Digital transformation in agriculture needs to be simple and easy to understand

On the afternoon of May 14, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development coordinated with the National Committee on Digital Transformation and the Ministry of Information and Communications to organize a conference on “Promoting Digitalization of Agriculture”. The conference was connected online to the headquarters of the People's Committees of 63 provinces and cities. Attending and directing the conference was Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang, Permanent Vice Chairman of the National Committee on Digital Transformation.

Comrade Bui Van Thang, Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development chaired at the Hai Duong bridge point.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang acknowledged the initial results achieved by the agricultural sector in digital transformation and said that the agricultural sector needs to continue to promote administrative procedure reform; continue to develop the sector's database. At the same time, develop digital infrastructure so that databases are synchronously connected, creating the most convenience for farmers and businesses. Applications for farmers must be simple and easy to understand.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang requested leading IT enterprises to play a leading role in providing information and data to the agricultural sector. The agricultural sector will coordinate with the Ministry of Public Security to accelerate the identification of the vessel system to contribute to the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

In the context of globalization and the Fourth Industrial Revolution taking place strongly, in recent years, the agricultural sector has proactively and strongly implemented digital transformation, especially the application of digital technology into practice such as: artificial intelligence, data management, IoT, automation... in the production, processing and consumption of agricultural products. Digital technology applications help automate production, business, management, and monitoring processes of product origin and supply chains, ensuring speed, transparency, accuracy, safety and food hygiene. At the same time, it helps increase labor productivity and enhance the competitiveness of Vietnamese agricultural products.

According to Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan, the ministry has actively worked with ministries and branches to bring digital technology applications to the agricultural sector such as remote sensing technology, agricultural product traceability portal on digital platforms, identifying and removing existing problems and obstacles in cooperation policies for research and application development...

In recent times, the units of the Ministry have regularly updated and operated specialized database systems on cultivation, livestock, forestry, aquaculture, irrigation, natural disaster prevention, etc. with many positive changes. However, the digitalization process in the agricultural sector from the central to local levels is also facing many barriers and challenges. These include: limited awareness and skills in applying digital technology; the connection, sharing, and linkage between stakeholders such as state management agencies, scientists, agricultural businesses, technology enterprises, cooperatives, and farmers are not yet tight.