Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung requested the agricultural sector to master seed technology, animal feed, innovate scientific and technological activities, using production efficiency, added value, and people's income as a measure.

At the Conference to develop Science, technology, innovation and digital transformation to promote growth in the agricultural sector in the Southern region, held in Can Tho, November 2, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung assessed that the agricultural sector still has many bottlenecks in technology, input materials, deep processing, logistics and market linkages.

According to him, in the context of increasingly limited space for expansion, growth must rely more on productivity, quality and application of science and technology. He requested localities, based on local strengths and potentials, to determine the right direction, tasks and priority areas of plant varieties, livestock, fertilizers, feed, and widely apply technology and machinery for agricultural production...

He requested that from now until the end of November, each locality must choose 3-5 big, urgent problems associated with their production advantages and competitiveness to focus on solving. "Each problem must clearly define the model linking production, processing, consumption and branding," the Deputy Prime Minister said, assigning the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to monitor, synthesize and report to the Prime Minister.

The Deputy Prime Minister also assigned the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to preside over reviewing scientific and technological research and application activities; Identify priority tasks that have a direct impact on growth. The focus is on mastering seed technology, animal feed, vaccines, pesticides, mechanization, deep processing and traceability...

For the Ministry of Science and Technology, he proposed to urgently remove problems related to intellectual property, technology transfer, and select research results that can be commercialized to continue to support product improvement.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Tran Trung Tinh said that resources for science and technology in the agricultural sector are given great attention and concern. In 2026, approved funding for science and technology tasks transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment will increase by 35%. National-level tasks led by the Ministry of Science and Technology in this field also increased by 44%...

According to the Deputy Minister, in the agricultural sector, a number of strategic technology directions are being given special priority including seed technology (plants, livestock), vaccine technology, pangasius breeding selection, vaccine production...

He said that the Ministry will organize science and technology tasks according to major problems associated with the industry and value chain; from seed research, production, preservation, processing to traceability and market development. At the same time, prioritize the development and mastery of long-term strategic technology, creating fundamental changes in productivity, quality and production methods; Identify businesses as the center of innovation and technology application activities.

"The Ministry is building a specific project to develop science and technology, innovation and digital transformation in the Mekong Delta with 10 big problems, deployed next year," the Deputy Minister said, saying there are 6 problems serving agriculture, fisheries and water source protection.

Minister of Agriculture and Environment Trinh Viet Hung affirmed the need to frankly recognize the limitations of the current agricultural growth model, which mainly relies on expanding production scale and exploiting resource advantages.

This model is gradually revealing its limitations when production costs are still high, post-harvest losses are large, and the added value is not commensurate with its potential. Meanwhile, deep processing capacity, value chain linkage and application of science and technology still do not meet new development requirements. Therefore, the industry needs to strongly shift to a growth model based on productivity, quality, high technology, deep processing and added value.

Regarding the southern region, Minister Trinh Viet Hung determined that the area plays a particularly important role in the production, processing and export of agricultural products nationwide, with many large-scale commodity production areas, key export industries, and a system of research institutes, universities and businesses with scientific and technological capacity. These are advantages for the region to take the lead in innovation, digital transformation and the development of modern, high-value-added agriculture.

An Binh