Driven by a passion for farming and a desire to forge a new path on his native land, Cà Văn Thành, a resident of Ten Luống village in Thanh An commune, boldly brought the Hạ Đen grape variety from Sơn La province to cultivate on a trial basis. Unlike traditional crops, this grape variety primarily relies on organic fertilizers and biological agents.

According to Thành, the Hạ Đen grape is relatively demanding, requiring high technical expertise and strict compliance with care procedures, especially during flowering and fruit-setting stages. Although the initial results of his model are promising, scaling up remains a challenge due to high initial investment, over VND 100 million per 1,000 square meters, combined with a long capital recovery period and technical risks. In addition, access to credit support is still limited, which has forced Thành to delay plans to expand the model. He shared that he would like to grow the operation but is constrained by funding and a lack of technical confidence, so for now, he maintains a small-scale approach to gain more experience.

Beyond financial and technical constraints, changing the production mindset and habits of farmers also poses a significant challenge to implementing clean agricultural models. In the winter-spring crop season of 2024-2025, Điện Biên implemented its first climate-smart rice farming model to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on nearly 86 hectares. Initial results were encouraging, with yields reaching nearly 7.5 tons per hectare, lower input costs, and noticeably improved rice quality. However, continuing to expand the model in future seasons will not be easy. Both farmers and supporting agencies must work to overcome persistent challenges, particularly resistance to changing traditional cultivation practices.

Trần Thị Hương Quế, Director of the Tâm Thiện Cooperative in Thanh An commune, noted that some households are still hesitant to adopt new methods, which require careful adherence to procedures such as alternating wet and dry watering cycles and using balanced fertilizers and biological agents instead of traditional inputs.

Difficulties are not limited to rice or fruit crops; they are also evident in the field of high-tech ornamental plant production. For example, Nguyễn Thị Biên’s family runs a 1,000-square-meter orchid greenhouse in Hong Hin village, Thanh Nưa commune. Investing in durable greenhouse structures and using organic fertilizers and environmentally friendly biological agents helps ensure product quality but also drives up production costs. As a result, the price of her orchids is higher and less competitive compared to similar products imported from elsewhere. Moreover, the demand for orchids in the Điện Biên market is still relatively low, and marketing channels remain unstable, making it difficult for her to expand and maintain the model in a sustainable way. She explained that although her family is passionate about this approach, scaling up is extremely difficult because clean and safe production leads to higher prices, which makes it hard to compete in the current market.

Since 2021, Điện Biên province has implemented more than 400 programs and projects to support clean agriculture, covering a cultivation area of over 10,000 hectares. This is a significant step forward in the province’s strategic orientation toward building a safe and sustainable agricultural system. However, many challenges remain. The most critical barrier is that many farmers still lack full awareness of clean agriculture standards and often do not follow them properly. In addition, resources for cooperatives, businesses, and households are limited, and supporting policies remain fragmented. Perhaps most pressing is the issue of unstable market access, which continues to limit producers’ ability to scale up or invest long term.

In reality, while a number of pilot models have shown positive signs, transforming clean agriculture into a core and sustainable development pathway in Điện Biên will require a comprehensive and coordinated approach. Raising awareness among farmers, providing access to capital, offering effective technical training, and especially building stable markets for clean products are all essential to removing current bottlenecks. These efforts will help unlock the province’s agricultural potential and support a shift toward a greener, safer, and more resilient future.