VietNamNet Bridge – Numerous problems have been hindering scientists to conduct the research works on agriculture machinery to help develop the domestic agriculture production.

350 scientists and the machines that “died young”

VIAEP – the Vietnam Institute of Agriculture and Post-harvest Technology is a big research organization with its branches spread all over the country, from the north to the south. It comprises of 3 functional management divisions, 6 research subjects and 8 dependent units. Of the 350 workers, 23 have doctor degree, 61 master degree and 139 engineers.

With such a strong staff, the institute consumes over VND10 billion a year on carrying out scientific research projects. The sum of money has been allocated by the state budget.

An institute’s report showed that in the last five years, 2009-2013, of the total 27 research projects, 21 are in the agriculture machinery. In 2013, of the 14 ongoing projects, 10 are in the fields relating to agriculture machinery.

A paradox exists that while the number of projects on agriculture machinery is very big, the number of scientists in the field is modest, just accounting for 1/3 of the personnel.

Explaining this, Dr. Chu Van Thien, Head of VIAEP, said not many scientists want to research mechanical engineering, which is a complicated research field with low profits and high risks. Especially, the number of research works on cultivation machines – the most difficult field – is very modest, just accounting for 1/3 of the total projects.

Of the 10 research works on cultivation machines conducted by VIAEP over the last 5-7 years, only several works have been known, including the MC-6-25 transplanting machine, peanut sowing machine or corn shelling machine.

Of the machines, MC-6-25 can be no longer sold on the market. The sugar cane harvesting machine is still under the experiment, while the corn shelling machine is a “too old initiative.” The other items in the list of research projects have not been available on the market.

Where have the machines “died”?

Nguyen Huu Tuy, a farmer in Ung Hoa district in Hanoi, affirmed that Vietnamese scientists are not bad as people think. They have successfully created a lot of machinery models which are in no way inferior to the Chinese machines available on the market.

However, the machines created by Vietnamese scientists cannot turn into reality because there is no suitable manufacturer.

According to Tuy, the Vietnamese mechanical engineering industry is too bad; therefore, no enterprise can make machines in big quantities from the models provided by the scientists.

“Developing supporting industries and encourage industrial production is another story to talk about,” Tuy said.

Dr. Thien confirmed that the biggest difficulty now is that the scientific research works cannot be applied in reality because of the bad manufacturing technology. VIAEP, for example, successfully created a harvester. However, manufacturing companies could not make complicated parts of the machine. They could make simple parts and accessories, but at the production costs were high and the low durability.

According to Dr Doan Xuan Thin, Deputy Secretary of the Agricultural Mechanics Association, a lot of scientific research projects were not successful because of the “chronic disease.”

In 1990, the harvester created by VIAEP, though having some shortcomings, had a successful test run on dry fields. The scientists needed some more money to improve the machines. However, no more money was allocated to the research work.

Nong Nghiep VN