Digital transformation - the main task of the agricultural sector

On December 27^th, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and related units, under coordination with the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), VNPT Group and Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development of provinces and cities held the "Conference on Digital Transformation for the Agriculture and Rural Development sector".

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said that along with the strong development of science-technology and innovation, digital transformation is one of the three pillars of rapid and sustainable development. Digital transformation can be considered one of the major breakthroughs - a step forward in productivity, quality, efficiency, and competitiveness.

According to the draft “Strategy for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development in the 2021-2030 period, vision to 2045”, digital transformation also contributes to innovating the growth model in agriculture. The MARD has positioned digital transformation among the key tasks of the industry, aiming to build "transparent - responsible - sustainable" agriculture.

Initial implementation has applied digital transformation in the fields of cultivation, animal husbandry, aquaculture and forestry, bringing positive results for the agricultural sector as a whole. However, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien assessed that the digital transformation scale is still limited, not yet synchronized between regions, areas and localities.

"Digital transformation in the field of agriculture and rural development is an opportunity, a key to solve the mentioned problems and at the same time realize the goal of producing quality agro-products at the lowest cost and selling at the highest price.

As the development of the Covid-19 epidemic remains complicated, digital transformation will be a chance for the agricultural industry to promote its supporting role for the economy during and after the pandemic," said the leader of the agricultural sector.

In order to effectively implement digital transformation in agriculture, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien claimed that it is necessary to have foresight, the right approach, and adequate support from the policy.

The most important thing, according to the Deputy Minister, is “we have to do it together”.

He advocated that industries must connect through link chains from all directions, form cooperation networks both inside and outside the industry, and closely associate with digital commerce.

Previously, on December 14th, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development established the Steering Committee for Digital Transformation in the Agricultural sector. Minister Le Minh Hoan is the Head of the Steering Committee, and Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien is the Deputy Head.

With the spirit of "Digital transformation is only successful when true value and high determination turn it into action", Deputy Minister Tien stated that digital transformation in agriculture is not only the application of technology to create surplus value but also to help tens of millions of farmers access and update new knowledge, open up new ways of thinking, new ways of doing things, in tune with development trends.

According to Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Huy Dung, digital transformation consists of three parts:

The first is disintermediation, which connects the parties directly. Previously, intermediaries played the role of regulating or even controlling many product chains.

The second is dematerialization, which helps unite data and knowledge of farmers from generations into one application.

The third is decentralization, which means that more and more peer-to-peer links are involved in the construction of the link chain.