Da Nang has appealed for domestic and FDI investment inflows totalling 1.5 trillion VND (66.3 million US$) in 5 high-tech farms to create a centre for hi-tech-farming in central and Central Highlands regions.

Clean produce: An investor introduces a hi-tech farm at an investment conference in Da Nang. - VNS Photo Cong Thanh

The farms, part of the city’s hi-tech farm master plan, will feature livestock farms and a processing zone, plus mushroom, organic and safe-vegetable farms, herb gardens, a fishing port and fish trading centre, covering a total area of 144ha in 3 districts - Hoa Vang, Ngu Hanh Son and Son Tra.

The city has offered favourable conditions and  great support for investors from both home and aboard, including slashing the land-clearance fee by 50% to 20 million VND (884US$) per hectare per year for 5 years.  Moreover, financial support has been offered to investors by giving them 20 million VND each a hectare each year for 5-years.  If a business develops a 5ha farm, they will receive financial support of 100 million VND per year. 

The Vice Chairman of the city’s People’s Committee, Mr 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% (873 billion VND) of the city’s total production.

Vice Chairman 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.

The Director of the Viet Nam Institute of Economic Studies, Mr 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, and attract local and foreign investors.

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

Earlier this year, the city had planned 7 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 is now home to a total of 50 farms, but these provide only 10% 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 and the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), has also jointly launched a project to recycle organic waste.

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

(Source: VNS/ DA NANG Today)