Start-ups and innovation in agriculture in the digital transformation era

With the development of information technology and digital tools, today, farmers in Dong Thap province have successfully applied many new, creative and improved techniques to improve production efficiency.

Farmers are leveraging digital technology to develop sustainable agricultural production models. Not only producing, farmers are also becoming creative entrepreneurs...

Smart Agriculture Startup

Tourist attraction Tu Le ecological grape garden of farmer Ngo Hung Thang (born in 1977) in Tan Khanh Trung commune, Lap Vo district. Mr. Thang and his wife are cultivating more than 6,000 ^m2 of garden land, including 220 peony grape trees with an area of 1,000 ^m2 . Mr. Thang's family garden has many other types of plants such as: grapes, plums, rambutans, melons...

The peony grape growing area is the main attraction for tourists. The grapes are bearing small bunches of fruit, in about a month it will be time for tourists to come and experience and take souvenir photos. This is the earliest greenhouse peony grape garden planted in Dong Thap province, and has been open to visitors for the past two years.

Mr. Thang installed a fully automatic irrigation system for the entire greenhouse garden. He also researched and learned techniques to grow new grape varieties suitable for the soil of the Southwest region.

To date, Mr. Thang has created six products that are popular in the market and is the author of many other products serving farmers' garden care, such as: Thasmart garden irrigation system with IoT 4.0 technology; automatic pumping station; three-in-one controller; automatic monitoring and garbage filter in the garden...

Mr. Thang's latest product is a water environment monitoring system inside the canal. He has transferred the technology copyright of this device. The automatic irrigation system he created also has the ability to warn of low water levels in the river, damaged equipment, electrical leakage, and anti-theft. His garden irrigation system has been granted an exclusive patent thanks to its ability to automatically analyze the humidity in the air to continue watering or stop automatically...

In addition, Mr. Thang also provided technical support for installing irrigation systems for more than 250 fruit orchards and orchid gardens in Dong Thap province; provided technical support for installing more than 20 greenhouses for growing grapes, vegetables, pomegranates, etc.; provided support for planting soil, creating branches, creating canopies, and handling flowering and fruiting in the first year. After six months of support from Mr. Thang, gardeners have mastered new techniques in cultivation.

Previously, due to difficult family circumstances and a large family, in the middle of 10th grade, Thang decided to drop out of school and study electronics repair. He then taught himself to repair computers, cell phones, etc. His life turned a new page since he started gardening.

“After meeting and discussing with garden owners and learning about the difficulties they face in farming, I thought about inventing effective products that are suitable for agricultural production. While gardening at home, I also had many ideas to invest in manufacturing when I have the funds, such as self-propelled spray carts,” Thang shared.

Recently, in Dong Thap province, many other farmers have also created equipment to serve production. Notable are the straw rolling machine of Mr. Phan Tan Ben (Thap Muoi district); the embankment making machine of farmer Nguyen Van De (Tam Nong district); the three-in-one multi-purpose machine (spraying, fertilizing and sowing rice) of Mr. Le Van Sua (Tan Hong district); the improved high-yield chili salt dryer of farmer Huynh Van Be (Ngoc Yen Salt Drying Facility, Thanh Binh district)...

Regarding agricultural initiatives, the highlights include: Research on crossbreeding many high-quality rice varieties by farmer Tran Anh Dung (Lap Vo district); the model "My Mango Tree" (Cao Lanh district), "My Orange Tree" (Cao Lanh city); growing hydroponic vegetables combined with Aquaponics fish farming (Lap Vo district); growing melons and cantaloupes in greenhouses, using drip irrigation systems from Israeli technology (Thanh Binh district)...

Chairman of the Dong Thap Farmers' Association Ly Van Giau assessed that each farmer has different initiatives and products, but the similarity is that they have a lot of experience in practical production and a desire to research and create. The agricultural machinery products they create not only serve their families, but also meet the needs of the community, bringing economic efficiency to farmers.

Digital transformation in agricultural management

Agriculture is an important economic sector of Dong Thap province and digital transformation is one of the effective "keys" for farmers and localities to develop. Dong Thap province has issued the Project on Digital Transformation of the Agricultural Sector for the period 2022-2025, with a vision to 2030.

According to Vice Chairman of Dong Thap Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Phuoc Thien, the process of transforming the agricultural sector not only helps apply technology to create surplus values for the economy, but also helps farmers access and update new knowledge, open up new ways of thinking, new ways of doing things to change and keep pace with new development trends.

In Tan Quy Dong ward, Sa Dec city, where agricultural production is characterized by urban orientation, mainly ornamental flowers combined with tourism and services, farmers have been growing flowers and ornamental plants all year round to serve domestic and foreign needs. The area of flowers and ornamental plants in the whole ward reaches more than 319 hectares with 798 members of the Farmers' Association.

Tan Quy Dong Ward Farmers' Association Chairwoman Pham Thi Diem Mi said that the Association has connected with Applied Technology Solutions Company Limited (ATES) to support farmers with IoT systems in agriculture. Farmers use high-tech irrigation to save time and costs. They can control and monitor the environment on smartphones to serve outdoor watering, in greenhouses, and net houses, helping to improve the quality of flowers and ornamental plants.

In recent times, the Farmers’ Association of Dong Thap province has promoted propaganda and guidance activities, helping farmers change their mindset from agricultural production to agricultural economics in the direction of promoting value in production and striving to become rich. At the same time, the Association has also strengthened coordination with sectors, socio-political organizations, and enterprises to build a team of professional farmers, helping farmers grasp science and technology, innovate, create, etc.

Chairman of Dong Thap Farmers' Association Ly Van Giau said that the Association, in coordination with Felix Technology Solutions Company, will continue to create e-commerce accounts for businesses, cooperatives, and farming households to introduce and sell local products on the B2B e-commerce platform.

At the same time, mobilize members and farmers to install, activate and use the Vietnam Farmers Digital Platform as well as some agricultural applications, regularly monitor and update the market, good practices, and effective models for learning and replication.

According to Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Dong Thap province Nguyen Van Vu Minh, the province has successfully deployed 17 smart insect monitoring stations (8/12 districts and cities installed), 33 smart water quality monitoring and water level monitoring stations (3/7 districts installed)...

However, the implementation of digital transformation in agriculture in Dong Thap still faces many difficulties. In the coming time, the province will strengthen training and raise awareness of digital technology for farmers and agricultural officials at all levels.

Local leaders will be directly responsible for changing perceptions about digital transformation in the agricultural sector; directing restructuring and innovation of the operating model from “traditional” to using “digital data” in agricultural management and operation. The province will also promote investment and development of IoT systems to expand the scale of equipment installation in localities...

Source: https://nhandan.vn/khoi-nghiep-sang-tao-trong-nong-nghiep-thoi-ky-chuyen-doi-so-post861320.html