Cooperatives in ethnic minority and mountainous areas: Application of science, technology and digital transformation

In recent years, the Khanh Hoa Provincial Cooperative Union has made efforts to encourage and support cooperatives in the province, especially in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, to apply science and technology (S&T), innovation, and digital transformation in management, production, and business activities. Initial results have brought about outstanding results, contributing positively to promoting economic development and improving the lives of people in mountainous areas of the province.

Many incentive and support policies

As of August 2025, the whole province has 371 cooperatives, 1 cooperative union, 7 people's credit funds, 1,012 cooperative groups. Of which, there are more than 30 cooperative groups and cooperatives in the ethnic minority and mountainous areas operating effectively in a chain of fields: Agriculture - forestry, general services, community tourism and small-scale industry.

Two young people in Nam Khanh Vinh commune livestream selling agricultural products.

Mr. Nguyen Trung Dung - Chairman of the Provincial Cooperative Union said: "In recent times, cooperatives in the ethnic minority and mountainous areas have received attention and support from the province through many policies such as: Project on Innovation, encouraging the development of cooperative economy in the province for the period 2022 - 2025 of the Provincial People's Committee; Resolution No. 09/2022 of the Provincial People's Council on supporting the development of collective economy and cooperatives for the period 2021 - 2025; Decision No. 63/2022 of the Provincial People's Committee on regulating the level of training support costs for members and employees working in management, technical expertise, and professional work of collective economic organizations and supporting the sending of young workers to work at collective economic organizations in the province until 2025; Program on intellectual property development of the province for the period 2021 - 2025, with a vision to 2030; National target program on socio-economic development Association of the Central Highlands and mountainous areas for the period 2021 - 2030... In addition, many scientific research results in the field of agriculture have also been transferred by departments and branches to cooperatives in rural and mountainous areas such as: Research on new varieties, technological processes, technical advances, new technological solutions... contributing to reducing investment costs, increasing profits and bringing higher economic efficiency. Thereby, many models and scientific and technological topics have been implemented with the participation of cooperatives and cooperative groups, typically: "Perfecting the process of cultivating and preserving 3 mango varieties: Cat Hoa Loc, Uc and farming in Cam Lam", "Developing green-skinned grapefruit trees according to VietGAP standards in Khanh Hoa", "Research on building a reasonable cultivation process to ensure and improve the productivity and quality of durian in Khanh Son", "Building a water-saving irrigation model for fruit trees in Khanh Hoa", "Application of biological product Fito-Biomix RR to treat by-products "Agricultural products into organic fertilizer in Khanh Hoa province"...

Notably, a number of science and technology topics directly serve cooperatives in the ethnic minority and mountainous regions, such as the topic "Improving the process and building a model for producing banana trees suitable for cultivation conditions in Khanh Hoa" helping to build and form 2 cooperative groups for producing and consuming banana trees in Suoi Dau and Suoi Hiep communes; the topic "Application of science and technology to develop orange trees in Khanh Hoa province" testing a new model of growing orange trees at Khanh Hung Cooperative, Bac Khanh Vinh commune... Thereby, contributing to creating a driving force for linking production and business and improving the competitiveness of agricultural and rural products. In particular, since the Politburo issued Resolution No. 57 on breakthroughs in science and technology development, innovation and national digital transformation, the Provincial Cooperative Union has focused on thoroughly grasping and implementing solutions to support the development of collective economy and cooperatives; Incentive policies, investment attraction, land allocation, human resource attraction... to develop information technology infrastructure, telecommunications, digital infrastructure; attract the development of concentrated information technology zones to gradually form a digital transformation ecosystem for production, business and service activities in the province; build a program to support newly established enterprises within 1 year, support business households, collective economic organizations to build digital brands, have a reliable and safe online presence with digital services (website, email) using national domain names...

Need to synchronize solutions

Mr. Truong Thanh Vien - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Truecoop Organic Cashew Cooperative (Bao An ward), a unit with a chain of cashew production and organic agricultural products in the communes of Anh Dung, Bac Ai Tay, Phuoc Ha said: "Science and technology, innovation, digital transformation are the "guiding principles" in the production and business activities of the cooperative. Because, to clarify the origin, process, and certification, our Truecoop Cooperative has applied QR Code on the products, which is trusted by customers. To be efficient and save costs, we apply GPS to locate farm maps and store farmer records on management software, reducing 20% ​​of management costs. To increase product value, from selling raw materials, we invest in a deep processing BioFactory, increasing value 2 to 3 times"... Mr. Vien hopes that the Provincial Cooperative Union and related departments and branches will strengthen propaganda and training by organizing extensive digital transformation skills training for officials, exemplary staff and members of the cooperative; develop a policy to support the cooperative in digital transformation for at least 3 years so that personnel can apply and get used to it. At the same time, there should be regulations on the responsibility of the cooperative in reporting on the implementation of digital transformation applications in production and business activities to the direct management agency.

Chairman of the Provincial Cooperative Union Nguyen Trung Dung said: "The reality of production in the collective economic sector and cooperatives shows that, although many cooperatives have successfully applied science and technology, focusing on innovation and digital transformation, in general, the capacity, thinking and adaptability of cooperatives are still limited, especially cooperatives in the ethnic minority and mountainous regions. The reason is that the level of management and human resources in cooperatives is not enough to exploit information, orient strategies, build digital transformation plans, access digital markets, work in the network environment... Therefore, to improve the effectiveness of science and technology application, digital transformation for the collective economic sector and cooperatives in the ethnic minority and mountainous regions, in the coming time, the Provincial Cooperative Union will focus on promoting propaganda of policies to support training and fostering of cooperative staff; coordinate with the Center for Information and Application of Science and Technology (Department of Science and Technology) to strengthen support for the application of new technological advances, the results of the tasks Science and technology, applied research topics; promptly grasp the needs of cooperatives, on that basis, propose and recommend the Department of Science and Technology together with relevant units to support cooperatives in registering and implementing science and technology tasks; strengthen support for procedures and dossiers for product quality registration; intellectual property protection and product traceability; trade promotion...; organize conferences and seminars to create an environment for cooperatives and associated enterprises to cooperate in investment and trade; share experiences and promote and apply technological solutions to serve production and business. At the same time, coordinate with the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions to promote the transfer of science and technology, innovation and digital transformation in the collective economic sector and cooperatives through continuing to effectively implement the National Target Program on socio-economic development in the ethnic minority and mountainous regions for the period 2021 - 2030.
At the same time, the Provincial Cooperative Union also requires cooperative groups and cooperatives to be proactive, improve their capacity, and connect with businesses to support farmers with capital, product consumption, and market expansion; increase resource mobilization from localities, organizations, businesses, and other social resources to build a cooperative production and business model associated with the value chain; proactively exploit social networks such as Zalo, Facebook, and e-commerce platforms to promote, consume, and expand the market for local agricultural products.

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Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/chuyen-doi-so/202509/cac-hop-tac-xa-vung-dong-bao-dan-toc-thieu-so-va-mien-nuiung-dung-khoa-hoc-cong-nghe-vachuyen-doi-so-a60422f/