Hanoi promotes circular agriculture through technology transfer

The Hanoi People's Committee has just released a technology transfer plan to promote circular agriculture until 2030.

This is seen as a positive step to support localities in developing agricultural production models towards a circular economy, with the aim of improving the sector's efficiency, protecting the environment, and increasing farmers' income, according to Vu Thi Huong, Director of the Hanoi Agricultural Extension Center under the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

"Developing a circular economy model in animal husbandry, the center has built many types of animal husbandry models in the direction of biosecurity, technical advances, and biotechnology," Huong said. 

Melon growing under a circular economy in Hong Quang Commune, Ung Hoa District, Hanoi. Photo: Hanoimoi

She added that since early 2024, the breeding model of 170 Zebu cows has been expanded in some communes of Ba Vi District, Thach That District, Ung Hoa District, My Duc District, and Soc Son District under the center's support. “The cows have grown and developed well, promising to bring high profits,” Huong said.

In addition to cattle breeding, models for raising 15,000 Mia chickens in line with VietGAP standards have been implemented in the districts of Phuc Tho, Chuong My, and Thach That. Meanwhile, a large number of pigs have been raised on organic products in Chuong My, My Duc, and Ba Vi Districts to protect the environment.

"The technology-applied farming under circular economy has increased economic values by 15-20% compared to the old model of agricultural production. In particular, circular economic models also help reduce input cost and output emissions, reuse waste and by-products, create products with high quality standards and value," Huong stressed.

 Creating a market for sustainable agricultural products

The circular economy is considered an inevitable trend that brings practical benefits, especially in the livestock-crop-aquaculture sector. However, although circular economy models have been around in Hanoi for a long time, they have just not been systematic enough to be replicated, according to Huong.

"To solve the problem, the Hanoi People's Committee has issued a plan to boost technology transfer to promote circular agriculture by 2030," she said.

Accordingly, Hanoi aims to maximize its potential and advantages to develop a circular economy in agriculture. The city aims to dedicate at least 20% of its scientific and technology efforts to agricultural research by 2030, with the findings being applied to support the circular economy. The local government expects to establish sustainable agriculture that helps boost the economy and protect the environment.

To promote the effectiveness of the circular economy in agricultural production, Ta Van Tuong, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the department is mobilizing enterprises to a pilot circular economy in which livestock residues are used in crop production, creating a closed cycle in Ba Vi District. On that basis, the department will organize assessments and research the possibility of replication to many localities in the city.

Along with that, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development will focus on introducing and transferring scientific and technological products for businesses and people to widely apply in agricultural production in the direction of circularity and closed cycle.

Technology transfer will be applied in cultivation, livestock, aquaculture, and forestry while identifying markets for products of those economic models. The move is expected to attract economic sectors to invest in advanced technologies to be implemented for agriculture, Tuong said.

He added that Hanoi has conducted over 50 scientific research projects related to circular agriculture, with some yielding significant results, promising a bright future for the sector.