“When I was a child, if I went to the market and heard noise from loudspeakers and clash from gongs, I would immediately realize there were Chinese people selling medicine,” Hoan said at a recent meeting with agricultural enterprises.

Stressing that marketing and advertisements play an important role in distributing farm produce, Hoan said: “If you have farm produce to sell, you need to beat the drum and ring the gong” to better sell products.

A forum discussing the connections between scientific and technological products in agriculture and enterprises, cooperatives and the public was held on July 10, where participants spoke about the importance of cooperation between scientists and producers.

To develop a potato variety without rice blast disease (Pyricularia oryzae), one would have to pay up to $3 million for a foreign solution. However, ThaibinhSeed decided to work with the domestic Field Crop Research Institute on the solution. ThaibinhSeed succeeded in creating varieties that meet the requirements at a surprisingly low cost. 

The solution was described by Tran Manh Bao, chair of ThaibinhSeed Group, at the event to confirm the important role of science and technology in agricultural production.

He said multi-dimensional cooperation is needed for sustainable and effective development. However, cooperation remains loose and weak.

Pham Thi Ngoc Ha, CEO of San Ha Company, said San Ha wanted to place orders with scientists for some products, but it didn't know which institute and scientist they should contact.

A representative of an agricultural company in Vinh Phuc commented that the processing of farm produce remains weak in Vietnam. Many companies are facing the fact that the more potatoes they grow, the bigger losses they will incur.

“Vietnam needs potatoes for restaurants, hotels and BBQ, and the potatoes needed must be imports, priced at VND50,000 per kilogram on average. Vietnamese farmers can sell potatoes at just several thousands of dong per kilogram,” he said.

His company has been engaged in a project on processing potatoes and needs serrated knives. However, as he cannot find such a knife in Vietnam, the company has had to import this tool. The businessmen noted that a serrated knife is a simple tool that can be made in Vietnam. Since Vietnamese enterprises have to import many materials and tools, their products are often uncompetitive. 

Communication campaigns

Speaking at the forum, Minister Hoan expressed surprise that after he accessed the websites of many research institutes, he could not find lists of products of the institutes.

“You believe that your products are very good. But what if other products are even better tomorrow? To make people know about your products, you need to advertise them. Why don’t you beat the drum and ring the gong if you have new products?” he said.

He noted that in a world flooded with information, it is necessary to have communications campaigns. Describing the story about Chinese people selling medicine at traditional markets, Hoan said people will be attracted by sounds, noises and images.

If producers are weak at communications, the public cannot hear about their products. Enterprises, research institutes and scientists need to cooperate, and companies need to set up units in charge of communications.

Regarding the complaint from a potato processing company, Hoan said if he were a reporter, he would write an article with a sensational title. Vietnam has many scientists, but enterprises still don’t have a knife to peel potatoes.

He also reminded enterprises and scientists about the market segments to which they need to pay special attention.

He encouraged research institutes to think of "utility solutions". “Think about farmers and about how to help them ease their hardships. This will help you come up with a lot of ideas,” he said.

Tam An