A high-tech model for growing vegetables in Phú Mỹ Town in Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu Province. Photo sggp.org.vn

HCM CITY – Bà Rịa- Vũng Tàu Province is seeking to expand its high-tech agricultural model after achieving encouraging results as it eyes high-quality produce and big yields.

This year 344 companies registered to invest in high-tech agriculture in the southern province, four times the number last year, on nearly 3,400ha, including 2,559ha of fruits, 730ha of pepper, 35ha of various vegetables, 12ha of melons, and 27ha of mushrooms, according to its Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Typically, farmers have used membrane houses, net houses, efficient irrigation systems using hydroponics, and monitoring technology that helps remotely adjust temperature and humidity.

Digitisation has taken farming to a new stage of development by helping farmers improve cultivation methods and optimising the use of soil, seeds, weather, and market information.

Provincial authorities said the use of digital farming had enabled farmers to improve quality and increase their incomes.

The province plans to set up a 1,073ha high-tech agricultural zone in the next five years in Châu Đức District.

It will improve the productivity and quality of agricultural products, enhancing their competitiveness, help set up new-style rural areas and create jobs and improving incomes for locals.

It is expected to cost around VNĐ1.32 trillion (US$56.4 million), with the money coming entirely from private investors.

Public funds would be used for building infrastructure such as roads, water and power supply systems and drainage outside the zone.

The zone will have a separate area each for farming, processing and related services.

By 2025 it is expected to generate an annual income of VNĐ411 million ($17,600) per hectare.

The province seeks to mechanise and modernise agriculture by licensing high-tech agricultural firms, establishing efficient high-tech farming and processing models and building value chains comprising the entire cycle from production to consumption.

According to experts, though the province has achieved encouraging results, its high-tech agricultural sector needs to be further improved, especially in areas like fisheries, and it needs to combat illegal fishing to develop a truly sustainable agricultural sector. – VNS