When Farmers Embrace the Digital Transformation Wave

In the current context, digital transformation is no longer an exclusive narrative of enterprises or urban areas; it has spread deeply and widely across every countryside and every field. Today, numerous farmers do not merely practice crop cultivation and livestock husbandry using conventional methods. Instead, they have proactively acquired, absorbed, and applied science and technology into production, swiftly grasped market demands, and leveraged smartphones to manage production, execute sales, and market their products. Digital transformation is unlocking new horizons, reshaping farmers' production mindsets, lifting incomes, and step-by-step forging a modern, sustainable agricultural sector.

Livestream sales sessions aggressively drive agricultural commodity consumption for local farmers across the province.

In recent years, Farmer’s Association chapters at all levels across the province have collaborated with relevant agencies and units to actively propagate and guide members to access digital technology. This includes utilizing the internet, maintaining electronic farm logs, implementing product traceability systems, conducting cashless payments, and participating in e-commerce platforms. Various localities have formed community-based digital technology teams, spearheaded by association cadres, youth union members, and tech-savvy young farmers to empower the local population.

In Vinh Tuong Commune, the application of digital transformation to agricultural production has yielded clear efficiencies. The commune Farmer’s Association, in tandem with socio-political organizations, actively instructs members on using smartphones to acquire market intelligence, market products, and execute online sales. Numerous households have boldly invested in modern technology for production, progressively breaking away from traditional farming practices.

A prominent example is the green and clean agricultural production model owned by Ms. Van Thi Yen’s family in Zone 10, Tu Trung. Upholding a daring and dynamic mindset, Ms. Yen boldly leveraged loan capital to expand her farm, cultivating Shine Muscat grapes, cantaloupes, guavas, and various high-value fruits and vegetables. Beyond investing in premium crop varieties, her family has deployed agricultural spraying drones, environmental sensor networks, and soil moisture monitoring systems to nurture crops scientifically. Consequently, the model yields an annual revenue ranging from 450 to 500 million VND, while generating stable employment for numerous local laborers.

The Phu Ninh Commune Farmer’s Association also stands out as one of the pioneering units in grassroots digital transformation. Identifying digitalization as an inevitable trend and a vital driving force for agricultural growth, the Association has established an exemplary digital transformation model alongside six digital technology teams across its sub-chapters. Sub-chapter heads and tech-literate young members serve as the core nuclei to scale this model commune-wide.

The Association actively supports members in accessing digital services for production, such as product traceability and digital agronomy handbooks. It also collaborates with residential zones to update demographic and agricultural household data, building a comprehensive “digital farmer” database, while promoting the utilization of VNeID (the national electronic identification application), electronic health records, and production-driven digital platforms.

To date, over 60% of local members have registered Level-2 public service accounts. Numerous sub-chapters utilize Zalo groups to direct and exchange workflows. Member management, fund disclosure, and agricultural production intelligence are progressively digitalized. The initial deployment of the “Paperless Executive Board of the Farmer’s Association” model has delivered highly positive turnarounds, rendering association activities rapid, transparent, modern, and highly efficient.

Beyond production, digital transformation enables farmers to expand their consumer markets. Through major e-commerce platforms such as Postmart, Shopee, and Lazada, alongside the province’s dedicated e-commerce trading portal, numerous agricultural and OCOP (One Commune One Product) items from Phu Tho farmers have successfully reached consumers nationwide. Currently, the entire province hosts hundreds of digital storefronts showcasing thousands of products on digital environments, creating an efficient marketing and consumption channel for farmers and cooperatives.

Ultimately, digital transformation is reshaping the rural facelift and the production mindset of farmers. Transitioning from fragmented, experience-dependent smallholder farming, many households have shifted toward standardized, data-driven workflows featuring robust traceability and direct market connectivity. Today’s farmers are not merely conventional producers; they are progressively transforming into “digital farmers” who know how to apply technology to upgrade economic efficiency, confidently stepping into the digital era with an aspirational drive to enrich themselves on their own homeland.

Phuong Thanh