Joy from the 1 million hectare rice project (Part 3)

Approved by the Prime Minister at the end of 2023, the 1 million hectares of high-quality rice project is of great significance in orienting the transformation of sustainable rice cultivation methods in the Mekong Delta to increase the value of rice grains, improve income and life for farmers, adapt to climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions...

Immediately after the 2023 Prime Minister's Dialogue with Vietnamese Farmers Conference, ministries, branches, central and local agencies have proactively and actively implemented synchronous tasks and solutions, reviewed, consulted on amending and supplementing mechanisms and policies to remove difficulties and obstacles; created conditions, resources, favorable environment, encouraged investment, supported farmers to promote their role as the main subject and center in developing agriculture, rural economy, building new green countryside, sustainable production and business.

In particular, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has effectively implemented the Project "Sustainable development of one million hectares of high-quality and low-emission rice cultivation associated with green growth in the Mekong Delta by 2030" (referred to as the 1 million hectares of rice project).

It is worth noting that Vietnam is the first country in the world to implement a large-scale emission reduction rice production program, so it has received a lot of attention from international partners. The pilot models have achieved very positive results, creating great encouragement for farmers and businesses.

The emission-reducing rice growing model was piloted on a total area of ​​50 hectares at Tien Thuan Cooperative (Thanh An commune, Vinh Thanh district, Can Tho city) in the summer-autumn crop of 2024. Photo: Huynh Xay

Excitement and new production spirit from the largest rice growing region in the country

According to the report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, up to now, the Ministry has established a Steering Committee for the Project, with the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development as the Head of the Committee, 1 Deputy Minister as Deputy Head of the Steering Committee; 5 working groups and members are representatives of ministries, branches, the World Bank (WB) and leaders of 12 provinces in the Mekong Delta.

In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has also issued a Plan and organized a Conference to deploy the Project; organized a Kick-off Ceremony for the 1 million hectare high-quality, low-emission specialized rice field; issued guidelines on criteria to encourage participation in the Project; and a Plan to enhance capacity for partners participating in the Project.

It can be said that after nearly 1 year of the Prime Minister's approval, legal documents, technical procedures, and implementation guidelines for the 1 million hectare rice project have been issued relatively completely. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has also organized many meetings and workshops to solicit opinions on the process of measuring, reporting, and assessing MRV emissions; developed a draft Decree on the pilot mechanism for payment for emission reduction results and financial management of the agreement on payment for greenhouse gas emission reduction results; developed a WB loan project to support the implementation of the project; and cooperated multilaterally with international organizations and funds participating in the project implementation (FAO, UNDP, WWF, WB, ADB, GEF,...).

Notably, to have resources to implement the Project, since the end of 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has proposed the project "Supporting infrastructure and techniques for high-quality and low-emission rice in the Mekong Delta" with a loan from the World Bank, with a value of 430 million USD, of which 330 million USD is loan capital and 100 million USD is counterpart capital, focusing on the period 2026-2027.

In addition to direct support sources, the State Bank of Vietnam has closely coordinated with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and relevant units to organize many meetings, discuss and complete the draft of the Credit Program for joint lending to support enterprises and cooperatives to submit to the Government for guidance.

Talking about the results after nearly 1 year of implementing the Project, Mr. Tran Thanh Nam - Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development said: There have been 7 pilot models deployed in 5 provinces and cities including: Can Tho, Dong Thap, Kien Giang, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang. Currently, most of the pilot models for the summer-autumn crop in 2024 have been harvested, with very positive results.

Specifically, reducing costs by 20-30% (reducing over 50% of seeds, reducing over 30% of nitrogen fertilizer, reducing 2-3 times of spraying pesticides, reducing about 30-40% of irrigation water); increasing productivity by 10% (productivity in the model reaches 6.3-6.6 tons/ha compared to the control reaching 5.7-6 tons/ha).

Thereby, the model increases farmers' income by 20-25% (profit increases by 4-7.6 million VND/ha compared to the control), reducing an average of 3-5 tons of CO2 equivalent per hectare. All harvested rice output is registered by businesses for purchase with a purchase price 200-300 VND/kg higher.

Having just finished harvesting 2 hectares of rice grown under the pilot model of the Project, farmer Quach Van Ut, a member of Phat Tai Agricultural Cooperative (Thanh My Commune, Chau Thanh District, Tra Vinh Province) was very excited when the yield of this rice crop reached 7 tons/ha, about 1 ton/ha higher than the previous summer-autumn crop. Meanwhile, the cost of seeds, fertilizers and pesticides decreased significantly, so he earned a good profit. With a selling price of 8,500 VND/kg of commercial rice, his family earned a profit of over 45 million VND/ha, over 5 million VND/ha higher than the profit of the same period last year.

Mr. Le Van Dong (left cover), Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tra Vinh province and members of Phuoc Hao Agricultural Cooperative surveyed and evaluated the summer-autumn rice crop produced under the 1 million hectare rice project. Photo: baotravinh

Phat Tai Agricultural Cooperative and Phuoc Hao Agricultural Cooperative are 2 of 7 units selected by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to implement the pilot model of the 1 million hectare rice project in Tra Vinh province.

