Let's get started creating Fruit 4.0.

To export agricultural products to demanding markets such as Japan, Europe, and the United States, many businesses, cooperatives, and farmers have gradually adopted digital technology to manage and monitor fruit crops. In practice, this approach has proven highly effective, contributing to building a reputable brand for Vietnam's key fruit crops.

Director of Thien Nong Binh Phuoc Farm, Dang Duong Minh Hoang (right), describes the digitization of avocado trees. Photo: Provided by the interviewee.

Since 2022, the Binh Phuoc Digital Agricultural Service Cooperative (Binh Phuoc province) has pioneered the development of planting area codes for fruit trees, "digitizing" each tree - each tree having an electronic logbook, creating a model for official export to international markets, and developing OCOP products.

Mr. Dang Duong Minh Hoang, Director of Thien Nong Binh Phuoc Farm and Director of Binh Phuoc Digital Agricultural Service Cooperative, is the owner of the Ong Hoang Avocado brand. He is helping people in the province build brands for their local agricultural products. His cooperative has been improving production processes, applying digital logs in production for farmers, optimizing resources, and committing to clean and green products to protect consumers. "If we don't practice digital agriculture, our organic agricultural products will miss many opportunities to connect with consumers, build trust in the product, and establish a brand," Mr. Hoang emphasized.

Eating clean, especially organic produce, is a current consumer trend. With the approach of the Binh Phuoc Digital Agricultural Service Cooperative, consumers, when purchasing products, can access information via QR code about watering, fertilization, harvesting, and transportation details. This provides customers with transparent information and traceability down to each individual fruit. The cooperative also applies the Internet of Things (IoT) for automated irrigation, using sensors to measure humidity, temperature, pH, and light, ensuring the appropriate amount of water and fertilizer is delivered to each plant.

"Digitalization in agriculture and green production will bring high economic value to farmers. However, the cost of obtaining certifications for standards such as VietGAP, Global GAP, and management software is also very expensive. To harmonize interests in the production chain, households and cooperatives will sign agreements with members on investment-production-procurement in a closed loop. Investment costs will be calculated at a certain level per product, for example, 1,000 VND/kg for avocados, durians, coffee, etc. With this approach, all stakeholders can work together to go further," Mr. Hoang shared.

Alongside the digital transformation efforts of cooperatives and farmers, the Ministry of Industry and Trade recently launched the iTrace247 blockchain-based traceability system for trade promotion. This system aims to provide an online traceability solution, helping businesses, cooperatives, and farmers update information on product origin (general information, electronic logs during cultivation, production, processing, transportation, and distribution...). The iTrace247 traceability label, developed by the Trade Promotion Department, was piloted for the domestic market from March 2021 for vegetables, tubers, fruits, and other produce from Hai Duong, Son La, and Bac Giang provinces. To meet export demands, the traceability label can display languages ​​as requested by customers, fulfilling the requirements for product information transparency in importing markets. Previously, Thanh Ha lychee products from Hai Duong, bearing the iTrace247 traceability label with information displayed in English and Japanese, had been exported to Singapore and Japan.

According to representatives from the Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade), traceability is the shortest path to effectively protecting a business's reputation. Simultaneously, it conveys all messages from the manufacturer to the consumer. Traceability has become a mandatory criterion in exports due to the increasing consumer demand for transparency regarding the origin and quality of goods. For exports, clearly stating the origin of goods not only provides information to consumers but also ensures commitment to transparency and accountability for the information published by the manufacturer in the traceability code. Information about product traceability helps domestic and international consumers identify Vietnamese products. Therefore, experts recommend that businesses strengthen the application of traceability technology and improve quality to compete in the domestic market and promote exports to the global market.

In recent years, digital transformation has become quite familiar to farmers. A cooperative owner specializing in growing Dien pomelos, red pomelos, and green-skinned pomelos according to VietGAP standards and achieving four-star OCOP product certification stated that the cooperative has been tracing the origin of its products for many years. Regarding production process records, the cooperative currently uses manual methods (bookkeeping) and is learning how to create electronic records for the crops. After harvesting, the pomelos are labeled with the name of each household before being sold on the market. As the owner of Thien Nong Binh Phuoc Farm said: "Digital transformation helps farmers improve productivity, product quality, optimize production, and maximize profits. Through this, the connection between supply and demand and the transparency of information about their products are also enhanced."

Thanks to the application of Industry 4.0 technology, we have a generation of farmers who master advanced farming techniques, thereby contributing to improving the quality of Vietnamese agricultural products on the world map.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/bat-tay-tao-nen-trai-cay-40-post749057.html