National Agricultural Extension Center and Bayer Company awarded international prize for innovation in rice cultivation

The GovMedia Conference and Awards Ceremony celebrates outstanding public-private partnership projects in Asian countries that have had positive impacts on local communities.

This award is a recognition of the success and positive impact of the ForwardFarming sustainable rice farming project that the two parties have jointly implemented in the Mekong Delta region. This is a prestigious award marking the successful journey of the ForwardFarming model - Sustainable rice farming towards the future since its implementation in Vietnam.

The Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Award in the agricultural sector is considered a prestigious award marking the success of the ForwardFarming model.

The ForwardFarming initiative was launched in September 2023 in partnership with the National Agricultural Extension Center and Bayer Vietnam. The initiative focuses on promoting sustainable rice cultivation through the implementation of progressive farming practices, advanced plant protection and seed treatment solutions, combined with technical training for farmers.

The National Agricultural Extension Center and Bayer Company were honored to receive the Public-Private Partnership Award in the agricultural sector with the ForwardFarming initiative.

Three rice crops implemented on the experimental field model have continuously achieved positive results: yield increased by 13.5%, reduced irrigation water and input materials, reduced emissions during cultivation by 24.7% and improved soil quality indicators. In addition, the project also focuses on improving farmers' capacity and knowledge of sustainable farming through many training programs.

To date, more than 4,500 farmers in Can Tho, An Giang, and Kien Giang have been instructed and transferred knowledge on high-quality rice cultivation, effective, safe, and responsible use of pesticides, and application of emission reduction measures in farming appropriate to farming practices and local conditions.

Mr. Le Quoc Thanh - Director of the National Agricultural Extension Center, representative of Bayer Vietnam Company and partners discussed with delegates about the ForwardFarming model.

At the ceremony, Mr. Mateus Barros - Director of Crop Science, East Asia & Pakistan, Bayer Company shared: We appreciate and are grateful for the cooperation and companionship of the National Agricultural Extension Center and other partners in the ForwardFarming project.

"This meaningful award marks the 30th anniversary of Bayer's operations in Vietnam, and is also a motivation for us to continue promoting our strengths in the agricultural sector, expanding cooperation in the rice production value chain, promoting research and development activities, focusing on regenerative agricultural solutions, to bring positive and sustainable changes to Vietnam's agriculture," said Mr. Mateus Barros.

The results of the ForwardFarming model on experimental fields show increased rice yield, reduced input materials, and improved sustainability indicators.

With the goal of expanding the scale of the ForwardFarming project, Bayer Company and the National Agricultural Extension Center have discussed and proposed a number of development plans, specifically including: Continuing to research and develop technologies and solutions to help increase the yield and quality of rice production, reduce emissions in farming; expanding the network of strategic partners; increasing training activities for farmers in provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta region. Thereby, gradually improving farmers' lives while contributing to the goal of building 1 million hectares of sustainable, high-quality, low-emission rice.

The GovMedia Conference and Awards Ceremony aims to honor outstanding projects that combine the public and private sectors in Asian countries to bring positive impacts to local communities. This year's awards ceremony honored 23 business organizations and government agencies from many countries for their large-scale collaborative projects. These projects mainly focus on enhancing community capacity, improving the operational efficiency of organizations to achieve positive, far-reaching and highly applicable and widespread transformations.

Source: https://danviet.vn/trung-tam-khuyen-nong-quoc-gia-va-cong-ty-bayer-duoc-trao-gia-thuong-quoc-te-nho-sang-kien-trong-trong-lua-20240711162654108.htm