Dong Nai province attracts investment in mechanizing agricultural production

​(News Portal – Dong Nai) - Dong Nai has the advantages in expanding the livestock industry thanks to the closed chain from food processing, breed production, slaughtering, and consumption. In addition, the application of mechanization and automation allows the province to develop livestock farming into a large-scale commodity production industry with modern technology. Industrial crops and fruit trees are also Dong Nai's strongpoints, which is why the province is actively promoting the mechanization in this field. 

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Vo Van Phi examines a drone model in agricultural production at the 2023's workshop "Application of mechanization and automation in agricultural production" in the province. Photo: Song Le 

The province has many advantages in attracting investment as many corporations and businesses in the field of import and production of agricultural machinery are increasingly focusing on exploiting this potential market.

Mechanization in livestock farming

Dong Nai province is the country's top player in livestock farming. Thanks to promoting the application of mechanization and automation, the province's livestock industry has developed rapidly in both scale and quality. The entire province currently has 21% of farms using closed barn model; 11.5% of farms applying automation technology in adjusting temperature and humidity in cages, providing food, drinking water, collecting waste, and collecting eggs; nearly 90% of farms have waste treatment systems that comply with environmental protection commitments; 50% of farms install cooling systems...

The province has various distinguished models utilized advanced technologies in management and organizing production. Specifically, Long Thanh Phat High-tech Agricultural Cooperative (Long Thanh district) is the first high-tech agricultural cooperative model in Vietnam to export their chicken products to the demanding Japanese market. Mr. Le Van Quyet, Director of Long Thanh Phat High-tech Agricultural Cooperative, said that all activities at the farm such as feeding, watering, medication administration, brooding chickens... are all automated. The cooperative has also invested in conveyor belt systems to help automatically catch chickens and automatically transfer manure to organic fertilizer conversion areas. The cooperative has built a supply chain not only with farmers but also with many business partners operating in the fields of seed production, animal feed, processing, export...

According to Mr. Quyet: "Even though we have applied the most advanced technology in the world, we are updating and upgrading continuously to ensure the fastest growth of livestock, the highest productivity, cost effective, saving labor, and proactively preventing diseases from spreading in livestock herds."

Another great advantage of the province is that it can attract many large corporations and businesses to invest in the fields of animal feed processing, breed production, slaughtering, and processing. Dong Nai is the animal feed production hub of the country, with about 40 animal feed factories, reaching a total design capacity of over 3 million tons/year. Among them, there are many large foreign corporations investing in this field. The field of slaughtering and processing also attracts many corporations and businesses to invest in, from breeding, slaughtering, processing to exporting eggs, meat and processed products to countries around the world.

Focus on the processing sector

Dong Nai province's strong industrial crops and fruit trees developments have formed areas specializing in growing these crops. However, this field still has many limitations in applying mechanization. Specifically, for industrial crops such as coffee, pepper, and cashew, mechanizing at both the planting and harvesting stages is insufficient. Harvesting still heavily depends entirely on manual labor. Currently, lack of workers when it comes to harvesting industrial crops and fruit trees is becoming a difficult problem in the region.

For fruit trees, mechanization at the farming stage still faces many chgallegnes because the planting area is not concentrated and the types of trees are very diverse. The province has different types of fruit trees such as bananas and durians, with cultivating area among the top in the country. Although the province has focused on attracting investment in preservation and processing, it still does not make the most of the province's potential.

According to Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Vo Van Phi, mechanization in agriculture has pushed the process of linking production, forming service organizations in rural areas; essentially contributing to economic development in rural areas and improving people's income. In the future, departments and localities, businesses, cooperatives and farmers will actively apply science and technology to agricultural production; transforming the structure of crops and livestock, forming concentrated production and livestock production areas according to commodity scale associated with the application of science, technology and environmental protection. The province continues to prioritize investment in science and technology researches related to the production, preservation and processing of agricultural products to improve their quality and safety.

Mr. Nguyen Huynh Truong Gia, Lecturer of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering - Technology, HCMC Nong Lam University believed that to overcome existing limitations, Dong Nai needs to cooperate with the scientists, both domestic and in foreign research institutes, to identify the province's key crops allowing the establishment of key raw material areas. This will be the basis to help companies, manufacturers and researchers apply mechanization synchronously to agricultural cultivation. In addition, the province also needs to pay close attention to the training and fostering of intellectual workers to become the core of sustainable agricultural development.​