Minister Tran Duc Thang ordered research on rare earth processing

Minister of Agriculture and Environment Tran Duc Thang expects institutes and schools under the ministry to boldly propose research topics on deep processing of minerals, especially rare earths, to create permanent magnets, materials for solar cells or UAVs.

Minister Tran Duc Thang visits the research center of the Agricultural Academy - Photo: KHUONG TRUNG

On November 14, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment held a conference to promote breakthroughs in scientific research, technology, and innovation associated with training of institutes and schools.

Never before has education and science been given such attention as they are today.

Speaking at the conference, Minister Tran Duc Thang emphasized that this is an event of special significance, taking place at a time when the whole industry is moving towards the 80th anniversary of the Agriculture and Environment sector (1945-2025).

According to Mr. Thang, there has never been a period when education and science have received as much attention from the Party and State as they do today.

The Politburo's consecutive issuance of Resolution 57 on science - technology - innovation and Resolution 71 on education and training development is clear evidence.

Once resolutions are enacted, policies must follow, and these policies are being, and will continue to be, adjusted to suit reality.

According to Mr. Thang, at the 80th anniversary of the industry, General Secretary To Lam pointed out the shortcomings, suggested development directions for the coming time and emphasized that science - technology - innovation must become the key driving force of the industry... Therefore, in the coming time, the ministry will concretize the General Secretary's direction in the implementation plan.

Talking about the industry's 4% growth target in 2025 in the context of decreasing land area and strong impacts of climate change, Mr. Thang said that this is a huge effort and to achieve growth, there are only two directions: increasing productivity and increasing value.

Mr. Thang cited that Japanese grapes can reach several tens to nearly 100 USD/kg while Vietnamese grapes are only about 5 USD/kg, or 1 hectare of rice only reaches about 100 million VND/year but other high-quality crops reach up to 20 billion VND/ha/year.

In addition, the fisheries sector is identified as a new development space, with the focus shifting from exploitation to large-scale industrial marine farming.

Forestry also poses the problem of "people living off the forest must live better", because 1 hectare of planted forest currently only earns about 17 million VND/year.

With the above issues, the Minister requested that training and research establishments immediately submit specific proposals on equipment that need investment to serve major research orientations in November. The Ministry will consider including them in the 2026-2030 Plan for implementation from early 2026.

Mr. Thang also asked institutes and schools to boldly propose research on deep processing of minerals, especially rare earths, to create permanent magnets, materials for solar cells or UAVs.

According to Mr. Thang, this is a "big but feasible topic" and the ministry hopes that a school or institute will register to carry it out.

Minister Tran Duc Thang gave a speech at the conference - Photo: KHUONG TRUNG

Building a mechanism to promote the "3-house" linkage model to create a breakthrough

Director of the Department of Science and Technology Nguyen Van Long said that science and technology activities in the 2021-2025 period achieved many positive results.

The whole industry has recognized 225 varieties of plants, animals, aquatic products, forestry, 150 technical advances. There are 158 exclusive patents/intellectual property/utility solutions.

Many advances have been put into practice, demonstrated through 1,000 production models applying science and technology, 31 new devices and materials,...

Mr. Long said that these results have been widely applied, helping businesses and farmers reduce investment costs, increase profits, and improve production efficiency by 10-30%. Many large enterprises have invested in high-tech agriculture, created value chains, and applied modern production processes, contributing positively to industry growth.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Phung Duc Tien said that to effectively implement Resolution 57 of the Politburo on scientific, technological breakthroughs and innovation, the Ministry has identified key task groups.

This includes proposals to immediately amend problematic regulations of specialized laws and cut administrative procedures to promote research, transfer and application of science and technology in production.

Along with that is the arrangement and consolidation of the affiliated scientific and technological organization system in a streamlined and efficient direction.

Mr. Tien emphasized the need to build a mechanism to promote the "3-house" linkage model: State - School - Enterprise. This is considered a "machine" that, if operated synchronously, will create breakthroughs in research, transfer and commercialization of scientific and technological results.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/bo-truong-tran-duc-thang-dat-hang-nghien-cuu-che-bien-dat-hiem-20251115133342748.htm