Having visited the two rice growing models according to the Project, Mr. Kien Tam, a member of Viet Thanh Cooperative, Hoa An Commune, Cau Ke District (Tra Vinh) was very excited and interested in the obvious great benefits that the models have achieved. Mr. Tam said that in the recent summer-autumn rice crop, rice production at Viet Thanh Cooperative earned a profit of about 23 - 25 million VND/ha. With the model farming process from the two cooperatives in the Project, if members of Viet Thanh Cooperative (172ha/211 members) apply it to the autumn-winter crop production in 2024, the added production value will be very large (6 - 7 million VND/ha). Not to mention, the application of technical advances such as the model will help farmers and cooperative members protect the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions...

Mr. Le Van Dong, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tra Vinh, said: The province has registered to produce autumn-winter rice under the Project for more than 800 hectares. Thus, with the cultivation process according to the Project, it will help cooperative members and farmers have an added value of more than 5 billion VND thanks to saving production costs, such as the amount of seeds reduced by 90 - 100 kg/ha compared to traditional production; the number of spraying times is only 2 times/crop, the amount of chemical fertilizer is reduced by about 30%...

Representative of one of the units participating in the pilot model at Tien Thuan Cooperative (Can Tho City), Mr. Phan Van Tam - Deputy General Director of Binh Dien Fertilizer Joint Stock Company said that the model uses very low input costs so farmers have more profits. In particular, greenhouse gas emissions are greatly reduced thanks to removing straw from the field, burying manure and combining alternating flooding and drying.

To replicate the model on a large scale, Mr. Tam suggested that the media agencies promote information so that people know the correct information, so that farmers can support and follow it. "Currently, the farming techniques are basically complete, as long as farmers are unanimous, the model will be implemented more conveniently. Next is the strong participation of businesses that are strong enough and large enough for the project to go quickly and sustainably," Mr. Tam added.

The emission-reducing rice cultivation model at Tien Thuan Cooperative (Can Tho) uses certified rice varieties, mechanical sowing combined with burying fertilizer, alternating wet and dry irrigation, fertilizing according to specific areas (SSNM), integrated pest management (IPM), mechanical harvesting, and collecting straw from the field to make straw mushrooms or organic fertilizer. In the summer-autumn crop, rice yield reached 6.3 - 6.5 tons/ha, helping to reduce emissions by 2-6 tons of CO2e/ha compared to the control field. Photo: Huynh Xay

With the initial positive results of the pilot models, with the excitement and support of many farming households and rice cooperatives in the region, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has agreed with localities to continue to replicate sustainable rice farming models, reducing emissions in all 12 provinces of the Mekong Delta and apply them immediately in the autumn-winter crop of 2024 and winter-spring crop of 2024-2025.

Along with that, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has issued a Capacity Building Plan for partners, with about 620 agricultural cooperatives developing value chain linkages and nearly 200,000 farming households in the region implementing the Project.

Establish a Fund to support the implementation of the 1 million hectare rice project

In addition to the positive results achieved, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has also reported to the Prime Minister on a number of contents to remove difficulties and obstacles of the Project. Because Vietnam is the first country to implement the large-scale emission reduction rice production program, the activities and contents are all new and unprecedented for reference in terms of policy mechanisms, implementation methods, organization and resource mobilization. There are also different opinions on the necessity and effectiveness of the Project, many farmers are not interested in participating in the Project...

At the conference to discuss solutions to promote the implementation of the 1 million hectare rice project held on the afternoon of October 15 in Can Tho, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan said that the ultimate goal of the project is to help people reduce input costs, increase income during harvest and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, achieving this result will take a long time.

In addition to the support of central ministries and branches, the impact of policies, according to Mr. Hoan, requires more initiative from localities in the Mekong Delta. Mr. Hoan also said that the 1 million hectare rice project currently being implemented is the beginning for future emission reduction projects in other areas of the agricultural sector.

Chairing the conference to deploy the 1 million hectare rice project in Can Tho on October 15, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that we must "breathe new life" into the agricultural sector, especially the rice sector in the Mekong Delta, the country's largest agricultural production region. Photo: Huynh Xay

Chairing this Conference, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh acknowledged the efforts of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and 12 localities in the Mekong Delta region to implement the Project and achieve some initial results. The Prime Minister emphasized that this is a very meaningful Project for farmers in the Mekong Delta region, for the rice industry and for the task of responding to climate change, aiming at the goal of safety from natural disasters, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, bringing net emissions to "0" in accordance with Vietnam's commitment at the COP26 Conference.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh directed the establishment of a fund to support 1 million hectares of rice to have an immediate budget for 2025. This includes state capital, capital from selling carbon credits, support capital from partners, socialized capital... The purpose of establishing the fund is to have a source of capital for quick use, without having to go through many procedures.

Regarding planning, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Ministry of Planning and Investment and localities must study how to create a long-term and stable raw material area. During the implementation process, the entire political system must be mobilized to participate, bringing science and technology to the raw material area, to create rice grains that meet the high-quality segment, moving towards a world-famous brand.

"The project of 1 million hectares of high-quality rice, in the spirit of saying it must be done, doing it must produce results..." - Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnam produces about 43 - 45 million tons of rice annually, equivalent to 26 - 28 million tons of rice. In particular, the Mekong Delta is the main rice granary of Vietnam with stable rice output in recent years of about 24 - 25 million tons, accounting for over 50% of rice production and contributing over 90% of the country's rice export output.

In 2023, in addition to meeting domestic consumption needs, our country exported 8.1 million tons of rice, earning 4.6 billion USD.

Source: https://danviet.vn/nhung-doi-thay-sau-hoi-nghi-thu-tuong-doi-thoai-voi-nong-dan-2023-niem-vui-tu-de-an-1-trieu-ha-lua-bai-3-20241027011237758.htm