Restructuring towards urban and ecological agriculture

In the new development phase, Dong Nai City remains a promising destination, attracting a new wave of investment in agriculture and rural areas. The new city is also orienting its agricultural development toward stronger application of high technology, digital technology, and information technology to establish smart agricultural production linked to the development of global value chains.

Investment opportunities in agriculture

Nearly 20 years ago, Duong Thi Thu Hue, Director of Long Khanh Kinoko I.E Co., Ltd. in Bao Vinh Ward, chose this area, Vietnam’s largest mushroom cultivation area, to develop her mushroom farming business. After accumulating substantial capital and seeing growing investment and development opportunities in the industrial city of Dong Nai, Hue decided to invest tens of billions of VND in building a large-scale mushroom production workshop to supply the domestic market and serve exports. In this large-scale workshop, she invested in a modern machinery system and used robots to replace human labor. Covering only a few thousand m2, Hue’s mushroom production workshop can produce tens of tons of mushrooms for the domestic market and meet large export orders to many countries around the world.

High-tech cantaloupe cultivation model in Bao Vinh ward.

Hue said she had the opportunity to access Japanese mushroom cultivation technology, which she described as an effective model that not only provides clean, healthy food products but also contributes to environmental protection. According to her, Dong Nai offers favorable conditions in terms of human and land resources, a favorable geographical location, and a large consumer market, enabling enterprises to confidently expand production on a large scale.

Recognizing these advantages, Nguyen The Tung, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Queen Farm Vietnam, decided to invest in a modern durian cultivation project in Phuoc Son Commune, Dong Nai City. To date, the company’s 55-hectare farm has applied high technology across all stages of production, including irrigation, fertilization, the use of Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) technology and sensors to monitor key indicators, as well as drone technology for the early detection and timely treatment of pests and diseases. At present, the high-tech durian farm supplies hundreds of tons of durian to the market each year, with product quality meeting export standards for demanding international markets.

Replicating livable rural areas

While prioritizing industrial development, Dong Nai has also emerged as a leading locality nationwide in building new-style rural areas. In parallel with this effort, rural infrastructure has received focused and coordinated investment. As a result, road systems in mountainous, remote, and disadvantaged communes have been upgraded with asphalted and concreted roads extending to residential areas and production zones, thereby facilitating both daily life and agricultural activities for local residents. Other infrastructure facilities, such as healthcare, education, and culture, have also received coordinated investment.

Thanks to this, many rural areas have undergone remarkable transformation, creating favorable conditions for residents to develop sustainable livelihoods and improve their living standards. Farmers’ awareness has continued to improve, with many actively shifting toward safe agricultural production and livestock farming practices, thereby contributing to the development of a clean and sustainable rural environment. Consequently, many rural areas in Dong Nai, characterized by their ecological landscapes and improved living conditions, have become attractive destinations for both domestic and international visitors.

From a locality that once faced numerous difficulties, Nghia Trung Commune has emerged as one of the leading areas in organic agricultural development. In black pepper cultivation alone, the commune has established six safe pepper production clubs involving hundreds of farming households participating in supply chains linked to local export processing enterprises. Many outstanding farmers in the commune have become prosperous through their labor on their hometown land.

Vy Linh Duy, Head of the Nghia Binh 2 Organic Pepper Cooperative Group in Nghia Trung Commune, said that local farmers have been actively shifting toward organic pepper cultivation in order to protect the health of producers and their families living in the farming area. According to Duy, organic farming has increasingly demonstrated strong economic efficiency as soil quality improves, land fertility is restored, crops develop more effectively, and the incidence of pests and diseases declines, thereby giving farmers greater confidence to remain committed to long-term production.

Dong Nai is among the top localities nationwide in attracting investment in the processing of agricultural and livestock products, including animal feed, coffee, pepper, and food processing industries. At present, the city remains an attractive destination, especially for investment in high-tech processing industries linked to global supply chains.

Nguyen Van Thang, Deputy Director of the Dong Nai Department of Agriculture and Environment, stated that Dong Nai is currently regarded as a major center for livestock production and for a range of industrial crops and export-oriented fruit trees, including rubber, cashew, pepper, durian, and tissue-cultured bananas. The city has developed specialized cultivation areas and large-scale commodity production zones associated with geographical indications and product traceability systems. The orientation of Dong Nai’s agricultural sector in the new development phase is to promote high-tech, ecological, and organic agriculture, leveraging the strengths of each locality.