Need for synchronous management and control
According to our research, the use of agricultural drones ( drones) in fertilizing, spraying pesticides... in Vietnam is regulated in Decree No. 36/2008/ND-CP of the Government. To use it, organizations and individuals must request and be licensed by a competent authority, the Department of Combat - General Staff.
In November 2020, the Ministry of National Defense also issued Document No. 4213/BQP-TM on the application of drones in agriculture. In this document, the Ministry of National Defense has specifically guided the contents related to granting flight licenses for the exploitation and use of drones for agricultural production in accordance with the characteristics of the crop, developments of the epidemic, requirements for farming, care and flight management.
In 2022, the Plant Protection Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development issued the basic standard 830:2022/BVTV for testing in the field of pesticides to protect crops and prevent and control pests and diseases using drones. This standard has provided principles, contents, and methods to assess the bioavailability, determine the quarantine period of pesticides sprayed and distributed by drone in the field.
TCCS 830:2022/BVTV is the basis for registering pesticides for use on drones, while creating a premise for expanding and widely applying new spraying technologies in Vietnam to improve the efficiency, safety for users and the quality of agricultural products.
In other words, there are basic regulations but there seems to be a lack of conductors to coordinate the implementation stage. According to current regulations, the combat police department - General Staff is the unit that grants the flight license. Meanwhile, the unit responsible for orienting agricultural techniques for farmers - Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of provinces and cities (recently the Department of Agriculture and Environment), has no authority to manage these types of equipment.
This lack of synchronization has caused many unfavorable consequences. Most typically in the Mekong Delta, the agricultural sector does not have the knowledge of the quantity and information of agricultural drone equipment... Meanwhile, in reality, agricultural drones are on the rise every day.
Can't go on forever
According to the study, currently, the licensing period for each agricultural drone is about 180 days. When the expiration date is due, the enterprise importing the device is responsible for registering with the competent authority. Meanwhile, the equipment supplier also issues a "Flying Certificate" to the machine buyer - the direct user of agricultural production equipment. This is not only a way of playing football and blowing the whistle, but also shows serious inadequacies in the management of the issuance of a license to control this special device.
Regarding this issue, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dong Thap province said that the locality clearly sees the above loophole and continues to develop many solutions to limit unfortunate incidents. In particular, coordination between relevant departments and branches such as science and technology, labor, etc. must be more tight, especially in response to epidemics.
Master Nguyen Phuoc Tuyen - former Director of the Agricultural Extension Center of Dong Thap province - said that it is time for coordination to manage agricultural drones: "Experience from Thailand shows that there needs to be close coordination between sectors: Agriculture, Healthcare, Aviation to join hands in building a legal corridor and proposing human resource training solutions".
"We must put it into management as soon as possible, contributing to strengthening the knowledgeable farming force, following the orientation of producing quality and safe rice in the future," Mr. Tuyen emphasized.
