Digital transformation in agriculture increases product value

Whether the agricultural economic mindset succeeds or fails depends on the stage of processing to create added value and developing markets for agriculture products in Vietnam.

The National Conference on the Promotion of Processing and Market Development of Agricultural Products is held with the purpose of evaluating an overview of the sector of agricultural product processing and market development in a new context which is mixed with many challenges and opportunities.

Building modern logistic in Vietnam

As stated by Dr. Nguyen Quoc Toan, Director of the Agriculture Products Processing and Development Department, “Restructuring agriculture, focusing on added value”. To be more specific, it is about the restructuring in the direction of focusing on developing deep processing, increasing product quality, performance, reducing costs, building brands, and distributing good markets.

According to Mr. Toan, digital transformation in agriculture is an inevitable path to value addition. He also proposed building a modern logistics-based agricultural supply system in Vietnam.

In accordance with Assoc.Prof.Dr. Hoang Huu Hanh, Vice Chairman of Digital Agricultural Science Council, data science is changing the way farmers and agricultural experts make decisions. Modern technology has enabled the data collection of soil, water, and mineral from farms and their storage in information systems through today’s popular system: the Internet of Things (IoT).

Applying digital technology to optimize production

For almost a decade, Vietnam’s agriculture has witnessed strong growth. However, the biggest problem is still the high post-harvest loss, low value of agricultural products and potential food safety risks. Therefore, the orientation to promote the development of the industry, preservation and processing of agricultural, forestry and aquatic products in the context of the industrial revolution 4.0 is an inevitable trend.

Regarding the achievements of domestic applied research in the field of agricultural, forestry and fishery preservation and processing, there have been positive signs of progress over the past 10 years, and the scientific approach to research and to apply is in line with the technology development trend of the world.

Speaking about the shrimp farming sector, Dr. Nguyen Thanh My, CEO of Rynan Technology Group, shared that while participating in research into this field, Rynan Technology has provided digital solutions to help cooperatives and shrimp farming households simultaneously cultivate, supplying food processed from shrimp to consumers in the domestic market.

Currently, in the domestic shrimp market alone, a total value of about USD 1 billion is reachable with 121,000 tons being neglected (if calculated on the consumption rate of 4.5kg for 26,700,000 households and the increasing growth rate of 5%/year).

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan assessed that processing and market are very important stages in the value chain of agricultural products from production to the table of consumers.

It can be said that the decisive role in the agricultural economy lies in these two stages of agricultural products. Accordingly, building an efficient and safe agricultural production is not only responsible for 100 million Vietnamese people but also to international partners where Vietnamese agricultural products are recognized.