Join hands to create fruit 4.0

Director of Thien Nong Binh Phuoc Farm Dang Duong Minh Hoang (right) describes the digitization of avocado trees. Photo: NVCC

SINCE 2022, Binh Phuoc Digital Agricultural Service Cooperative (Binh Phuoc province) has pioneered in building growing area codes for fruit trees, "digitizing" each tree - each tree has an electronic diary, creating a model for official export to foreign markets, and building OCOP products.

Mr. Dang Duong Minh Hoang, Director of Thien Nong Farm, Binh Phuoc, Director of Binh Phuoc Digital Agricultural Service Cooperative, is the owner of the Ong Hoang Avocado brand. He is helping people in the province build brands for local agricultural products. His cooperative has been improving production processes, applying digital diaries in production for farmers, optimizing resources, committing to clean and green products, and protecting consumers. "If we do not or have not done digital agriculture, our organic agricultural products will lose many opportunities to connect with consumers as well as create trust for the products and build brands," Mr. Hoang emphasized.

Eating clean, especially with organic agricultural products, is a current consumer trend. With the approach of Binh Phuoc Digital Agricultural Service Cooperative, when buying products, through QR codes, consumers will know which day to water, fertilize, harvest and how to transport... From there, customers have transparent information, tracing the origin of each fruit. The cooperative also applies the Internet of Things (IoT) for automatic irrigation, based on sensors measuring humidity, temperature, pH, light... to provide the right amount of water and fertilizer to each tree.

"Digitalization in agriculture and green production will bring high economic value to farmers. However, the cost of certifying standards such as VietGAP, Global GAP and management software is also very expensive. To harmonize the benefits in the production chain, the associated households and cooperatives will sign contracts with members on investment-production-purchase in a closed manner. The investment cost will be calculated at a certain level for each product, for example, collecting 1,000 VND/kg of products for avocado, durian, coffee... With this method, households join hands to go further", Mr. Hoang shared.

Along with the digital transformation efforts of cooperatives and farmers, the Ministry of Industry and Trade recently launched the iTrace247 Trade Promotion Traceability System applying blockchain technology. This system aims to provide a set of online traceability solutions, helping businesses, cooperatives and farmers update information on product origin (general information, electronic logs during cultivation, production, processing, transportation, distribution, etc.). The iTrace247 traceability stamp of the Trade Promotion Agency was piloted for the domestic market from March 2021 for vegetables, tubers, fruits and fruits from Hai Duong, Son La and Bac Giang provinces. To meet export needs, the traceability stamp can display languages ​​according to customer requirements, meeting the requirements for product information transparency of the import market. Previously, Thanh Ha litchi products from Hai Duong with iTrace247 traceability stamps with information displayed in English and Japanese were exported to Singapore and Japan.

According to the representative of the Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade), traceability is the shortest way to effectively protect the reputation of enterprises. At the same time, it conveys all messages from the manufacturer to consumers. Traceability has become a mandatory criterion in export due to the increasing demand of consumers for transparency in the origin and quality of goods. For export, clarifying the origin, in addition to providing information to consumers, also ensures a commitment to transparency as well as responsibility for the information the manufacturer publishes on the traceability code content. Information on traceability of goods will help domestic and international consumers recognize Vietnamese products. Therefore, experts recommend that businesses need to increase the application of traceability technology and improve quality to compete in the domestic market and promote exports to the world market.

IN recent years, digital transformation is no longer strange to farmers. An owner of an agricultural cooperative specializing in growing Dien grapefruit, red grapefruit, and green-skin grapefruit according to VietGAP standards and achieving four OCOP product stars said that the traceability of the cooperative's products has been implemented for many years. Regarding the diary recording the production process, the cooperative is still doing it manually (keeping books) and is learning from experience to make an electronic diary for the trees. Grapefruit, after being harvested for sale on the market, is affixed with the stamp of each household. As the owner of Thien Nong Farm in Binh Phuoc said: "Digital transformation helps farmers improve productivity, product quality as well as optimize production, maximize profits. Through that, the connection between supply and demand and transparency of information about their products are also promoted".

Thanks to the application of 4.0 technology, we have a generation of farmers who master advanced farming techniques, thereby contributing to improving the quality of Vietnamese agricultural products on the world map.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/bat-tay-tao-nen-trai-cay-40-post749057.html