The agriculture sector worldwide is facing tough challenges, including intensifying climate change and global warming affecting crop growth cycles as well as diminishing workforces due to the migration of rural working populations to urban areas. Innovative technologies have high potential to resolve these issues. With the support of a special cash grant from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, the APO initiated a demonstration farm development project in October 2022 titled Demonstration Farm on Innovative Agriculture, which aimed to improve productivity in greenhouse vegetable production and is due to be finalized in 2026.

To share insights from the demonstration farm project, the Commission for Standards, Metrology and Quality, Vietnam, and the APO Secretariat held the Conference on Improvement of Productivity in Greenhouse Vegetable Production in Da Lat, Vietnam, on 14–15 January 2026.

Four resource persons, one from Japan and three from Vietnam, helped 16 participants from nine APO members and about 30 online observers from Vietnam understand the mechanisms and benefits of microclimate control and data collection. The conference also shared the achievements of the demonstration farm, Garden Mountain JSC in Da Lat. Participants were able to directly observe the impact and benefits of microclimate control systems through a site visit to the farm, helping them to consider how to adopt the systems in their contexts. Many participants were interested in the innovative system and engaged in active discussions with the resource persons.