The Central Highlands have been facing the most severe droughts over the past three decades, which has triggered a pressing need for hi-tech agricultural development.

However, according to the Central Highlands Steering Committee, Lam Dong was the only province which has pioneered in applying hi-tech in farming so far, with the remaining localities beginning to do so. This is why the region has not achieved a breakthough in hi-tech farming.

Reasons for the above failures are: no general guidance for different regions in applying hi-tech, no policies in attracting investments in hi-tech development, and, no real models.

In fact, the Central Highlands have not paid sufficient attention to hi-tech agricultureand have not drawn-up any hi-tech agricultural development strategy. Human resources in this area are not well-trained and poor R&D activities are examples of it. Furthermore, the scale of economy is not enough to provide products in good quantity and quality, which is crucial for hi-tech applications in agriculture. Local products, therefore, are less competitive in the market.

According to agricultural experts, the Central Highlands should have a well-prepared hi-tech agricultural development strategy, focusing on raising local people’s awareness about hi-tech agricultural development and planning for hi-tech agricultural development areas  to attract investors. Also, it is necessary to set up hi-tech agricultural businesses based on the production value chains and competitive advantage of the region.

In addition, the Central Highlands should improve technical infrastructure in specialized production areas, focus on R&D to build up a hi-tech model for the region, combining its local plants and natural resources with advanced technologies in seeding and harvesting.

Source: VEN