently, with advances in information technology such as mobile phone, internet, QR code reading function, etc., it is easier to trace the electronic origin in the value chain of agricultural products, not only in enterprises. large, but also small businesses, cooperatives, farmer households … the number of products “identified” has grown very fast and that is a good sign – Mr. The Anh said.
Big business plays a leading role
According to the representative of the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the problem of applying technology to the agricultural value chain has two major problems, one is training on human capacity and the second is the availability of technology.
Digital transformation in agriculture is currently a big challenge, when production households account for 70% – 80% of which are small farmers, applying information and computers requires training and guidance. To solve this, the only way of training is to mobilize farmers to join cooperatives, or businesses can sign contracts to guide villagers. “This is a huge demand, Vietnam’s agricultural extension system in the coming time should focus on skills training for farmers participating in cooperatives, applying information technology” – Mr. The Anh identify.
In terms of technology, for many years, the State has focused more on breeding technology and cultivation technology to increase the productivity of the growing area. It can be seen that Vietnam has been successful, our seed set for traditional crops such as rice and coffee has given the highest yield in the world, is the dream of many countries. However, with the technology of deep processing and preservation, the research results are not much.
According to Mr. The Anh, now, businesses can consider the problem of importing technology from abroad but need to have effective calculation. In particular, large enterprises must have a leading role, designing information standards for the group of farmers and cooperatives to follow.
Mr. Nguyen Huy Hoang, Member of the Executive Committee of Vietnam Digital Agriculture Association also said that nowadays, when applying technology, it is very convenient for large enterprises because it is synchronous with the investment amount, but with business households, Small cooperatives would lose a lot of money when making such investments. Therefore, enterprises after testing the technology can be transferred to farmers who do the same product, from which the cost of the product will decrease and the quality will be improved.
Besides, according to Mr. Hoang, to create the sustainable development of agriculture, there should be a balance of interests between farmers, investors and cooperatives. Farmers have the power, land, make products, investors have the market, management, and can bring their products to a new level. “Letting farmers own their own land will succeed” – Mr. Hoang shared.
Currently, the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences is building a database together with a number of information technology units, such as pesticides, fertilizers … standards, knowledge banks, building the foundation. a public service platform for cooperatives and farmers to participate, contributing to promoting digital transformation in agriculture – Mr. The Anh added.