HCMCity (VNS/VNA) - Many agricultural cooperatives have achieved highsafety standards and quality in recent years thanks to their increasingadoption of technology, enabling them to achieve sustainability and improvefarmers’ incomes.

Accordingto Lam Ngoc Tuan, Chairman of the Tuan Ngoc Agriculture Cooperative in Ho Chi MinhCity’s District 9, his members use hydroponic vegetable cultivation techniquesand achieve high yields, are not afraid of inundation during rains and hightides, grow plants evenly comparedto those grown in soil, and plant the next crop right after harvest withoutwaiting to prepare soil, increasing the number of crops in a year.

Theaverage yield of hydroponic vegetables is 500 million VND (21.500 USD) perhectare per year, 45 percent higherthan soil.

Expertssay new technologies are key to advancing the agriculture sector since theycould boost value to make produce more competitive in the global market.

Inrecent years there has been increasing investment in advanced farmtechnologies, resulting in aquaculture farms breeding high-quality andhigh-yield fish varieties like crayfish and tilapia and flower and fruitfarms using net houses, greenhouses, hydroponics, andmicrobiological fertilisers and pesticides.

Butfarms find it hard to expand due to the lack of agricultural land in HCM Cityamid the rapid urbanisation.

Besides,many are stymied by the Land Law, which does not allow any construction onagriculture lands.

HuynhVan Thanh, Director of the Can Gio Tuong Lai Cooperative in Can Gio district,said that he proposed the competentauthorities to allow cooperatives to construct on agricultural lands.

Vietnam seeks tobe among the 15 top agricultural countries in the world by 2030 and top 10agri-processing countries.

Toachieve them, the Government issued a resolution in 2019 with measures toencourage businesses to invest in effective, safe and sustainable agricultureto integrate globally.

Farmexports are expected to reach 50-51 billion USD by 2025 and 60-62 billion USDby 2030.

Toimplement the target, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development willrecommend policies to attract investment in the agricultural and fisheryprocessing industries.

HaVan Thang, Chairman of the Vietnam Agriculture Businesses Association, said most businesses wanted a clear legalframework for high-tech farming, incentives such as simplifying loanprocedures to easily borrow from banks.

Expertssay to attract investment in agriculture it is necessary to drastically cutadministrative procedures and improve the business environment./.