Kick-off ceremony of smart agriculture project funded by Korea

On December 14, the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences (VAAS), in collaboration with the Foundation of Agricultural Technology Commercialization and Transfer (FACT) of Korea, held the Kick-off Ceremony of the project "Testing a Korean smart agriculture model in the production of some valuable crops in the direction of high technology in Vietnam".

At the ceremony, VAAS and related units also started installing a smart agriculture model at VAAS's technology demonstration area (Vinh Quynh Commune, Thanh Tri District, Hanoi City).

It is an important event in the research and application of high technology in crop production, meeting the requirements of promoting the development of modern agriculture, safe agriculture, and contributing to the implementation of the Plan of Agriculture Restructuring in the 2021 - 2025 period approved by the Prime Minister.

The project's goal is to successfully test and build a production process for a number of high-value crops in Vietnam based on advanced Korean technology. At the same time, the project will introduce, transfer and apply this technology on a large scale in Vietnam after the pilot project ends.

At the kick-off ceremony, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Hong Son, Director of the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that the project aims to develop sustainable agriculture, improve the quality, added value, and competitiveness of agricultural products, raise incomes, protect the environment and ecology, ensuring food security and national defense security.

The project "Testing the Korean smart farm model in the production of some valuable crops in the direction of high technology in Vietnam" is a non-profit project funded by FACT implemented at VAAS with four primary goals.

One is perfecting the smart farming process applying high technology, minimizing production costs but stabilizing crop yields, especially crops with high economic value and export potential.

The second is to spread the crop, to ensure the year-round supply of agricultural products with strictly controlled quality, to increase the value of agricultural products; proactively building and participating in domestic and global agricultural product value chains, thereby helping to proactively access markets and create competitive advantages for Vietnamese agricultural products.

The third is to implement activities to visit, introduce, and train Vietnamese managers, businesses, technicians, farmers, thereby creating a premise for transferring and replicating the high technology Korean agricultural model in production in Vietnam.

The fourth is to improve capacity in managing and operating Korean technology smart greenhouses for technicians, businesses, farmers, and other interested parties.

In the immediate future, the project is expected to deploy a smart agriculture model with a scale of 1.5 hectares, newly built and equipped with a high-tech farming operation system of Korea at VAAS; A process of operating smart greenhouses and producing strawberries and green peppers with Korean high-tech application is perfected under Vietnam's conditions.

Besides, it is expected that 100 Vietnamese researchers, students, farmers, and Korean interns will be trained in smart greenhouse operation and Korean hi-tech farming processes in Vietnam.

The expected time to implement the project is from 2021 to 2026, with non-refundable aid capital of VND 2.18 million, reciprocal capital of state budget is VND 6.7 billion. It is expected that the installation of the high-tech model will be completed by the end of March 2022 and officially go into research and testing.

According to Prof. Dr. Nguyen Hong Son, FACT's non-refundable aid is divided into four components. From component two, a nursery has been built, with three multi-span structures, a total area of 0.16 hectares, with a production and storage capacity of 30,000 seedlings.

In the third component, the project implementers will cooperate with agricultural institutes and schools to propose and introduce curricula related to smart farming and foster high-tech agriculture experts. At the same time, training courses on high-tech agriculture will be held.

The data collected from the operation of the smart agriculture model will be analyzed to serve the assessment and diagnosis of pests and diseases. Along with that are developing a farming plan and a care process suitable to Vietnamese conditions.

As the project owner, VAAS will implement smooth coordination activities and perfect the production process; change the design, operation, management model, and market access model to improve the efficiency of the application of high technology in agriculture.

Attending the event on December 14, Mr. Hong Ki-ok, Agricultural Counselor of the Korean Embassy in Vietnam, said that the implementation of the project would lay the foundation for cooperation in the field of smart farming between the two countries. Vietnam and Korea.

Besides coordinating with VAAS, Korea, through Korea Programme on International Agriculture (KOPIA) in Vietnam, also implemented projects in Quang Binh, Bac Giang, and Hai Duong provinces.

Mr. Kim Jin-heon, Head of the International Cooperation Department of FACT, thanked VAAS and believed that the project would promote and mutually promote advanced agricultural technologies between the two countries. Mr. Kim promised to send Korean experts to Vietnam and transfer necessary materials to deploy and install greenhouses.