'Father' of ST25 rice talks about linking low-emission rice farmers in rice-shrimp areas

Mr. Ho Quang Cua - the 'father' of the 'world's best' ST25 rice variety - said that the process of drying the fields three times plus using microbiological products on the rice-shrimp land in the Ca Mau peninsula has helped reduce emissions significantly.

Mr. Ho Quang Cua shared at the workshop - Photo: CHI QUOC

On September 5, at Can Tho University, a workshop was held on "Solutions to support the project of 1 million hectares of high-quality, low-emission rice in the Mekong Delta".

At the workshop, engineer Ho Quang Cua - the "father" of the " world's best" ST25 rice - shared the story of how he coordinated with farmers to grow ST25 rice on rice-shrimp land to reduce emissions.

According to Mr. Cua, the rice-shrimp growing area that he cooperates with farmers in the Ca Mau peninsula (formerly Ca Mau, Bac Lieu and Kien Giang ) is up to 150,000 hectares and if participating in the project of 1 million hectares of high-quality, low-emission rice, it will account for 15% of the project area.

To participate in this rice-shrimp area, farmers must follow the field drying technique in 3 stages including: the drying stage to wash away the salt before sowing rice to ensure that the rice is firm when harvested; the mid-season drying stage and the drying stage before harvest (usually 10 days before harvest).

"With these three drying times, we will meet the emission standards according to the criteria of the 1 million hectares of high-quality, low-emission rice project, in a maximum and positive way," said Mr. Cua.

In addition, Mr. Cua also informed that to participate in the rice cultivation cooperation program with him, farmers must also accept to use organic products from many sources such as Can Tho University, Mekong Delta Rice Institute, imported sources from Japan, America... Including using Japanese organic fertilizers which are cheap (more than 2 million VND/ton) but meet standards, help reduce odors and make rice grains more fragrant.

Mr. Cua affirmed that each stage and each process mentioned above reduces greenhouse gas emissions, in which the 3-time drying technique basically reduces greenhouse gas emissions, while reducing the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides also helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and if these factors are measured and synthesized, greenhouse gas emissions will be greatly reduced.

Mr. Le Thanh Tung, former Deputy Director of the Department of Crop Production (Ministry of Agriculture and Environment), said that in current rice production, much focus is still placed on food security and economic growth but not much attention is paid to food safety and emission reduction because these factors will build the brand, trust and reputation of Vietnamese rice both domestically and for export.

There is also a lack of mechanisms to promote and encourage farmers to produce low-emission rice. "There are opinions asking if rice cultivation with reduced emissions is more delicious? Of course, in terms of quality and taste, it is not better, but in terms of spirit, it is more delicious and the current trend is to eat something that people feel responsible for more than delicious food, that is a modern, civilized trend," said Mr. Tung.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/cha-de-gao-st25-noi-ve-viec-lien-ket-nong-dan-trong-lua-phat-thai-thap-o-vung-lua-tom-20250905191201192.htm