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| Many businesses apply science and technology in agricultural production. — Photo vneconomy.vn |
NINH BÌNH — Science, technology and innovation have been identified as the key driving forces for the agriculture and environment sector to develop in a green, circular and low-emissions direction in the coming period, said Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Phùng Đức Tiến.
“This was an inevitable requirement as the sector faces both significant opportunities and mounting challenges from climate change, environmental pollution, natural disasters and disease,” Tiến told the conference implementing the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 540/QĐ-TTg and science and technology tasks for 2026 held in Ninh Bình on Monday.
In recent years, despite facing numerous difficulties, the agriculture and environment sector has still recorded many noteworthy achievements with the continuous growth of exports of agricultural, forestry and aquatic products contributing to macroeconomic stability and the safeguarding of social welfare.
However, the sector continues to confront major challenges, including environmental pollution, resource depletion, and increasing and increasingly unpredictable losses caused by natural disasters and disease, Tiến said.
Against this backdrop, accelerating the restructuring of agriculture towards higher added value and sustainable development is an urgent requirement.
Besides, concrete targets and indicators for agricultural and aquatic production and exports in the coming years must be set, closely linked to environmental protection and climate change adaptation.
To ensure that science and technology truly become a direct driving force and a core pillar for the sector’s development, the deputy minister emphasised the need to further promote research and the application of scientific and technological advances in production, resource management and environmental protection.
Science must go beyond academic research and address concrete, pressing real-world problems, he said.
Over the past five years, the ministry has implemented six ministerial-level science and technology programmes in the field of natural resources and the environment, with hundreds of projects and tasks accepted and applied in practice.
Among these, 23 research projects provided important theoretical foundations for dossiers proposing amendments and supplements to major laws, including the Law on Land, Law on Biodiversity, Law on Geology and Minerals, Law on Water Resources, and Law on Marine and Island Resources and Environment.
Research outcomes have also made practical contributions to basic surveys, monitoring, forecasting and disaster warning, as well as to resource and environmental protection.
Notably, many science and technology tasks have been transferred and directly applied in production, helping to improve resource-use efficiency, reduce emissions and promote circular economic development. The proportion of research results applied in practice has continued to rise, reflecting a clear shift from purely academic research towards development-oriented research.
The deputy minister said: “Funding for science and technology was not lacking; however, proposed tasks must be realistic, focused and targeted, while promoting autonomy and proactive implementation from the very first weeks and months of 2026.”
“In the time ahead, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment would focus on improving institutions, formulating a science, technology and innovation plan for the 2026-2030 period, strengthening “three-party” linkages among the State, scientists and enterprises, and effectively implementing Decision No. 540/QĐ-TTg,” he said.
Through these efforts, science and technology are expected to truly become a central pillar for the sustainable development of agriculture and the environment, he added. — VNS