Tien Giang (VNS/VNA) - Using machines to cultivatefruits in the country still has limitations and the harvesting stage is donemostly by hand, experts said.

Fruits are one of the country’s key agricultural products forexport and the country has 1.18 million hectares of fruits as of last year,according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Department ofEconomic Cooperation and Rural Development.

Speaking at a recent seminar held in the Mekong Delta province of TienGiang, Vu Van Tien, deputy head of the department, said mechanising thecountry’s fruit cultivation is focused on land preparation, tending, harvest,transportation and processing, and post-harvest preservation.

Mechanisation for land preparation is used on more than 90% of thecountry’s total fruit area and 70-80% for tending, he said.

In the harvesting stage, most fruits are harvested manually, hesaid.

To increase yield and quality, reduce labour and production costs,and enhance competitiveness, it is necessary to increase mechanisation inharvesting, he added.

Nguyen Duc Long, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Institute ofAgricultural Engineering and Post–Harvesting Technology, said machines used inthe country’s fruit cultivation are focused mostly on the land preparation andtending stages such as irrigation and spraying pesticides.

“Mechanisation for the country’s fruit cultivation is onlyimplemented in each separate cultivation stage and has not been implementedsynchronously for all the cultivation stages,” he said.

Small scale cultivation, scattered growing areas, and fruitgrowing areas mostly owned by households who have limited mechanisationcapacity are major reasons hindering the process of mechanisation, he said.

Meanwhile, there are not many types of machines and facilitiesthat meet the requirements of mechanisation and suit the cultivation situationin the country, he said.

In addition, investment in researching mechanisation for thecountry’s agriculture production is still modest, he said.

To increase mechanisation, the country needs to identify thepotential and advantages of each locality to choose types of machines andfacilities suited for each kind of fruit, he said.

In addition, it is necessary to establish large-scale growingareas and upgrade transport infrastructure for agriculture production in ruralareas, he said.

Besides researching and using agricultural machines andfacilities, the country should prioritise applying smart devices to manageinformation and data for agricultural production, according to participants atthe seminar.

It is also necessary to develop human resources for modernagricultural production, including workers who operate modern agriculturalmachines, they said.

The Government and the Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment have implemented various policies to boost mechanisation inagricultural production in recent years.

Fruit growers in the country, especially in the Mekong Delta, haveused more machines in cultivation.

The delta has 400,000ha of fruits with an annual output of 4.3million tonnes, accounting for 60 % of the country’s total output.

Vo Huu Thoai, head of the Southern Fruit Research Institute, saidmechanisation for fruit cultivation in the Mekong Delta has yielded positiveresults.

In a specialised durian growing area covering more than 15,000hain Cai Lay district, which is Tien Giang province’s largest durian producer,farmers have strengthened mechanisation in tending orchards.

In the area, stages such as pumping irrigation water intoorchards, irrigating trees and spraying pesticides are done by machines.

Some large farms have applied mechanisation in harvesting fruitsto reduce harvesting cost, reduce depending on harvest workers and meet harvestrequirements, he said.

Vo Van Lap, head of Tien Giang province’s Sub-department of RuralDevelopment, said the province has strengthened mechanisation in agriculturalproduction.

In fruit cultivation, the use of machines for land preparation is84.3% of the province’s total fruit growing area; for pumping water andspraying pesticides, 100%; and using efficient irrigation systems, 59%.

Tien Giang is the country’s largest fruit producer./.