The use of high-tech agricultural methods is needed to produce higher quality products and increase farmers' incomes, speakers at a meeting held on August 10 in HCM City said. Dinh Minh Hiep, Head of the Agricultural Hi-Tech Park of HCM City's management board, said agricultural restructuring in recent years had not reached the industry's expectations. The quality and competitiveness of many products remain low, and the majority of exported products are only in the raw state and are not processed. Weak links in the production chain expose limitations as well. However, large companies in recent years had poured more money into hi-tech agricultural production, a trend that is expected to continue, Hiep said. He said that long-term measures to raise production efficiency, including the use of high-tech equipment, were critically needed. He called on provinces and cities to work together to develop hi-tech agricultural production. Phan Cong Du, Director of the Da Lat Zone for Bio-Technology and Applied High-tech Agriculture, said that high-tech methods had produced better seeds, seedlings and animal strains, and had improved vegetable harvests and post-harvesting. Tea and coffee had also seen significant improvement in quality and competitiveness because of high-tech production. Dr. Vu Van Khien, Head of the Ministry of Science and Technology's Southern operations department, said that, with increasing non-trade barriers set by importing countries, the country had no choice but to apply high-tech in production, storage and distribution to stay afloat in the domestic market and increase exports. At the meeting, the Agricultural Hi-Tech Park of HCM City's management board proposed a project to connect agricultural hi-tech parks in a supply chain for some key agricultural products. The project would involve high-tech parks from Da Nang southward. It would focus on vegetables, flowers, fruits, mushrooms, fish and shrimp. The project is expected to add more value to farm produce, especially those produced with hi-technology and win trust among consumers. A hi-tech agricultural club was also unveiled at the event. It aims to exchange information and attract investment in the high-tech agricultural sector.-VNA