The dragon fruit garden of nearly 1 hectare of Mr. Do Danh Nhat's family, sub-area 7, Na Bo commune, Mai Son district, a member of Ngoc Hoang Agricultural Service Cooperative, thanks to the application of an automatic irrigation system, harvests more than 30 tons of fruit each year, with an average selling price of 18,000-25,000 VND/kg. Mr. Nhat introduced: Previously, manual production, watering 1 hectare required about 5 people all day to finish. Since investing in a drip irrigation system, rotary valve, and sprinkler system, I only need a few steps to open the valve or use a smartphone, no matter where I am, I can start the irrigation system.

In addition to Mr. Nhat's family, members of Ngoc Hoang Agricultural Service Cooperative are also gradually applying mechanization to dragon fruit garden care. Ms. Nguyen Thi Dung, Deputy Director of the Cooperative, shared: Since 2019, some members of the Cooperative have invested in automatic irrigation systems, applied sensors to control and monitor 24/7 environmental and soil indicators and connected via an app on smartphones, thereby adjusting fertilization, helping to increase the productivity and quality of dragon fruit products by about 30% compared to before. The Cooperative currently has 2 codes for dragon fruit growing areas for export, has invested in installing cameras connected online to the monitoring system of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, monitoring the entire production process of members on electronic books.

Phuong Nam Cooperative, Long Phieng Commune, Yen Chau District, has 10 members, and has linked up with 30 households to cultivate more than 300 hectares of longan, mango, and custard-apple. Of these, 60 hectares of mango and longan have traceable origins, ensuring product export to the US, UK, and Chinese markets. In the 2024 longan crop, the cooperative's output will reach more than 4,200 tons.

Mr. Tran Nhu Kien, Director of Phuong Nam Cooperative, informed: Currently, 100% of the cooperative members have used machines in land preparation; installed automatic irrigation systems. At the end of 2024, some cooperative members also invested 500 million VND to buy drones to monitor and spray pesticides on crops, reducing labor, increasing productivity and ensuring the health of farmers.

In recent years, our province has implemented many policies, programs, and projects to support businesses and cooperatives in purchasing machinery and applying high technology to production. According to statistics from the Department of Agriculture and Environment, up to now, the mechanization in land preparation has basically reached 100% for sugarcane, rubber, and tea; over 50% for rice, cassava, corn, and coffee.

Application of technology in plant care and protection for rice and other crops reached over 40%; harvesting for tea reached over 80%. Application of water-saving irrigation systems for crops: flowers, mushrooms, coffee, tea, sugarcane, vegetables of all kinds, fruit trees. Application of net houses, greenhouses in flower and vegetable production... Mechanization in providing food, drinking water, environmental treatment for pig farming reached over 80%; 100% of dairy farmers use milking machines...

The province has established 9 high-tech agricultural zones, including: 1 tea zone, 1 dairy farming zone in Moc Chau district; 2 coffee zones, 1 custard apple zone, 1 mango zone in Mai Son district and 3 longan, mango and plum zones in Yen Chau district. In addition to the benefits of reducing working days and saving costs, when using mechanical machinery, profits increase by 15-20% compared to manual work.

However, the application of mechanization in the locality still faces many difficulties. Up to 70% of the workload is still done manually. The reason is that many agricultural production areas are mainly mountainous, with production land far apart and scattered. Along with that, transportation in remote communes and villages still has many obstacles, making the installation and use of machinery difficult. Investing in mechanization requires large costs and certain knowledge, making access to digital technology for some farming households limited.

Mr. Vu Tien Dinh, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, informed: The sector has advised the province to direct localities to promote land accumulation and concentration to serve the development of large-scale agricultural commodity production. Increase investment resources to develop and modernize agricultural and rural infrastructure, especially infrastructure to create growth momentum, promote regional and sectoral linkages, create favorable conditions for mechanization to serve production; promote propaganda to develop concentrated commodity production areas.

Aiming to build a modern agriculture, Son La province continues to build mechanisms and policies to support enterprises, cooperatives, and farming households to invest in machinery and equipment for production; mechanize from production to harvesting, preserving, and processing products, improving productivity, quality, and product value.

Source: https://baosonla.vn/kinh-te/ung-dung-cong-nghe-vao-san-xuat-ruMees1Ng.html