A live stream sales session

Applying digital transformation to strawberry farming, over the past three years, Xuan Que Strawberry Cooperative – one of the cooperatives with the largest strawberry growing area in Son La province, with over 30 hectares – has established a separate marketing department. This department consists of local youth trained in digital technology to manage the growing area and simultaneously promote its traceability-labeled strawberry products on e-commerce platforms such as TikTok and SmartPort.

Digital transformation is creating momentum and contributing to the development of the agricultural sector in Son La.

Mr. Nguyen Van Nam, Director of the Cooperative, said: "In previous years, the cooperative's total revenue reached 7-8 billion VND/year; in the last 3 years, with the application of digital transformation, the quality of products and the number of customers aware of the cooperative's products have increased, so the cooperative's total revenue has reached 11-12 billion VND each year."

According to Mr. Nam, to achieve digital transformation in agriculture, the head of the cooperative must first be very serious in managing, approaching, and operating the market. Only then will the products be genuine and suitable for e-commerce platforms. Currently, the Xuan Que Strawberry Cooperative is very effective in its digital transformation and e-commerce business, selling dried and dehydrated strawberry products.

People are doing live streaming to sell products.

Established at the end of 2021, Son La Agricultural Cooperative has 30 members, all young, enthusiastic agricultural engineers who share a common desire to develop the cooperative in a safe and sustainable direction.

Currently, the cooperative raises 500 commercial 3B cows and 150 breeding cows. In addition, it collaborates with local households to cultivate hundreds of hectares of chili peppers and Catimor coffee. Along with circular production, the cooperative actively applies digital transformation from management, production, and livestock farming to traceability and sales.

Practice taking photos, making videos, and interacting directly with customers.

Mr. Tran Duc Mien, Deputy Director of the Cooperative, said that the cooperative has now applied digital transformation to management using QR codes and electronic logs, contributing to reducing paperwork and improving accuracy in management and operation. The entire facility is connected into a single system, and all information reported on this system is managed through software; products are also listed on e-commerce platforms such as Lazada and Shopee, gradually shifting from traditional to online sales.

According to Mr. Mien, digital transformation has increased work efficiency at the cooperative by approximately 200%. For example, managing medicines, vaccines, or any type of medication used to treat cattle—to know how much is left in stock for further treatment or to purchase more—previously required manual inventory checks, paperwork, and numerous ledgers. Now, with the electronic management system, each product has a unique code. Managers can use their phones to check the stock levels and make purchasing decisions. This reduces the time spent by workers, saves time for the management team, and allows for better daily data tracking.

Guide farmers on how to sell their products on e-commerce platforms.

In order to help farmers change their mindset and gradually apply digital transformation to agricultural production, Son La province has developed thousands of community digital technology groups in villages and hamlets, with the core being young people responsible for supporting people in using and applying digital platforms.

To date, Son La province has trained over 70,000 agricultural households in digital skills and created accounts on e-commerce platforms; nearly 1,000 products have been listed on these platforms.

According to Mr. Duong Van Bien, Deputy Head of the Department of Livestock, Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries of Son La province: Many businesses, cooperatives and farmers have proactively applied science and technology, especially digital technology, in production, cultivation and aquaculture processes to enhance product value.

With just a smartphone, applying digital transformation to agricultural production has become easily accessible to farmers.

Simultaneously, they have used the Internet and social media to promote and sell products online, participate in e-commerce platforms, and expand their supply to markets within and outside the province, or for export. Mr. Duong Van Bien added that, to promote digital transformation, the Department of Livestock, Veterinary and Fisheries of Son La province has advised the province and the industry to have mechanisms and policies to support investment in management and livestock farming models that apply digital technology, such as managing livestock herds by ear tagging, or in production models based on value chains.

The application of digital technology to agricultural production with smart platforms and modern equipment has been bringing practical economic benefits, contributing to solving the problem of market access for agricultural products, thereby creating momentum to promote the development of the agricultural sector in Son La.

Tran Long/VOV Northwest