eISSN: 2672-7226 © Penerbit UMT Journal of Sustainability Science and Management Volume 16 Number 8, December 2021: 134-157 HETEROGENEOUS IMPACTS OF AGRI-TECH ON MULTI-DIMENSIONAL ASPECTS OF AGRICULTURAL SUSTAINABILITY: THE CASE OF WATER- SAVING TECHNOLOGY AND POLYHOUSE TRA MY THI NGUYEN, GIANG THANH TRAN, AU HAI THI DAM AND HUY DUC DANG* Economics Faculty, Nong Lam University, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. *Corresponding author: ddhuy@hcmuaf.edu.vn Submitted fnal draft: 29 December 2020 Accepted: 18 February 2021 Introduction The world’s population is estimated to reach 9 billion people by 2070 (Lutz et al., 2001). By 2050, it was forecasted that the world population would be increased by 50%, which would put pressure on food demand (Tilman et al., 2001). To meet the demand, it is necessary to raise productivity of agricultural land (Garnett et al., 2013). If traditional methods are maintained, and if productivity is held constant, the current agricultural land area will have to be doubled (Tilman et al., 2001). However, such expansions is impossible because agricultural land is on the shrinking trend (Carvalho, 2006; Singh et al., 2011). Furthermore, expansion of agricultural land area has negative impacts on the environment such as the increasing amount of greenhouse gas, the lack of biodiversity, and biological balance (Garnett et al., 2013). In addition, traditional agriculture is facing multidimensional sustainability problems, including the environment (e.g. the excessive use of chemical pesticides or fertilizers) (Berg & Tam, 2012 ; Berg & Tam, 2018), economic (e.g. increased production costs), and social (e.g. lower labor wages) (Singh et al., 2011). As a result, conventional agriculture is no longer suitable to feed humans and preserve the ecosystem (Lichtfouse et al., 2009); thus, the development of a more sustainable agriculture is being sought worldwide, especially in developing countries where agriculture plays an important role in improving the livelihoods of people. Nowadays, technology breakthroughs are expected to ramp up agriculture to the next level by minimizing cost in every aspect of sustainability. Nevertheless, there are trade- offs in modern technological applications. A study of hydroponic lettuce in the United States reports that hydroponic offers 1.7 times higher yields, but requires 11 times more energy compared to conventionally produced lettuce (Barbosa et al., 2015), which are regarded as an Abstract: The debate over the role of technology in maintaining sustainable agriculture has garnered signifcant attention. This study evaluates the role of technology on multi- dimensional aspects of agricultural sustainability in Vietnam. Based on the foundation of indicator-based assessment approach and expert elicitation method on two comprehensive evaluation frameworks SAFA - FAO (2014) and RISE 3.0 - Grenz et al. (2016), and guided by the assessment protocol of Van Asselt et al. (2014), 14 indicators are identifed as suitable for the local context. Welch’s ANOVA and Scheffé tests are applied to compare traditional, semi-modern and modern farming. Overall, the results showed that the application of modern technology sustained agriculture in economic and social dimensions. There were no signifcant environmental differences due to equivalent detrimental consequences among farm types. Noticeably, the alarming level of greenhouse gases (GHG) at hydroponics farms indicates a necessity for more environmentally friendly technology. The overall sustainability scores were in favor of modern farming. Welch’s ANOVA rejected the null hypothesis to signal signifcant differences among farm types that reinforced our endorsement over the supportive role of technology in sustaining agriculture. Keywords: Agricultural sustainability, technology, multi-dimensions, greenhouse gas. http://doi.org/10.46754/jssm.2021.12.010