After 40 years of Doi Moi (Renewal), Vietnamese agriculture has risen from a state of food shortages to become a solid pillar of the national economy, placing the country among the world’s leading exporters of food and agricultural products, the Nhan Dan newspaper reported. 

Across today’s fields, that powerful foundation is being continuously renewed through science and technology, digital transformation, and the journey toward green agriculture and high-tech farming in a new era of development.

Before 1986, Vietnamese agriculture operated under a centralised, bureaucratic, subsidised model. Cooperatives played the dominant role, but rigid management mechanisms stifled labour incentives. 

Land was collectively owned, products were distributed based on work points, and farmers had no right to decide on crop varieties, cropping seasons, or market outlets. 

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, the national poverty rate reached nearly 70 percent, and Vietnam had to import millions of tons of food each year to avert hunger. Agriculture — the livelihood of the majority of the population — became the biggest bottleneck of the economy.

The turning point came with grassroots experiments in “informal contracting,” followed by Directive 100 in 1981 and culminating in Contract 10 (Resolution 10) in 1988. For the first time, farm households were recognised as autonomous economic units and granted long-term land-use rights and decision-making rights in production. 

According to the Nhan Dan, productive capacity was unleashed almost immediately. Just one year after the implementation of Resolution 10, Vietnam shifted from a food-deficit country to a rice exporter — a historic turning point. From then on, agriculture became the foundation ensuring food security and social stability throughout the Doi Moi process.

Over the past 40 years, Vietnamese agriculture has maintained stable growth and strong resilience amid volatility. On average during 2011–2022, agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) grew by about 2.84 percent annually — not high compared with industry, but sufficient to uphold its role as a “pillar” whenever the economy faces turbulence.

During financial crises, economic downturns, or pandemics, when many sectors stalled, fields still entered new seasons, barns remained active, and food supplies were not disrupted. Agriculture not only feeds more than 100 million people, but also maintains social stability, provides livelihoods for most rural residents, and supplies inputs for processing industries and exports.

The figures clearly demonstrate this vitality. In 1986, agricultural export turnover was just US$486 million; by 2000 it reached $4.2 billion; in 2023 it climbed to $53 billion — nearly 110 times higher after almost four decades. 

In 2024, exports of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries set a record of $62.5 billion, the highest growth rate in over 20 years. In 2025, amid a volatile global economy, export turnover still exceeded $70 billion, continuing to serve as a key support for the trade balance.

According to the VietnamPlus news website, Vietnam’s agriculture and environment sector is carving out new growth opportunities by restructuring production, stepping up business initiative and shifting its growth model, with exports targeted at $73–$74 billion in 2026.

According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Phung Duc Tien, expanding and diversifying export markets remains a key priority in 2026. Beyond traditional destinations, the sector is intensifying efforts to penetrate emerging markets in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, while making more effective use of free trade agreements (FTAs) to strengthen competitiveness and widen market access for Vietnamese agricultural products.

Alongside growth came profound social changes. Thanks to stable agricultural development, the national multidimensional poverty rate fell from 9.15 percent in 2016 to 3.37 percent in 2023; in rural areas alone, it declined from 11.83 percent to 4.77 percent. Rice grains not only feed the domestic population but also contribute to global food security.

From fragmented small plots, Vietnamese agriculture has moved into a phase of value-chain organisation, improved quality, and brand building. Rice is no longer merely cheap white rice but features fragrant and specialty varieties; fruit is no longer sold only fresh, and is accompanied by growing-area codes, environmental standards, and social responsibility requirements.

That transformation has emerged from fields and orchards — where farmers must change if they do not want to be left behind. Each household had a few small plots, different seed varieties everywhere; a good harvest meant falling prices, a poor harvest meant total loss. 

According to the Vietnam News newspaper, science and technology are expected to become strategic pillars for breakthrough growth in Việtnam’s agriculture and environment sector.

According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Phùng Đức Tiến, despite facing numerous domestic and international challenges in recent years, the agriculture and environment sector has achieved notable results.

However, rapid growth in certain sub-sectors, commodities, and localities has also exposed insufficiency in quality control of farming products and environmental protection.

Many challenges for the entire sector have emerged, including environmental pollution in some production areas, increasing losses caused by disasters and diseases, and growing risks from technical barriers, green standards and low-emission requirements imposed by import markets.

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has repeatedly affirmed that “agriculture, farmers, and rural areas are the pillar of the economy” and a “bright spot” of the country amid global economic volatility. 

However, he emphasises that in the new era, agriculture must achieve stronger breakthroughs based on science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation, not only to be sustainable but also to break through alongside the broader economy.

The technological revolution is now clearly visible in the fields. Crop-spraying drones have become familiar in Dong Thap and An Giang, reducing water use by up to 90 percent and plant-protection chemicals by 30 percent, addressing labour shortages and protecting farmers’ health. 

High-tech agriculture has also opened a new “field”: carbon credits. Vietnam is estimated to be able to generate around 57 million carbon credits per year from agriculture. 

The project to develop one million hectares of high-quality, low-emission rice in the Mekong Delta is helping farmers reduce costs, increase profits, and participate in the global carbon market — something that just a few years ago was beyond the imagination of rice growers.

© Eurasia Review