Project of 1 million hectares of high-quality, low-emission rice - Revolution on the fields: For the project to achieve sustainable effectiveness

For the project to achieve sustainable effectiveness

After more than 1 year of implementation, the Project to develop 1 million hectares of high-quality and low-emission rice cultivation associated with green growth in the Mekong Delta by 2030 has begun to spread positive effects. However, according to the assessment of many experts and managers, for the project to truly create a push to transform the growth model for the rice industry from quantity to quality, from spontaneous to organized, from high emissions to green development, a system of synchronous, drastic and in-depth solutions is needed.

Initial positive signals

According to the Department of Agriculture and Environment, following the plan, the project will be implemented in 2 phases. Phase 1 (2024-2025) will focus on achieving 60,000 hectares of rice cultivation area in the Vietnam Sustainable Agricultural Transformation Project (VnSat) and the province's high-tech rice area.

Phase 2 (2026-2030) will continue to expand to 125,000 hectares in the districts of Tan Hung, Vinh Hung, Moc Hoa, Tan Thanh, Thanh Hoa, Thu Thua and Kien Tuong town (with 62 communes and 50,800 participating households).

Cay Trom Agricultural Trade Service Cooperative (Hung Dien A Commune, Vinh Hung District) drying rice at the warehouse

The goal of the project by 2030 is to reduce the amount of rice seeds sown to less than 70kg/hectare, reduce 30% of chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides, and 20% of irrigation water compared to traditional farming. In addition, post-harvest losses are less than 8%; 100% of straw in specialized areas is collected from the fields and processed for reuse; greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by more than 10% compared to traditional rice farming; the profit margin of rice farmers is more than 50%.

According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, in the 2024-2025 Winter-Spring crop, the province will deploy 8 pilot models and the districts will deploy 5 pilot models with a total area of ​​268 hectares. The models have synchronously applied advanced farming processes, alternate wetting and drying, using certified varieties, organic microbial fertilizers, integrated pest management and electronic production diary.

The average yield in the models reached 6.8-7.2 tons/hectare, an increase of 0.4-0.6 tons/hectare compared to outside the model. In particular, input costs were reduced by 1.2-1.6 million VND/hectare, the amount of nitrogen fertilizer was reduced by 20-30%, and pesticides were reduced by up to 40%. The application of alternate wetting and drying helps reduce the amount of irrigation water by about 25-30%, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment - Dinh Thi Phuong Khanh assessed: “The initial success of the project is to change farmers' farming awareness from following traditional practices to following techniques, from doing it alone to reorganizing production. More importantly, the project has created a new ecosystem, where businesses, scientists, technicians and farmers operate together in a chain”.

However, the initial results are still in the nature of a pilot model, the implementation area is still limited, the linkage is not sustainable, the infrastructure and support mechanisms are not yet synchronized. Many practical difficulties are still obstacles that prevent the project from being able to replicate as quickly as expected.

Currently, Long An province has 252 agricultural cooperatives, but only about 40% are qualified to participate in the production chain as required by the project (having technical staff, keeping production diaries, having the capacity to organize production and consumption). Most cooperatives still operate at a basic level, lacking capital, specialized human resources, recording and traceability equipment.

According to Director of Go Gon Agricultural Service Cooperative (Hung Thanh Commune, Tan Hung District) - Truong Huu Tri, if cooperatives want to play the role of intermediary in organizing production, there must be appropriate investment. Currently, many cooperatives still have to manage each crop, do not have working capital to purchase rice for people, lack harvesting machinery and warehouses, so it is difficult to maintain prices.

On the other hand, many businesses are still not ready to sign long-term contracts with cooperatives due to concerns about risks from farmers (not ensuring technical standards, selling rice outside). Meanwhile, farmers are also hesitant about joint contracts because they have been scammed or have unstable purchasing prices.

The need to operate synchronous solutions

To overcome the bottlenecks and bring the project into a deep and wide implementation phase, creating a real impact on restructuring the rice industry, many solutions are being actively promoted by ministries, branches and localities. In particular, strengthening and improving the quality of cooperatives is considered one of the key tasks. This is the place to connect farmers, reorganize production, connect with businesses and markets, and at the same time be a representative unit to access support policies and apply technical advances.

In addition, localities have increased the transfer of science and technology, bringing advances to the fields to help farmers change backward farming practices, towards efficient, safe production, saving inputs and reducing emissions. Investing in modern production infrastructure, especially irrigation systems, intra-field transportation, storage and processing facilities, is also a necessary condition to reduce post-harvest losses and improve product quality.

Another important direction is to link production with the market and deep processing, not just stopping at the cultivation stage. This is a factor that ensures the sustainability and competitiveness of the rice industry. The application of digitalization and the construction of a transparent monitoring system are also proposed as a fundamental solution in the context of increasingly strict demands for traceability and information transparency from the international market.

According to Ms. Dinh Thi Phuong Khanh, up to this point, the pilot models implemented by the province and district have all brought positive results. This is an important basis for DA to be able to quickly replicate in the coming time, especially when there has been strong participation from authorities at all levels and consensus from farmers.

“Currently, the department is focusing on completing the plan contents, especially the components participating in the project with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment such as the component on infrastructure investment; selecting models to deploy in the Summer-Autumn crop 2025; etc, to coordinate the calculation of emission reduction according to the direction of the ministry. Particularly in the remaining months of 2025, the department focuses on transferring science and technology to farmers, in which, paying attention to reducing the amount of seeds sown and removing straw from the fields" - Ms. Dinh Thi Phuong Khanh informed.

Not just numbers or area, the project is also a process of redesigning the entire rice industry ecosystem from policies, infrastructure, science and technology, production organization to market and people. All of these factors need to operate synchronously, with close coordination between the central and local levels, between ministries, branches and enterprises, cooperatives and farmers.

Speaking at the conference to launch the project, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee - Nguyen Minh Lam affirmed: "The project is an opportunity for Long An to transform itself into a modern green rice production center. The province will focus all resources, from planning raw material areas, training human resources to infrastructure, markets and policies; consider this a key political task of the agricultural sector from now until 2030."

In addition to material factors, the human factor, specifically the team of agricultural staff, cooperative staff, farmers and enterprises also plays a decisive role. Changing awareness, improving production capacity and the ability to cooperate between entities in the value chain will determine the real success of the project in the long term.

The success of the project is not simply increasing output or reducing production costs, but also aiming to form a new agricultural production system that is environmentally friendly, more economically efficient and sustainable. Only then will the project truly become a strategic driving force in the restructuring process of Vietnam's rice industry in the era of green growth and climate change adaptation./.

By Staffs - Translated by Q. Thien

Source: https://baolongan.vn/de-an-1-trieu-hecta-lua-chat-luong-cao-phat-thai-thap-cuoc-cach-mang-tren-dong-ruong-de-de-an-dat-hieu-qua-ben-vung-bai-cuoi--a196199.html