On December 27, in Hanoi, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) held an online conference on Digital Transformation of Agriculture and Rural Development. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien chaired the Conference.
At the conference, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said: The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has put Digital Transformation into the key task of the industry, aiming to build a “transparent – responsible – sustainable” agriculture. The Covid-19 pandemic is a global crisis, but the Covid-19 pandemic also gives us lessons and opportunities, positive thoughts and thoughts about the Covid pandemic. Digital transformation is an opportunity for the Agriculture sector to promote the supporting role of the economy in the pandemic and post-pandemic context.
Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien emphasized: Digital transformation in agriculture and rural development needs a foresight, choosing the right approach, taking appropriate steps and adequate support from the policies of the State as well as the business community. number. The success of digital transformation must be done together, all together, so a joint approach is imperative for digital transformation in agriculture, must be based on the development of horizontal and vertical chain links, forming new methods and networks of cooperation and connection between units within the industry and outside the industry, creating connected and shared agriculture, closely associated with digital commerce.
According to the Vietnam Institute of Water Resources Science, the essence of digital transformation and digital technology is connectivity. Farmers, cooperatives, agricultural enterprises need technical process of planting and planning; garden management; market for agricultural materials; weather information, consumer markets, natural disasters, epidemics; control watering, fertilizing, lighting…; production support policy; the process of harvesting, preserving and processing…Meanwhile, the management agency needs to manage the planting area; production manager; forecast climate, output, market, natural disasters, pests…; planning, strategy, planning; product licensing and certification. Digital transformation of agriculture at provincial level needs to build digital infrastructure such as: connection system, equipment, operation center; building information systems and specialized databases: cultivation, animal husbandry, irrigation, regulation…; building digital applications for administration at the Department of Agriculture such as: website; software. At the provincial level, it is necessary to build a connection system to monitor agricultural data, including: a system of agricultural meteorological observation stations; water level and quality of soil and air environment in regions; complete and digitize agricultural industry technical regulations and processes; building digital applications to manage the operation of infrastructure systems and support production, manage products and connect agricultural markets for people and businesses.
In order to carry out the above tasks, the Vietnam Institute of Irrigation Science requests the Ministry to soon approve the Ministry’s digital transformation project and develop a common data frame of the sector; consider investing in perfecting the data monitoring system specialized in environment, soil, hydrology, agro-meteorology, operating and managing systems of irrigation works, dikes, natural disaster prevention…; consider investing in building an agricultural trading floor connecting internationally.
According to the General Department of Forestry, forestry has built a forest management information system for each forest block, each forest block has 52 different data fields. The forestry sector has a premise for digital transformation, the General Department of Forestry continues to develop a plan in association with the Vietnam Forestry Development Strategy for the period of 2021 – 2030, with a vision to 2050.
Mr. Tran Dinh Luan, Director of the General Department of Fisheries, said that the General Department of Fisheries is piloting the issuance of electronic fishing certificates for fishing vessels. Through this grant, it will progress to smoothly manage the database from exploitation to processing and issue product certification for export. With aquaculture, the digitization of data still faces many difficulties. The industry is actively working with units to make digitalization reach each farming household, not just the farming area. Thereby obtaining data on production situation, output, quality … for production management and administration.
