At green-skin and pink-flesh grapefruit orchards in My Phong Commune, Dong Thap Province, production records are moving from notebooks to digital platforms. Farmers are using the technology to manage production, trace product origins and meet export requirements.
Nguyen Thi Dam, who grows 0.6 hectares of the fruit to export standards, said farmers must follow processes including VietGAP standards and use organic fertilisers. The commune has 385 hectares of grapefruit orchards, produces about 6,160 tonnes annually and involves around 1,500 farming households.
The commune has received five growing-area codes for exports to the United States, South Korea and Australia. They cover 200 households on 103.85 hectares. The work is linked to the implementation of Politburo Resolution No. 57 on science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation, issued in December 2024.
Nguyen Van Kiet, deputy director of the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Environment, said training for farmers, co-operative members and agricultural workers covers smartphones, the internet, communication applications, market information, production management, traceability and digital sales platforms.
The department says digital tools are used through agricultural data platforms, smart irrigation, drones, and mechanised and automated production. Basic digital skills have reached 314 agricultural co-operatives and more than 120 farmers’ clubs, covering more than 79,000 of their 95,000 members and workers, or about 85 per cent.
Digital agriculture
Dong Thap aims for 4–4.5 per cent GRDP growth in agriculture, forestry and fisheries in 2026 and plans to digitise all agricultural and environmental databases managed by provincial and commune authorities. QR codes are being used for traceability and growing-area management.
Up to 229 co-operatives and farmers’ clubs have received growing-area codes for domestic and export markets. They include 208 co-operatives with 887 growing areas covering nearly 173,000 hectares and 21 farmers’ clubs with 46 areas covering more than 1,300 hectares. Dong Thap is Vietnam’s largest fruit-producing province.
In Long Binh Commune, the Hoa Thanh General Agricultural Co-operative grows VietGAP-certified vegetables and supplies about 2,000 tonnes annually. Its director, Nguyen Thanh Quang, said the co-operative had invested in automatic packaging machinery.
The province has 25 smart pest-monitoring systems in rice and fruit-growing areas. The agriculture sector is also piloting the Vietnam Digital Agriculture Platform Ecosystem and distributing weather information through Zalo groups.
Digital tools have been adopted in about 60 per cent of the province’s fruit-growing areas, but many farmers remain unfamiliar with new technology. Dong Thap plans to train about 2,250 digital farmers, professional farmers and modern co-operative managers in 2026–2030. At least 80 per cent of co-operatives and farmers’ clubs are to receive guidance on using information technology for management, production and traceability.
Sources: Viet Nam News
