NDO – The Central Highlands province of Lam Dong has favourable conditions in terms of climate and soil for agricultural development. The province has issued many resolutions on agricultural development with the goal of boosting a comprehensive, sustainable and modern agriculture.

Lam Dong is considered a pioneer province in high-tech agricultural development. In the industrial revolution 4.0, the province is determined to continue restructuring agriculture and promoting digital transformation towards modern and sustainable agriculture and becoming a national hub for smart agricultural research and production.

Agricultural digitisation platform

After more than 17 years of developing high-tech agriculture, many brands of Lam Dong agricultural products have been present in many markets around the world, contributing to the creation of a strong breakthrough in the province’s socio-economic development.

Since the establishment of Dalat Hasfarm Co., Ltd. in Lam Dong in 1994, a new breath of advanced science and technology has blown in the agricultural industry. The company's high-class flower production area now covers nearly 320 ha with an annual output of about 200 million flower stems and 250 million flower seedlings to ship to all over the world.

In order to produce high-quality flowers, each greenhouse of Dalat Hasfarm's farm has sensor equipment, connected with computers and smartphones. “The most advanced European growing processes, technologies and techniques have been applied to Dalat Hasfarm’s farms”, said Deputy General Director of Dalat Hasfarm Co., Ltd. Nguyen Van Bao. Dalat Hasfarm is also coordinating with more than 100 farmer households and six enterprises to form an alliance to produce flowers for export.

Le Van Cuong from Ward 8, Da Lat chose to start his business in the agriculture sector in 1997, establishing Dalat G.A.P Co., Ltd. to promote hi-tech agriculture. Currently, the company has a farm of 32 ha, of which 17 ha are greenhouses for growing vegetables according to Global GAP standards. Dalat G.A.P was recognised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as an agricultural enterprise applying high technology. After 25 years of operation, Dalat G.A.P has affirmed its brand in the domestic market as well as in the Republic of Korea and Japan.

The success of digital transformation in Lam Dong requires cooperation from many sides, including the connection between management agencies, businesses and farmers. The digital link chain is carried out from production to management and trade, and “digital farmers” play an important role in that value chain.

In Don Duong District, Bui Ngoc Cung is likened to a “digital farmer”. With more than 30 years of experience in agriculture, he now feels leisurely when applying IoT software on his 2.5 ha farm. He said that technology and machinery have done it all, including fertilising, watering, and more.

Deputy Director of Lam Dong Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Van Chau said that every year, the locality spends about 80% of its budget on carrying out scientific tasks in the agricultural field. The province has approved 11 programmes and projects to support agricultural production development, with a total budget of 108 billion VND. In addition, the province also uses 20 trillion VND from the central budget and other projects to create resources for agricultural development.

Many businesses have also actively researched and imported modern technologies from European countries, Israel, Thailand, and Japan.

Towards modern agriculture

The digital transformation towards smart and modern agriculture in Lam Dong has made strong progress, helping producers to set up data on electronic software for microclimate factors, environment, plant nutrition, animal health, and traceability, thereby boosting high efficiency in agricultural production.

The area of ​​hi-tech agriculture in Lam Dong covers more than 63,100 ha, accounting for 21% of the total cultivated area, with more than 376 ha of smart technology application.

The province also has 13 enterprises recognised as “high-tech agricultural enterprises” and seven areas meeting criteria for high-tech agricultural production. The average production value of high-tech and smart agriculture is 430 million VND per ha, accounting for 45% of the total production value of the cropping industry.

Statistics show that investment in developing smart and high-tech agriculture in Lam Dong has brought about 30-50% higher economic efficiency than conventional production. Lam Dong agricultural products have been exported to more than 40 countries around the world.

The above results show the acumen in switching from agricultural production to agricultural economy of local authorities, enterprises, and farmers.

Lam Dong has set a target to have more than 72,700 ha of land of high technology application, including 1,000 ha applying smart technology and at least five agricultural areas recognised as models in applying smart technology in agriculture production.

Vice Chairman of Lam Dong Provincial People’s Committee Pham S said that in order to achieve good results in the digital transformation of agriculture, Lam Dong is continuing to cooperate with universities and research institutes to train high-quality human resources in addition to expanding international cooperation, attracting FDI enterprises and building appropriate mechanisms and policies.