From green manure to digital agriculture

With more than half a century of accompanying farmers, Binh Dien is pioneering greening and comprehensive digitalization, contributing to realizing the goal of smart agriculture and low emissions.

Accompanying farmers to green - digitize fields and gardens

With over 50 years of steadfastness in its mission of serving agriculture , Binh Dien Fertilizer Joint Stock Company is not only a prestigious fertilizer brand but also a symbol of enduring attachment to farmers. Entering a new stage of development, Binh Dien is affirming its pioneering role in green and digital transformation, towards smart and sustainable agriculture.

Binh Dien Fertilizer Joint Stock Company held a ceremony to celebrate “50-year journey - Development stages” (1973-2023). Photo: Le Hoang Vu.

Starting from a small enterprise, over the past 50 years, Binh Dien has gone through many stages of development and become a large and prestigious manufacturer and trader of NPK mixed fertilizers in Vietnam. The Dau Trau Fertilizer brand has long been not only a familiar name but also a "companion" of farmers, appearing in every countryside, from the vast rice fields of the Mekong Delta to the fruitful coffee gardens of the Central Highlands.

According to General Director of Binh Dien Fertilizer Joint Stock Company Ngo Van Dong, Binh Dien always pays tribute to the previous generation for creating a solid foundation and steadfastly carrying out the mission of serving farmers. Thanks to this, the company has developed strongly, becoming a key unit in the Vietnam Chemical Group.

Currently, Binh Dien has 5 member units and 1 large factory located in many provinces and cities, meeting domestic demand and exporting to Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar... Not only stopping at production activities, Binh Dien has also made its mark with many greening programs of community significance such as: Smart rice cultivation adapting to climate change in the Mekong Delta; Smart coffee cultivation in the Central Highlands or social activities such as awarding scholarships, building rural roads and bridges...

Mr. Ngo Van Dong, General Director of Binh Dien Fertilizer Joint Stock Company, shared that Binh Dien is always grateful to the previous generation for creating a solid foundation and steadfastly carrying out the mission of "serving farmers". Photo: Le Hoang Vu.

These achievements not only strengthen Binh Dien's position in the Vietnam Chemical Group but also affirm its important role on the national agricultural sector map.

A new journey is opening after more than 50 years of development. This is a challenging journey, where advanced technology is gradually becoming more evident, but climate change is becoming more unpredictable. The agricultural sector is facing great opportunities and challenges when transforming towards digitalization and greening of fields.

With a pioneering mindset of greening and digitalizing every stage from factory to field, Binh Dien has built a solid foundation based on science and practice, with quiet but steady steps, always steadfast in its determination to enter the new era.

Greening – a solid step for the environment and community

At factories throughout the Company system, Binh Dien has replaced fossil fuel furnaces with biomass furnaces, contributing to significantly reducing the amount of CO₂ emitted into the environment, and installed rooftop solar power systems to help save up to 30% of electricity consumed from the national grid. At the same time, product packaging has also been improved to reduce the amount of plastic used and make it easier to recycle. Not only aiming to reduce emissions from within the factory itself, Binh Dien also has the ambition to become carbon neutral for the entire system by 2030 with many specific solutions to contribute to Vietnam's commitment to reducing net emissions.

Boat receiving 3,000 tons of cargo at the inland waterway port of Binh Dien Fertilizer Joint Stock Company - Binh Dien Fertilizer Factory - Long An . Photo: Le Hoang Vu.

Currently, Binh Dien is planning to coordinate with a number of localities to implement projects on planting protective forests, planting special trees, and regenerating natural forests with high CO₂ absorption capacity, creating an ecological shield for climate change, contributing to sustainable environmental protection, preventing erosion and preserving soil. This is a strategic direction that demonstrates Binh Dien's carbon neutral vision.

In parallel with the fields, Binh Dien promotes the provision of green products to farmers applying biotechnology, by introducing beneficial microorganisms suitable for each ecological region and crop into NPK products such as Dau Trau Bio-Calcium, Dau Trau Bio Lua 1 and Dau Trau Bio Lua 2, helping to improve the soil and reduce CH₄ emissions from rice fields. This is a testament to the next step in the greening process for the Smart Farming program, one of the green solutions applied to the Government's Project on sustainable development of 1 million hectares of high-quality, low-emission rice cultivation associated with green growth in the Mekong Delta region.

These product lines have been proven to be clearly effective in fields and gardens through formal experiments in many rice models of the 1 million hectare Project, the model of Rice cultivation to reduce emissions for sustainable development of rice export material areas under the Central Agricultural Extension Project and the model of the Smart Coffee Cultivation program to adapt to climate change in the Central Highlands chaired by Binh Dien Fertilizer Joint Stock Company.

Binh Dien Fertilizer's smart rice farming model in the Mekong Delta. Photo: Le Hoang Vu.

Not only stopping at Smart Farming, Binh Dien is currently cooperating with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and domestic and foreign partners to research indigenous microorganisms that both decompose straw to return organic nutrients to the soil to meet circular agriculture, and inhibit the production of CH4 gas to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in rice cultivation... to initially serve the project of developing 1 million hectares of high-quality rice monoculture, associated with green growth and low emissions for rice production in the Mekong Delta, then widely applied. This is one of the next important directions of Binh Dien towards Circular Agriculture and increasing income for rice growers.

Digitalization, bringing knowledge to every field

Binh Dien not only “greens” but also “digitalizes” each field, using technology and artificial intelligence to support farmers. The company has developed Smart Farming applications (apps), helping farmers keep farming diaries, provide online technical advice and connect with experts. The Smart Monitoring App with 22 stations in the Mekong Delta helps farmers proactively respond to drought and salinity.

From the achievements of the Smart Rice Cultivation program, Binh Dien Fertilizer Joint Stock Company is very proud to contribute to the coordination and implementation of the Project of 1 million hectares of high-quality, low-emission rice. Photo: Le Hoang Vu.

Mr. Le Quoc Thanh, Director of the National Agricultural Extension Center, commented: Binh Dien's coordination with the agricultural extension system via digital platforms has brought great success, helping farmers to be more proactive in the new era.

The AI ​​Chatbot system on Zalo and Messenger provides 24/7 consulting support, helping to save time and improve access to accurate information. Social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok are also fully utilized to disseminate farming knowledge.

In particular, Binh Dien is currently aiming to deploy product identification using RFID technology, helping farmers trace the origin directly on smart devices, moving towards transparency in fertilizer production and circulation. This is a strategic step, in line with Resolution 57-NQ/TW of the Politburo on scientific and technological breakthroughs and digital transformation.

Farmers are excited about rice cultivation that reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Photo: Le Hoang Vu.

Over half a century of development, Binh Dien has been constantly moving forward with its belief in technology and its companionship with farmers. With strategic steps from greening factories, products, solutions to digitalization in management and technology transfer, Binh Dien is contributing to a new journey: the journey of sowing seeds of prosperity and moving towards a sustainable future for Vietnamese agriculture.

Source: https://nongnghiepmoitruong.vn/tu-hat-phan-xanh-den-nen-nong-nghiep-so-hoa-d781117.html