Farmers' Network - Empowering farmers with knowledge

In contribution to the National Digital Transformation program and the journey of empowering farmers with knowledge, the Digital Transformation and Agricultural Statistics Center under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Worldsoft Software Technology Joint Stock Company, and Vietnam Agriculture Newspaper officially launched the Farmers' Network platform on October 21.

Accordingly, the platform is a digital environment that fully embodies the features of a "social network" and integrates various tools including yield/service forecasting, work logs, connections with financial institutions, price forecasts/profit percentages, and input cost calculations.

Unlike existing applications for farmers that mainly focus on addressing specific aspects, stages, or issues faced by farmers, the Farmers' Network platform establishes a strong connection between farmers with experts. Subsequently, it helps in planning and forecasting yield, and efficiently facilitating credit access.

This solution is expected to enable agricultural cooperatives, farmers, farms, and businesses to manage their agricultural activities effectively, stay updated with scientific knowledge, and optimize input resources in a timely manner. Furthermore, it empowers farmers to take the initiative in buying and selling, as well as in planning and monitoring their production and financial activities.

The launch of the Farmers' Network platform is considered a significant step in the digital transformation of the agricultural sector.

According to Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Le Minh Hoan, the platform demonstrates an open-minded approach, inviting social participation, and contributing to addressing the concerns of Vietnam's agriculture sector through the concerns of farmers.

"It is crucial that we establish a strong connection with farmers. There is a considerable difference between an individual and a network's value. I am also very excited that for the first time, there is an event featuring only two words, 'Farmers' Network,' but it is full of emotions, aiming at a grand objective, a great value that will spread across the nation. Let's focus on the common core value to nurture a better and more useful network that can reach even more farmers," Mr. Hoan expressed.

According to the platform's developers, the Farmers' Network inherits and expands on the "Digital Farmers" application (referred to as Mr. Agri) developed by the Worldsoft Company. A key highlight is the improvement of the interface and the expansion of interactive features among users, thereby promoting user-friendly features. Furthermore, it will continue to be enhanced and enriched with agricultural resources and data in the future.

The Farmers' Network platform was deployed in Tan Tien Agricultural Cooperative, Vinh Long Province in 2023. It is expected that by the end of October and early November 2023, the platform developers will collaborate with the Farmer's Association of Tien Giang Province to provide training for 1,300 local farmers.

Accordingly, this ecosystem will help connect stakeholders in the sector, thereby improving production costs and prices of agricultural products when they reach consumers through e-commerce platforms. It is also a powerful tool for the development of the agriculture sector in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Toan, Director of the Digital Transformation and Agricultural Statistics Center, emphasizes that digital transformation is an important task in the process of building an ecological agriculture, modern rural areas, and cultured farmers. The areas of digital transformation include: digital awareness, digital regulations, digital data, digital platforms, digital workforce, cybersecurity, digital government, digital agriculture, and digital infrastructure. Consequently, it is necessary to empower farmers with knowledge by enhancing their skills in production and business management, improving their ability to access and apply scientific and technological advancements.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thach, Editor-in-Chief of the Vietnam Agriculture Newspaper, which participated in the development of the Farmers' Network platform, states that they aim to fulfill the mission of "knowledge empowerment for farmers" with a simple approach and providing practical information. As the official media agency of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Vietnam Agriculture Newspaper will continue to upgrade the platform's features with the motto "Ask and Answer" to enhance the effectiveness of the Farmers' Network in assisting farmers, agricultural cooperatives, associations, and the business community.

The Farmers' Network platform is a large-scale farmers' forum supported by artificial intelligence (AI) to facilitate information exchange. Mr. Nguyen Ai Huu, Founder of Worldsoft Company, affirmed that information serving farmers will be updated rapidly. In addition, technology applications, good practices, or other agricultural-related issues will be promptly addressed.

Furthermore, the developers will continue to organize training programs for farmers, cooperatives, as well as connect with businesses operating in the agricultural sector. They aim to expand the platform's reach and support agricultural businesses in material regions, and partner networks for the procurement, processing, and distribution of agricultural products.

Farmers can visit the following link to install the Farmers' Network platform on their smartphone: https://mangnhanong.vn/homepage-index.

The Farmers' Network is currently available for the iOS or Android operating systems.