📋 Tender Overview
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Phung Duc Tien had discussions on this issue to better understand the contributions of science and technology, outstanding achievements, as well as strategic orientations of the agricultural sector in the coming time.
Dear Deputy Minister, can you share about the role of science and technology in the development of Vietnam's agricultural sector today?
Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien: Science and technology play a very important role in agriculture, being the main driving force to improve productivity, quality and added value. If quantified, science and technology contribute about 30% to the added value of the industry. A clear example can be seen in the plant variety program, the application of science and technology has created a major breakthrough for the rice industry.
Currently, 85% of rice varieties are new varieties, 89% are high-quality rice. The effectiveness of high-quality varieties is clearly demonstrated during the period when rice prices decreased, but high-quality rice still maintained good prices and was less affected. When rice prices increased again in the Mekong Delta, high-quality rice increased by 100-150 VND/kg, while low-quality rice only increased by 50-100 VND/kg. This affirms the role of science and technology in agricultural production. Thus, the application of science and technology in developing varieties has helped increase value by about 38%.
Could you be more specific, besides the field of seeds, how else is science and technology applied to support farmers, sir?
Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien: Science and technology have been widely applied in all fields, from cultivation, animal husbandry, irrigation to natural disaster prevention. For example, the application of scientific and technological advances in cultivation and water-saving irrigation has helped producers reduce costs by 30-50%. New generation plant varieties not only increase productivity by 10-15% but also reduce costs by 20-30%. In the field of irrigation, typical projects such as Ninh Quoi sluice gate and Cai Lon - Cai Be sluice gate have brought great efficiency, helping to control salinity, retain freshwater and support production. In forestry, the current output of 33 million tons of wood materials is also thanks to the application of science and technology. Currently, not only institutes and schools but also businesses are receiving science and technology from other countries very quickly, helping the Vietnamese agricultural sector catch up and meet the requirements of regional and international markets.
More specifically in the development of science and technology, digital transformation is a global trend. How has the Vietnamese agricultural sector applied digital transformation to improve production efficiency, Deputy Minister?
Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien: Digital transformation is an irreversible trend, especially when Vietnam has integrated with more than 200 countries and territories in import and export, requiring transparency in everything. To date, digital transformation has been widely applied in many fields. For example, in resource management, we use digital transformation to monitor soil environment, manage plant health data, and diagnose diseases through images. In forecasting, digital transformation helps to provide accurate warnings and recommendations. In 2024, only over 100,000 hectares will be affected by saline intrusion thanks to the application of science and technology and digital transformation in forecasting by the Southern Institute of Water Resources, combined with data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.
In addition, the application of the Internet of Things, blockchain and artificial intelligence has helped forecast weather accurately, support disaster prevention and recovery. Digital transformation also plays an important role in building e-commerce platforms for agricultural products, growing area codes and product traceability for export. These results show that digital transformation has been implemented synchronously and brought about clear results.
Despite many achievements, there are certainly still challenges in the application of science and technology and digital transformation. Could the Deputy Minister share more about the bottlenecks and solutions to overcome them?
Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien: That's right, although there are certain foundations, there are still many bottlenecks that need to be removed. Currently, in the fields of agriculture and environment, we have identified more than 10 bottlenecks, the most prominent of which are issues related to policy mechanisms and legal documents. To solve them, we have issued important resolutions such as Resolution 57-NQ/TW of the Politburo, Resolution 193/2025/QH15 of the National Assembly and Resolution 03/NQ-CP of the Government, creating a new foundation to promote science and technology and digital transformation.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has organized working sessions to review, evaluate and develop plans to implement these resolutions, with specific solutions for each sector and each year. For example, with more than 15,800 OCOP products nationwide, tracing the origin and perfecting the process will turn this into a great resource for export. However, to effectively apply science and technology and digital transformation, we need to build a strong database system, including shared data and specialized data, with the motto "correct, sufficient, alive, clean". At the same time, attention must be paid to links, software, network security, and infrastructure maintenance to ensure smooth operation.
