PAN Group and AGRI SMILE sign five-year agriculture agreement
The Vietnamese and Japanese partners are preparing to introduce VBS-1 after conducting field trials on rice, maize and vegetables.
Vietnam's PAN Group and Japan's AGRI SMILE signed a five-year agreement in Tokyo on November 9 covering the development of Vietnam's plant biostimulant market, as well as technology transfer, production and distribution.
The signing took place alongside the Vietnam-Japan Public-Private Forum on Economic and Science-Technology Cooperation. It follows a memorandum of understanding signed in 2025. PAN Group is carrying out the partnership through its agricultural arm, PAN Farm, which comprises Vinaseed and VFC.
According to the companies, PAN Farm and AGRI SMILE carried out research and field trials involving rice, maize and vegetables during 2025-26. The partners are now preparing to bring VBS-1 to Vietnam's market. VFC and AGRI SMILE also intend to broaden their work on technology transfer, production and distribution.
Plant biostimulants can help crops use nutrients more efficiently and tolerate adverse environmental conditions. Their effectiveness, however, needs testing under different growing conditions and across different crops.
The partners are also exploring crop breeding, biotechnology, automation and post-harvest technologies. PAN said Vinaseed Research Institute had discussed possible rice-breeding cooperation with the Japan International Research Centre for Agricultural Sciences, with support from the Mitsubishi Research Institute.
