Capital wants more high-tech farms

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Experts at a conference held here recently said the shortage of land, infrastructure, planning and policies as well as human resources are barriers to investments in this specialised sector.

Nguyen Thi Thoa, head of the plantation department of the municipal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the capital city targets raising the proportion of high-tech agricultural production from the current 25 percent to 35 percent of the sector’s total production value by 2020.

Businesses are still not very keen on investing in this model due to difficulties in accessing land, credit and modern techniques, while incentives are still beyond reach, she said.

Addressing land as the greatest problem affecting investment in such production, Vo Viet Dung, Chairman of Nam Hanoi Food Processing Joint Stock Company, said the city should have a policy to develop land for this kind of agriculture. “Land is of great importance in encouraging firms to pour investment into agricultural production,” Dung said.

Experts at the conference said that promoting the link between farmers and firms is critical.

Dam Quang Thang, Director of Agricare VN, said firms should coordinate with farmers to apply advanced technology to agricultural production. In addition, strong products should be selected to spearhead the project, he said.

“Hanoi should have policies to encourage the development of the agricultural value chain to produce high value-added and competitive products,” Bui Le Phong from Hanoi Seed Joint Stock Company said, adding that a specialised zone for high-tech agricultural production should be developed to attract investments.

Do Nang Vinh from the Agricultural Genetics Institute under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said renovating the production methods of the agricultural sector is now a necessity due to increasing demand for high-quality agricultural products in both the domestic and foreign markets.

Vinh said Hanoi should build a high-tech agricultural park and should plan for high-tech agricultural production, focusing on producing strong products.

Agreeing with Vinh, Nguyen Tri Ngoc Nguyen, Director of the ministry’s Plantation Department, said developing a zone for this kind of agricultural production is now urgent. However, as public funds remain limited, the capital city should adopt policies to attract private investments, he added.

Hanoi has more than 157,000ha of agricultural land, accounting for 46.8 percent of the city’s total area. The value of agricultural production reached 32.9 trillion VND (1.46 billion USD) last year.