The Bach Dang Safe Agricultural Production and Trading Cooperative is one of cooperatives to increase the application of high-tech in Kinh Mon town. (Photo: VOV)

The Bach Dang Safe Agricultural Production and Trading Cooperative in Bach Dang commune, Kinh Mon town, has more than 60 hectares of dragon fruit producing 45 tons per hectare per year. It also grows other crops such as onions, garlic, and vegetables.

With just a simple operation to turn on the mist irrigation system, Nguyen Van Thuan of the Bach Dang Cooperative waters dozens of hectares of grapes and dragon fruit.

Thuan uses a mulch system on the bed surface to prevent weeds and maintain moisture. Thanks to technical application, crop productivity, crop quality, and the co-op members’ incomes have all increased. Last year the Cooperative invested in 9,000 square meters of net houses to grow grapes under the agro-tourism model.

“At first high tech confused me. Now I see it can replace 60-70% of human labor and increase income. In tilling the soil, for example, high-tech tilling creates neat beds and reduces labor by up to 90%,” said Thuan.

Phung Danh Vien, a member of the Tan Minh Duc Cooperative in Pham Tran commune, Gia Loc district, has 1 hectare of net houses that grows 4 melon crops each year in accordance with VietGAP and GlobalGap standards. Their melons are available in many large supermarkets nationwide.

Net farming is not dependent on the weather, restricting pestilent insects and giving  high productivity and quality. (Photo: VOV)

Vien says it takes a big initial investment to build a net house, but it takes only 3 years to recoup the investment, adding if the market price is stable, one hectare of net house produces a net profit of 45,000-65,000 USD a year.

“The advantage of net farming is it’s not dependent on the weather and you can control pests more easily than with open-air farming. Traditional farming is more dependent on the weather and the market. With net house farming, a stable price is guaranteed,’ said Vien.

He added thanks to good care, net melons have a more solid core. On average, one plant yields 1.4-1.7 kilograms. One hectare of melons has about 7,500 plants.

Hai Duong province is working to developing organic agriculture and high-tech commodity production.

Land accumulation models have been created to apply technical advances and mechanization to production, to reduce costs and improve economic efficiency. Drones have been used to spray pesticides and an iMetos smart station was installed in Thanh Ha and Thanh Mien district to forecast the weather and warn of pests and crop diseases.

Hai Duong has adopted policies to facilitate households apply high tech to their production.

Luong Thi Kiem, Deputy Director of the provincial Agriculture and Rural Development Department, said that in addition to supporting production, Hai Duong strongly supports promotional activities, particularly branding for high-tech farmers and cooperatives.

According to Kiem, “A strong brand, high selling prices, and expanded production will give farmers a greater profit and agricultural production efficiency will increase.”

In addition to boosting high-tech agriculture, Hai Duong is pushing digital technology, considering digital transformation a driving force to develop sustainable agricultural production. It plans to pilot more smart, high-tech agriculture models.