Strengthening the use of science and technology is now considered an important requirement in agriculture, which has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the impacts of climate change, an online international forum, Viet Nam's Agriculture Digital Transformation, last week.

The lack of resources and digital infrastructure are key bariers that need to be overcome to successfully implement digitisation and complete the ecosystem for the digital transformation of Vietnam’s agriculture.

Kohei Sakata, Head of Digital Farming Solution Incubator for APAC, Bayer joined the Forum to address the company’s commitment to the principles of sustainable development of agriculture in Vietnam. He shared: “In the face of many challenges, it is important for the agricultural sector to accelerate the digital transformation process to sail through the tough time. As the largest innovative agricultural input company in the world, Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development. Bayer is mindful that more needs to be done to help the resilience of Vietnam’s farmers and food system following COVID-19 disruptions. The innovative products, technology, practices, and partnerships are essential to improving agricultural sector development, farmer’s livelihoods, and have an influential role in reducing the environmental impact of agriculture.”Technology will also help improve management of diseases in crops and livestock, and ensure food safety and traceability.

Bayer proposed solutions to achieve digital transformation of Viet Nam's agriculture.

It wants to provide digital solutions to enhance smallholder farmers’ technical capabilities along with digital advice to optimise their cultivation methods and overcome climate challenges and disease threats to achieve higher yields, quality and profits.

With a hope of helping farmers in Viet Nam overcome difficulties caused by climate change and COVID and driving the development of sustainable agricultural practices, Bayer Vietnam has been implementing various digital initiatives.

They include myAgrolink, a unique online application that connects farmers with reputable agricultural service providers.

Using it, farmers can accumulate bonus points and choose rewards, while service or product providers have more opportunities to sell, build trust and take better care of their customers.

By using technology 4.0, myAgrolink offer four major benefits to people in the agricultural sector: saving time, easy connectivity, increased productivity, and increased product competitiveness.

Airfarm is an application that enables Vietnamese farmers to connect with reputable spraying service providers and arrange a spraying schedule.

It not only helps farmers ensure quality but also offers them a channel to provide or receive feedback and seek solutions to problems after spraying.

It is operating mainly in four provinces now: Long An, Dong Thap, An Giang, and Kien Giang.

Bayer, underlining its commitment to delivering innovation and agricultural technology, said it looks forward to further opportunities to closely collaborate with the government and other stakeholders and contribute to sustainable development of the Vietnamese agricultural sector.