Australia and Vietnam are deepening their AgTech innovation ties through $1.45 million in grants for three new university and Vietnamese government collaborations.
Funded through the CSIRO-managed Aus4Innovation Program, the successful projects will develop geospatial technologies and artificial intelligence.
The projects, aimed at assisting industry 4.0 uptake in Vietnam and co-funded by CSIRO and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, will be delivered within 24 months.
One of the three projects, involving Vietnam’s National Space Center and University of Southern Queensland, will use geospatial technologies to improve crop monitoring and access to information by smallholder farmers and government decision-makers.
The two other successful projects, both with Griffith University, relate to AI development.
Hanoi University of Science and Technology will collaborate with Griffith to develop an AI platform and digital twins in Thanh Hoa Province to better measure greenhouse gas emissions and improve carbon farming.
Vietnam’s Commisison of Standard, Meteorology, and Quality will, meanwhile, use an AI and digitalisation system to improve sustainable farming certification, farm monitoring and product traceability.
The project proponents will also have access to CSIRO’s industry connections, with the national science agency also providing guidance on gender and disability responsiveness and social inclusivity, and access to partnership brokering experts.
CSIRO counsellor to Vietnam and Aus4Innovation program director Dr Kim Wimbush said advancing technology solutions alongside local farmers, industry, and research institutes “will build enduring capacity and skills, to help reshape Vietnam’s agriculture practices”.
“These projects will not only have an impact on individual smallholder farmers, but shape the sector through adoption of these solutions more broadly,” Dr Wimbush said.
“Partnering Griffith University and the University of Southern Queensland with the innovation ecosystem in Vietnam means the universities can test products at scale and speed in a unique market in Vietnam and bring the successful implementation techniques back to the Australian agricultural sector.
Aus4Innovation started in 2018 as a five-year $16.5 million program, but received a $17 million extension in 2023.
Before it was extended, the program had “demonstrated 12 innovative solutions” and “developed eight platforms to enable collaboration in innovation across research institutes and businesses”, according to the Australian embassy in Vietnam.
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