A sleek, newly-paved asphalt road running 2.3 km long crosses Long Dien District rice fields in An Nhut Commune, which lies 20 km northeast of the beach city of Vung Tau.
Completed more than a month ago, the 5-m-wide road runs parallel to an irrigation canal.
Costing VND10.3 billion (US$420,000), the road belongs to a new rural development program funded by the provincial budget.
An Nhut Commune encompasses about 594 hectares of mostly-agricultural land and has a population of over 4,100. More than 75% of people here earn a living farming rice, Vietnam's number-one dietary staple.
The road can accommodate trucks of up to 8 tons to transport harvested rice.
In addition to traffic signs and direction boards, the road is illuminated by a solar-powered lighting system.
The road includes a section crossing an irrigation sluice that connects to another canal.
Nguyen Truong Thanh, chairman of An Nhut Commune, reported that the commune has invested in about 20 km of rural roads and canal embankments since 2012.
Later, canal-side roads will be also be asphalted.
About 300 meters away, another asphalt road nearly 8 m wide runs more than 3 km along the fields.
The road was built on land contributed by local farmers, including Nguyen Hong Hoang, who noted the significant improvement in farming efficiency the new route and its amenities has brought him and his neighbors.
"In the past [when there was no road], I had to walk several kilometers carrying tools and fertilizers to farm the field. Now with this road opened, vehicles and machinery can reach every edge of the fields, making it much easier for me and other farmers."
An irrigation canal to lead water into a field.
An Nhut, which was officially recognized for achieving "advanced new rural standards" in 2021, has become a model rural area in Long Dien via the mobilization of over VND220 billion in 2010-2023 for infrastructure and transportation development.
Farmers in this southern Vietnamese countryside commune yield three crops a year with an average productivity of 6.5-7 tons per hectare.
Le Van Lem, 71, appreciates the easy access into his fields
"What I love most is the road is covered with asphalt. What I used to see only on TV is now here right in front of my eyes."
A farmer uses a drone to spray fertilizer on the field.
Lem said for the past two years, the efficiency of drone technology in seeding and spraying has enhanced profitability and saved energy for local farmers.
An aerial view of asphalt roads running across rice fields in Ba Ria - Vung Tau. Video by the province's authorities.
