Da Nang (VNA) - The central city of  Da Nang hascalled for 1.5 trillion VND (66.3million USD) investment infive high-tech farms to create a centre for hi-tech-farming in the central andcentral highlands region.

The farms, part of the city’shi-tech farm master plan, will include livestock farms and a processing zone,mushroom, organic and safe-vegetable farms, herb gardens, a fishing port andfish trading centre on 144 ha in three communes - Hoa Vang, Ngu Hanh Son and SonTra.

The city has offered favourableconditions and support for investors, including slashing the land-clearance feeby 50 percent to 20 million VND (884 USD) per hectare per year for five years. Moreover, the city will also offer financialsupport for investors by giving them 20 million VND a hectare each year forfive-years. If an investor develops a 5ha farm, they will receive financialsupport of 100 million VND per year. 

Vice chairman of the city’sPeople’s Committee, Ho Ky Minh, said the hi-tech farm project would helpincrease the value chain of the city’s agriculture and provide unique productsto serve tourists. He saidagriculture now contributed about 2 percent (873 billion VND) of the city’sproduction.

Minh said land for farming hadnarrowed due to rapid urbanisation and expansion of industrial parks duringpast decades, while infrastructure investment and human resources for farmingwere in poor condition.

Director of Vietnam’s Instituteof Economic Studies Tran Dinh Thien suggested the city’s agriculture should berestructured to host waves of mass investment.

He said the city’s farms mustcreate products for tourism as well as attract local and foreign investors.

Thien said only 4,000 businesses- just 1 percent of total investment in Vietnam - invested in agriculture in2017. Most projects were small-scale and of little value.

Earlier this year, the cityplanned seven suburban communes to boost high quality and safe agriculture inHoa Vang district over a total area of 540 ha.

It also allocated 130 ha for safevegetable farming and 310 ha for aquaculture and livestock.

The city has a total of 50 farms,but these provide only 10 percent of the demand for vegetables and farm produce.

All supermarkets welcome"made-in Da Nang" products, but farmers in the city have yet tosupply sufficient quality products, including vegetable, seafood andquarantined poultry.

Only 12 suburban farms in Da Nanghave certifications of safety and quality - or brand names.

The city is helping local farmsattain the Vietnam Agriculture Practice (VietGAP) green-label certificate.

It has one million population whoconsume 145,000 tonnes of seafood and 140,000 tonnes of vegetables each year.

Da Nang, in cooperation with the JapanInternational Cooperation Agency (JICA), has also launched a project to recycleorganic waste.

Last year, the Vietnam DairyProducts Joint-Stock Company (Vinamilk) invested 26.5 million USD in a dairyfarm on 124 ha in Hoa Phong commune in Hoa Vang district.-VNA