Farming, eating rice, lying down
In the context of shrinking production land, increasing costs and complex climate change, Dong Thap farmers are gradually shifting to digital agriculture. At Binh Thanh Agricultural Service Cooperative (Lap Vo district), the image of farmers busily working in the fields is gradually being replaced by operations on smartphones.
Mr. Cao Tho Truong, a member of a cooperative with 3 hectares of rice, shared: "Now rice farming is much healthier than before. No longer selling face to the land, selling back to the sky", just setting up a schedule on the phone, all stages from sowing, fertilizing, spraying pesticides are carried out by unmanned aerial vehicles; irrigation systems are also served on-site.
Mr. Truong said that the application of drones not only helps reduce nearly 10kg of rice seeds and more than 10kg of fertilizer/cong (1,000m2), but also contributes to reducing production costs by 10-20%. The entire cultivation process is digitized, helping to manage the growing area transparently and improve operational efficiency. In particular, the harvesting stage has also become easier than ever. Just one call or appointment, combine harvesters and transport vehicles will come to the field.
Thanks to that, rice yield reaches 9-10 tons/ha, profit after deducting costs is about 3 million VND/cong. This model is currently being applied by nearly 100 cooperative members on an area of about 1,200ha, gradually realizing the dream of "farming rice to eat lying rice".
Mr. Le Ha Luan - Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Dong Thap province - said that when farmers link up through cooperatives, forming concentrated raw material areas, that is the foundation for technology to be effective.
From home garden to "global market
In rice production, technology helps reduce costs; for ornamental flowers, digital transformation expands the market. In Tan Duong commune, gardeners no longer rely on traders but proactively sell goods through digital platforms. Like the family of Mr. Nguyen Van Thang, Ms. Tran Thi Mo both sells directly, and records videos, livestreams, bringing products to customers across the country. "Now sitting at home, but through online sales, we connect with customers nationwide, the number of customers has increased significantly, and products are consumed faster" - Ms. Mo shared.
According to Mr. Bui Ngoc Dang - Director of Tan Duong Flower and Ornamental Plant Service Cooperative, currently more than 80% of cooperative members apply automatic irrigation systems and about 40% participate in online sales. With a cultivated area of about 250ha, many households achieve profits many times higher than growing rice, contributing to the formation of a "flower and ornamental plant billionaire village" in Rach Ban area.
Not stopping there, the Cooperative invested in 20 plastic pot production machines, gradually replacing bamboo pots. Products are both supplied to cooperative members and consumed domestically and for export. Each month, about 2 containers are exported, revenue in 2025 reaches over 25 billion VND, and at the same time, building a website and applying QR codes to help transparency of origin and enhance reputation.
From "selling what they have", Dat Sen Hong farmers switched to "selling what the market needs", expanding output and increasing value.
Circular agriculture - raising value
A bright spot in digital agricultural transformation in Dong Thap is the circular model at My Long Cooperative (My Hiep commune) with seedless lemons. From small-scale production, the cooperative applied science, reorganized according to GlobalGAP standards, forming a specialized farming area of nearly 100ha.
Not only selling fresh fruit, the cooperative also takes advantage of technical support to apply concentrated technology, heat preservation, and produce lemon and honey juice.
Mr. Le Van Nam - member of the Board of Directors of the Cooperative - informed that thanks to deep processing, the value of lemons increased 4-5 times. Lemon peels are separated from essential oils to make soap, and the residue is composted into organic fertilizer, creating a closed process. This model helps My Long Cooperative achieve OCOP 4 stars, export to demanding markets such as the Netherlands, and solve the environmental problem, increasing the value of agricultural products from processing.
According to Ms. Doan Thi Ngoc Minh - Vice President of the Dong Thap Provincial Cooperative Alliance, the whole province has more than 500 cooperatives with hundreds of thousands of members; thousands of officials and farmers have been trained in digital skills.
Digital transformation is not spread out but focuses on reorganizing production based on data, aiming to reduce costs, expand markets and increase value.
Mr. Le Ha Luan expressed his belief in this direction: "Digital transformation in agriculture is not just a story of technology, but also a process of changing thinking and production methods. When data becomes a platform, farmers can be more proactive in operating, forecasting and connecting markets.
