HCM CITY — Huge investments have been flowing into the agriculture sector in recent years, making it increasingly competitive.

Into 25 major projects alone VNĐ27 trillion (over US$1.2 billion) has been invested.

Ba Huân JSC has invested over VNĐ1 trillion in its dairy egg production chain, and its profits have been growing by 15-20 per cent annually in recent years.

According to Phạm Thị Huân, chairwoman of the company, Ba Huân plans to further develop its food processing chains and completed the formalities for exporting eggs to ASEAN member countries and other Asian markets.

Through its Vietnam Opportunity Fund, VinaCapital has became a strategic shareholder in Ba Huân after investing US$32.5 million into it.

Ba Huân plans to use this money for restructuring and enhancing its major production lines, according to VinaCapital.

Minh Hưng Group, one of the 500 biggest companies in Việt Nam, has announced plans to build a HPP (high pressure processing) plant at a cost of VNĐ500 billion (US$ million) in Long An Province. It is scheduled to start operation in 2019.

Lâm Đạo Hưng, its chairman, said the company plans to invest in warehouses and post-harvest preservation technologies.

Earlier this year Hoà Phát Steel JSC launched a poultry project, which is expected to produce 20 million chicken eggs a year, and an animal food processing plant.

Last year Trường Hải Auto Company (THACO) opened the VNĐ500 billion Thaco Agricultural Machinery plant which manufactures 18-120BHP tractors, combined harvesters and other agricultural machinery.

The company targets a 7 per cent share of the tractor market this year, and 26 per cent by 2026.

It also has plans to manufacture other agricultural machinery for the domestic market and export to Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines, Myanmar, and Indonesia.

Using high technology

Speaking at a meeting in HCM City recently Phùng Đức Tiến, deputy chairman of the National Assembly’s Science, Technology and Environment Council, said agriculture remained one of the key sectors.

Last year the sector did excellently, and its achievements included exports of US$36.3 billion, he said.

This year it was expected to grow further, with exports of agricultural, forestry and aquatic products already topping US$6.1 billion, an increase of more than 30 per cent year-on-year, he said.

But the scale of agriculture remains small, as indicated by some 80 million paddy fields and nearly 10 million farmer households, according to Tiến.

Post-harvest losses are huge, infrastructure such as warehousing and processing facilities remain “behind the times”, and value-addition is low. VNS