Some billionaires have made big investment in agriculture with an ambitious plan to build a strong brand for Vietnam’s farm produce, but they do not expect to make a profit in the short term.

Farmers raising fowl and growing pomelo and litchis are earning tens of trillions of dong in Bac Giang Province by using high technology in agricultural production.

There are no barren cassava and maize fields as seen in the past on hillsides in Mo Cong hamlet in Son La province. The hills are now covered with passion fruit, bringing growers billions of dong a year.

Many Vietnamese farmers just need to press a button to grow vegetables and raise pigs, and click a mouse to sell vegetables in the global market.

Vietnam tries to attract ‘eagles’, or big investors, into agriculture, but it also needs ‘sparrows’ or cooperatives and small enterprises.

Cooperation between businesses and farmers plays a key role in the agriculture sector's sustainable development.

The drones using artificial intelligence (AI) technology developed by MiSmart are all unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) manufactured locally by Vietnamese.

Digital transformation provides a challenge and opportunity for sustainable agricultural and rural development and narrowing gaps between rural and urban areas, experts have said.

Over the last 10 years of developing farming chains and observing strict requirements, farmers who have earned annual incomes of billions of dong have been increasingly using digital technology.

Trieu Quang Trung decided to leave university to pursue his passion – growing mushrooms. He now owns a mushrooming growing facility which brings turnover of VND30-36 billion a year.

The ‘smart’ fertilizer, used once per crop, saves money and labor, and reduces environmental pollution.

Vietnam has an opportunity to become the food supplier of the world, according to Truong Gia Binh, an influential businessman.

Digitalising the agricultural sector is an essential requirement in the context of disease and climate change.

The Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang will focus on increasing the value and competitiveness of its agriculture produce this year.

Born in Dien Ban Town, Quang Nam province, 37-year-old Duong Hien Tu has developed the area's first organic ecological agriculture system and a sustainable farming model over the past seven years to create the An Phu organic farm brand.

Loc Troi Group, an agriculture firm, conducts pesticide spraying by drones on 25,000 hectares of fields in cooperation with farmers in Long An province.

Hi-tech agriculture cooperatives in HCMC are finding it difficult to expand production scale, while farmers are reluctant to make investments because of complicated procedures.

Vo Tong Xuan, rector of the Nam Can Tho University, a respected agriculture expert, says that many Vietnamese hesitate to buy organic farm produce because of high prices.

Vietnam attracts FDI by offering preferences in land access and tax incentives. However, if it wants to attract FDI from the US and EU, preferences alone will not be enough.

In the past, two or three workers were needed to grow lingzhi mushrooms. But today, one person can undertake the work with just one smartphone.