The effectiveness of applying science and technology to agricultural production.

INTEGRATING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INTO PRODUCTION

Recognizing science and technology as a crucial driving force in promoting production, businesses, cooperatives, and farmers in the province have focused on applying it in recent times.

Leaders from the Department of Industry and Trade and the Provincial Farmers' Association visited the production area at Thien An Cordyceps Company Limited.

Thien An Cordyceps Company Limited (Vinh Huu commune, Dong Thap province) is an agricultural enterprise whose main product is cordyceps.

The company has charted a different course from traditional models. Accordingly, it has developed a closed-loop cultivation process to ensure the quality and content of valuable active ingredients in cordyceps.

What sets Thien An apart is not just its cultivation techniques, but also how the company combines science with local conditions. The main raw materials are sourced locally, which helps reduce production costs and create more affordable products.

Thien An's cordyceps products not only meet OCOP, HACCP, and ISO 22000 certifications, but are also recognized for their economic value and social contributions.

Thien An has developed a long-term strategy that integrates technology, research, and the market. Specifically, this involves diversifying its product range from fresh, dried, and powdered cordyceps to cordyceps juice and cordyceps wine.

This helps businesses not only expand their market but also reduce business risks. As a result, the company can maintain its reputation and build a strong brand in the domestic market and aim for export in the future.

Thien An's model also opens up a new direction for high-tech agriculture in Dong Thap. Instead of relying on traditional crops, cultivating cordyceps helps optimize the value per square meter of cultivation, bringing significantly higher profits.

In particular, this model also contributes to improving the technical skills of local workers, creating a generation of skilled workers who understand biotechnology and are ready to meet the demands of modern production.

The company's collaboration with universities to train personnel and conduct research on improving cultivation technology further strengthens the potential for future expansion of the model.

In recent times, more and more high-tech agricultural production models have emerged in the province.

Among them, Kim Phat High-Tech Agricultural Cooperative (An Thanh Thuy commune, Dong Thap province) is one of the typical units in transforming production.

The cooperative was established in May 2024 based on upgrading the quality of its seedling and tissue culture production facilities. The cooperative's initial products are MD2 pineapple seedlings, orchids, bananas, etc., produced using tissue culture methods.

According to Ms. Bui Thi Kim Thanh, Chairwoman and Director of Kim Phat High-Tech Agricultural Cooperative, tissue culture at the cooperative applies cell technology to propagate new plants in an artificial environment, enabling rapid and mass production of plant varieties while completely preserving the characteristics of the original plant. At the same time, it overcomes the disadvantages of other asexual propagation methods such as layering, grafting, or cuttings.

Currently, the cooperative's seedling and tissue culture farm has successfully propagated over 30 plant varieties, including MD2 pineapples, chrysanthemums, orchids, and many valuable ornamental foliage plants.

Currently, the cooperative operates production and business activities on an area of 3.5 hectares, with a tissue culture room of 400 m², a nursery of 1,500 m²; the nursery area in partnership with members is 3,000 m².

The cooperative has invested in many modern facilities and equipment for tissue culture and plant seed production, such as: microbiological culture cabinets, microbiological autoclaves, water distillation machines, etc. In particular, the tissue culture laboratory has received a multi-billion VND investment, which is well-suited for this activity.

On average, the cooperative produces over 1 million seedlings per month. The main variety is the MD2 pineapple, which is supplied to cooperatives and farmers in Dong Thap province, the Central region, and the Central Highlands.

In reality, the cooperative's tissue culture seedling production model provides farmers with high-quality seedlings at affordable prices, contributing to increased production, reduced costs, and higher profits. In particular, it helps farmers change their mindset towards modern, high-tech agricultural development.

BOOST APPLICATION

Applying science and technology, especially high technology, to agricultural production is a key development direction that the province is focusing on.

Kim Phat High-Tech Agricultural Cooperative produces seedlings using tissue culture methods.

According to the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Dong Thap province, in the coming period, the industry's orientation will be to focus on developing ecological agriculture, with civilized farmers as the main actors, and modern rural areas as the foundation.

Accordingly, the Department will focus on developing an ecological agriculture that harmonizes economic, social, and environmental aspects, based on diversifying production models to create high value; and developing large-scale agriculture linked to value chains.

At the same time, we must promote the application of science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation to improve the productivity, quality, and competitiveness of agricultural products.

The agricultural sector will use innovation, science and technology, and institutional reform as driving forces to develop civilized farmers. The focus is on building a professional farming workforce, gradually forming a class of farmers with market-oriented thinking, proactively transforming production models, and possessing a sense of responsibility, cooperation, and connectivity.

According to the Provincial People's Committee, in the coming period, the province will focus on developing a modern agricultural sector. Specifically, this includes developing a digital agricultural ecosystem integrating a synchronized digital database system for the agricultural sector from the provincial to the commune level. Simultaneously, it will build a platform to connect supply and demand and promote agricultural products.

One of the key solutions is to promote the development of e-commerce in agriculture, increasing the proportion of added value in agriculture through the application of digital transformation.

Dong Thap will focus on applying digital technologies (big data, IoT, remote sensing) to digitize data and automate agricultural production processes while protecting the environment and efficiently utilizing natural resources.

Furthermore, the province will focus on promoting farmers' participation in applying digital technology to agricultural production and service provision through "digitizing production-related data," moving towards "digitizing and automating production processes," and "comprehensive digital transformation in production."

The province will focus on training and skill development in digital transformation and the application of digital technology for farmers, associations, cooperatives, and production groups.

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