Cantaloupe melons grown in a greenhouse in the HCM City Agricultural High-tech Park in Củ Chi District. — VNA/VNS Photo Mạnh Linh

HCM CITY — HCM City will give priority to supporting and nurturing high-tech agricultural production start-ups of young entrepreneurs in an aim to raise the proportion of high-tech agriculture in the city's total agricultural land.

According to the city’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the city has more than 60,000 hectares of agricultural land, but the area under high-tech agriculture is less than one percent.

By 2030, it targets to increase the proportion of high-tech agriculture in the city's total agricultural land by up to 10 percent.

It now has about 4,300 agriculture enterprises, accounting for one percent of the total number of enterprises in the city.

The production value of the agricultural sector is only on-fifth the value of other sectors.          .

The department has coordinated with the city’s Department of Science and Technology, Business Startup Support Centre under the Hồ Chí Minh City Youth Union of HCM City, and the people's committees in districts and Thủ Đức city to nurture business confidence and the entrepreneurial spirit among young people for developing high-tech agricultural startups.

It submitted a draft amendment to the policy on providing interest rate support in loans for high-tech agriculture to build net houses and greenhouses on agricultural land.

In addition, the Department of Science and Technology and the Business Startup Support Centre are offering a number of policies to support innovative start-ups in high-tech agriculture. — VNS