On the Moc Chau Plateau in Son La province in northern Vietnam, Vu Van Hieu, a 35-year-old young farmer, has succeeded in growing paprika in a high-tech greenhouse, making use of the 'Smart Farming for the Future Generation' project supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Korean government. In the first three-month harvest period, he shipped 18 tonnes of bell peppers and Palermo peppers from a roughly 1,836-square-meter greenhouse, securing a gross profit of 500 million Vietnamese dong (equivalent to about 20 million yen, about US$20,000 in dollar terms). He subsequently added a 2,000-square-meter greenhouse for tomatoes and established the 'Tan Lap High-Tech Cooperative' with eight neighboring households.
1. Originating news: a young farmer's transformation conveyed by FAO
In May 2025, FAO headquarters published Hieu's story as a success case of the project. He originally began farming in Nam Dinh province (the Red River Delta) in northern Vietnam. Moving from the subtropical hot and humid zone to the high-altitude Moc Chau Plateau, he produced tomatoes and cabbage in open fields but was tossed about by climate instability and price fluctuations. In an FAO interview, he reflects, 'Open-field vegetables were like a gamble. There were years when, even with a good harvest, there was nowhere to sell.'
The turning point was the 'Smart Farming for the Future Generation' project, to which the Korean government contributed a total of US$4.1 million (over 600 million yen) and which the FAO carries out as a five-year plan jointly with Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Fruit and Vegetable Research Institute (FAVRI). Targeting 34 households in Moc Chau district, it supports the refurbishment of existing greenhouses and the introduction of low-cost yet high-functioning smart equipment.
2. Background: the choice of the Moc Chau Plateau
Moc Chau is a plateau region at an altitude of about 1,050 meters, located about 180 kilometers west of Hanoi. With a cool annual average temperature of 18–23°C and few days exceeding 30°C even in summer, it has drawn attention as a suitable area for producing temperate vegetables and herbs that are hard to grow in the northern lowlands. At the same time, it is also a fact that climate change has increased unseasonable heavy rain and cold spells, undermining the stability of open-field cultivation.
The greenhouse Hieu first built is a structure combining insect-proof netting, shading roll curtains, temperature and humidity sensors, drip irrigation, and multi-layer entry-prevention doors. The greenhouse itself is not a full-scale Korean-made Venlo type but a specification called an 'optimized greenhouse,' designed at a cost level that Vietnamese farmers can maintain on their own, with the feature of enabling IoT control while holding down the initial investment.
3. Results data and cooperative formation
The project sets a target of increasing the yield per unit area of target farmers by 130–150% compared with open fields. In Hieu's case, he grew bell peppers and Palermo peppers in the first greenhouse of 1,836 square meters and harvested 18 tonnes of fruit over a three-month growing period.
| Item | Figure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| First greenhouse | 1,836 square meters | Paprika (bell plus Palermo varieties) |
| First harvest | 18 tonnes | Three-month growing period |
| Gross profit | 500 million VND (about 20 million yen) | Per greenhouse, per three months |
| Second greenhouse | 2,000 square meters | Added for tomato cultivation |
| Cooperative participation | Eight households | Tan Lap High-Tech Cooperative |
| Whole project | 34 households | Targeting Moc Chau district |
| Target yield increase | 130〜150％ | Compared with open fields, five-year plan |
| Korean government contribution | US$4.1 million | Five-year project total |
The establishment of the cooperative is a groundwork for jointly advancing the development of sales channels, which is hard for a single farmer. By aligning shipment lots, bargaining power with retail chains and processors increases, and the room to expand into e-commerce and agritourism also widens.
4. Reactions from those involved
Hieu himself, as noted above, speaks of the former hardship as 'open-field vegetables are like a gamble,' and after introducing the greenhouse he appears to feel the response of stable production cut off to a certain degree from weather risk.
Another farmer participating in the same project, Do Thi Thuy (30, growing tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans and peppers), replied to an FAO interview that 'the impact is very encouraging,' and is reported to have doubled her monthly income to a level of about US$290–415 after training and field demonstrations.
FAVRI (the Fruit and Vegetable Research Institute), as the project's local partner, provides technical guidance on a package including nutrient-solution design by crop and growth stage, digital weather sensors, drip irrigation, pollination by bumblebees, insect-proof and shading netting, and hydroponic cultivation models. It is a template for 'usable on the ground' smart agriculture that combines low-cost equipment with scientific cultivation management.
5. Implications for Japan's agri industry and OEM buyers
Seen from Japan's agri industry and food OEM buyers, this case has meaning from two standpoints. The first is that the northern Vietnamese highlands are emerging as a new candidate procurement source for cool-climate vegetables and paprika. Japan's paprika has a structure with a high import ratio from Korea, but if Moc Chau paprika extends its real strength in quality, specs and price, room emerges to consider it as a diversification source for the procurement portfolio.
The second is the approach of an 'optimized version' of a high-tech greenhouse. It is an idea that small-scale corporations in Japan's hilly and mountainous areas can reference too, and the design philosophy of aiming for a 130–150% yield increase with only basic equipment — insect-proof netting, shading curtains, temperature and humidity sensors, drip irrigation — rather than a tens-of-millions-of-yen investment in a Venlo type, looks applicable to the design of subsidy menus by local governments and JA.
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6. Industry ripple: a model case of low-cost smart farming
The biggest reason 'Smart Farming for the Future Generation' draws attention is that it produces results not with cutting-edge, high-cost facilities but with equipment at a level that Vietnamese farmers can maintain and expand on their own. What the FAO aims for is not to create a 'white-elephant greenhouse' that goes unused once support ends after the technology transfer. Reducing water use through drip irrigation, optimizing chemical fertilizer through nutrient-solution design, and reducing pesticides through bumblebee pollination all become prescriptions that reconcile sustainability with cost reduction.
Behind the Korean government's deployment of agricultural ODA in the Vietnamese highlands is also the aspect of promoting the export of its own smart-farm equipment and technology. Japan too has similar frameworks through JICA and local governments, but the effect of 'concentrated support' — pouring a relatively small budget of US$4.1 million over five years into a single district and pushing up the yield of 34 households by more than double — is instructive.
7. Project overview
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Project name | Smart Farming for the Future Generation |
| Lead organization | FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) |
| Funding | Government of the Republic of Korea (contribution via the Korea International Cooperation Agency) |
| Joint implementation | Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, FAVRI (Fruit and Vegetable Research Institute) |
| Total budget | US$4.1 million |
| Period | Five years |
| Target area | Moc Chau district, Son La province |
| Target households | 34 households |
| Main crops | Tomatoes, melons, cucumbers, watermelons, paprika |
| cooperatives | Tan Lap High-Tech Cooperative (8 households) |
8. Summary
The paprika greenhouse on the Moc Chau Plateau is a case that symbolizes the flow in which the northern Vietnamese highlands are diversifying from a coffee- and tea-producing area into a producing area for cool-climate vegetables and high-value-added horticulture. That the 35-year-old Hieu did not stop at a one-off success but drew in eight neighboring households and took the step of forming a cooperative also offers implications for Japan's hilly-and-mountainous-area model. Going forward, the profitability of the second greenhouse's tomatoes, expansion into e-commerce and agritourism, and self-reliant operation after the five-year project ends look likely to be the points of discussion.
Source
- FAO Newsroom「A young farmer’s high-tech dream bears fruit… and vegetables」
- FAO Viet Nam, 'Smart Farming in Viet Nam' official story
- HortiDaily「Vietnam: A young grower’s high-tech dream bears fruit… and vegetables」
