The central city of Da Nang has called for VND1.5 trillion (US$66.3 million) investment in five high-tech farms to create a centre for hi-tech-farming in the central and central highlands region.

A demonstration of a hi-tech farm project is exhibited in Da Nang.

The farms, part of the city’s hi-tech farm master plan, will include livestock farms and a processing zone, mushroom, organic and safe-vegetable farms, herb gardens, a fishing port and fish trading centre on 144ha in three communes - Hoa Vang, Ngu Hanh Son and Son Tra.

The city has offered favourable conditions and support for investors, including slashing the land-clearance fee by 50 per cent to VND20 million ($884) per hectare per year for five years. Moreover, the city will also offer financial support for investors by giving them VND20 million a hectare each year for five-years. If an investor develops a 5ha farm, they will receive financial support of VND100 million per year.)

Vice-chairman of the city’s People’s Committee, Ho Ky Minh, said the hi-tech farm project would help increase the value chain of the city’s agriculture and provide unique products to serve tourists. He said agriculture now contributed about 2 per cent (VND873 billion) of the city’s production.

Minh said land for farming had narrowed due to rapid urbanisation and expansion of industrial parks during past decades, while infrastructure investment and human resources for farming were in poor condition.

Director of Viet Nam’s Institute of Economic Studies, Tran Dinh Thien, suggested the city’s agriculture should be restructured to host waves of mass investment.

He said the city’s farms must create products for tourism as well as attract local and foreign investors.

Thien said only 4,000 businesses - just 1 per cent of total investment in Viet Nam - invested in agriculture in 2017. Most projects were small-scale and of little value.

Earlier this year, the city planned seven suburban communes to boost high quality and safe agriculture in Hoa Vang District over a total area of 540ha.

It also allocated 130ha for safe vegetable farming and 310ha for aquaculture and livestock.

The city has a total of 50 farms, but these provide only 10 per cent of the demand for vegetables and farm produce.

All supermarkets welcome “made-in Da Nang” products, but farmers in the city have yet to supply sufficient quality products, including vegetable, seafood and quarantined poultry.

Only 12 suburban farms in Da Nang have certifications of safety and quality - or brand names.

The city is helping local farms attain the Viet Nam Agriculture Practice (VietGAP) green-label certificate.

It has one million population who consume 145,000 tonnes of seafood and 140,000 tonnes of vegetables each year.

Da Nang, in co-operation with Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), has also launched a project to recycle organic waste.

Last year, the Viet Nam Dairy Products Joint-Stock Company (Vinamilk) invested $26.5 million in a dairy farm on 124ha in Hoa Phong commune in Hoa Vang district. — VNS