On May 18, 1963, President Ho Chi Minh attended and spoke at the first National Congress of the Vietnam Association for Science and Technology Dissemination and this day was codified into "Vietnam Science and Technology Day” (specified in Article 7, Amended Law on Science and Technology - Law No. 29/2013/QH13).

On the occasion of the 59th anniversary of Vietnam Science and Technology Day, we would like to deliver some thoughts on hi-tech agriculture in Vietnam in order to contribute to the effective implementation of the "The 2021 - 2030 Strategy for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development - vision to 2050” in accordance with Decision 150/QD-TTg, dated January 28, 2022 of the Prime Minister.

The world is under heightened pressure of resource depletion, population growth, and increased demand for raw materials and fuels for the industry. The situation is so intense that "land-based" agroproduction methods have had to be replaced by agroproduction methods "based on science and technology". And the “hi-tech agriculture" concept was born in that context.

However, it can be said that there is no really convincing definition of "high technology" as well as "hi-tech agriculture" at present.

Due to the lack of quantitative criteria and indicators, the correct understanding of “hi-tech agriculture” remains very vague. Many people believe that hi-tech agriculture must always be associated with net houses, polyhouses, greenhouses, and even Israeli-style automatic drip irrigation combined with fertilizer and hydroponic farming. This is a mindset for agroproduction in a protected environment, a large investment, which is only suitable for urban agriculture, peri-urban or areas that are too unfavorable in terms of weather conditions.

Moreover, the set goals for high-tech applications are not accurate. High-tech application production has five basic functions: i) Trade, ii) Technology training/incubation, iii) Technology research and development, iv) Technology demonstration and transfer, and v. ) Entertainment/Tourism. Most of the production models applying high technology in the past time have a small scale, and many new models just stop at "technology demonstration", not "commercial production".

Since the National Assembly passed the Law on High Technology in 2008, over 14 years, the Government, Prime Minister, ministries and branches have issued one Decree, ten Decisions of the Prime Minister, thirteen Decisions and Circulars of ministries and branches, not to mention local documents.

Unfortunately, most of the above documents are individual decisions, meanwhile the most important document, the Decree guiding the implementation of the Law on High Technology, has not been issued (The existing decree is Decree 99/2003/ND-CP on promulgating the Regulation on High-Tech Park). The implementation of the Law in localities is thus met with much confusion.

So the question is: How can hi-tech agriculture truly enter daily life, develop on a large scale, and bring convincing results to everyone who participates in the production chain?

Firstly, hi-tech agroproduction must become the cause of the entire people, both produced in centrally planned areas (high-tech agricultural zones) and applying one or many advanced technologies in farmer households, farms and businesses.

Secondly, high-tech agroproduction models, projects and zones must have specific "application" and "commercial" goals instead of just technology demonstration.

Thirdly, the production organization must take specific steps to avoid the movement effect, go from small scale to large scale, and aim towards hi-tech agroproduction on the scope of the province, ecological region and finally the entire country.

Fourthly, the selected product must possess a clear difference and identity (such as local specialty or indigenous products), have high competitive advantages, large (current or potential) production scale, large fiscal space in the market and traceable origin.

Fifthly, there must be technology to promote regional advantages, overcome limitations in natural conditions, weather, and climate, and coordinate harmoniously with traditional techniques and indigenous knowledge.

Sixthly, the decisive condition is the participation of enterprises in the production chain, in which enterprises "pull", the state "push" (through mechanisms and policies) and people directly join in. Enterprises are the only ones who decide on products, technologies, investment capital and organize production and consumption linkages.

The biggest problem of hi-tech agroproduction is the inability to identify the market for "hi-tech products". In order to effectively implement the application of high technology in agriculture, the issue of market development is very important and sometimes poses a decisive factor. The market will decide which products and quality standards need to be met in order to organize production.

Translated by Samuel Pham