Vietnam ministry proposes expanding low-emission rice scheme across entire Mekong Delta

The proposal was announced on Thursday at a conference on World Food Day and cooperation in implementing the scheme, jointly organized by the ministry and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, deputy head of the Department of Plant Production and Protection, said more than 420,000 hectares of rice had been cultivated under the scheme after three years of implementation.

The scheme has initially established concentrated raw-material areas, linked production with consumption, and applied farming techniques to reduce input costs and emissions, Huong said.

It has also begun developing a 'green, low-emission Vietnamese rice' brand, with the first shipments exported to Japan, Australia, and Singapore, she added.

However, the scheme still faces difficulties involving mechanisms and policies, infrastructure, access to credit, and the mobilization of international resources, Huong said.

The ministry has therefore submitted the proposed revisions to the government, including expanding the scheme from one million hectares to around 1.6 million hectares across the Mekong Delta and removing participation criteria to enable all cooperatives, farmers, businesses, and international partners to join.

Huong called on international organizations to work with the ministry to shift from supporting individual pilot models to standardizing, integrating and scaling up the models to improve the effectiveness of investment and support.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Nguyen Hoang Hiep said the new direction was not intended to change the scheme's objectives but to shift from developing models to expanding them and implementing them in a coordinated manner.

Hiep said the scheme must bring about substantive changes to the rice sector.

Its success should be measured not only by the cultivated area but also by rice quality and value, farmers' incomes, production efficiency, verifiable emission reductions, and the competitiveness of the rice sector.

He said farmers must be at the center of all activities.

Businesses should serve as the driving force, and science and technology should provide the foundation.

He added that farmers could not bear the costs alone, particularly those related to emission reductions and market risks.

Hiep called on units under the ministry to coordinate in reviewing their tasks and action plans so work could begin immediately after the government approves the proposed adjustments.

Describing the scheme as a key project for the ministry through 2030, he called for the sector to focus its resources and efforts on building a national brand for green, low-emission rice from the Mekong Delta.

At the conference, Australian Consul General Kate Wallace reaffirmed the Australian government's commitment to supporting the scheme.

She said the 'Transforming Rice Value Chains for Climate Resilient and Sustainable Development in the Mekong Delta' (TRVC), supported by Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade through SNV Vietnam, had achieved positive results.

The project has applied the 4043 process across approximately 240,000 hectares, directly contributing to the implementation of the scheme.

The project's demonstration models have provided valuable experience for expanding high-quality, low-emission rice production in the Mekong Delta, she added.