The challenge of emission reduction in rice production

In the implementation of the Project on sustainable development of 1 million hectares of high-quality rice cultivation associated with green growth in the Mekong Delta, the issue of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in rice production is receiving attention and efforts from localities. However, this is a new direction with many challenges in aspects such as: innovation in production thinking, application of science and technology and mobilization of investment capital...

According to a World Bank report, agriculture is the second highest emitting sector, accounting for about 19% of total national emissions in 2020; of which, about 48% of agricultural emissions and more than 75% of methane emissions come from rice.

Greening rice production

Studies show that the main causes of increased greenhouse gas emissions in rice production in Vietnam include: unsustainable agricultural intensification; high fertilizer rates and water use for irrigation; improper management of rice residues such as straw and chaff; inefficient use of energy in agriculture, etc.

Therefore, to reduce emissions in rice cultivation, it is necessary to effectively address these bottlenecks. In fact, in Vietnam, advanced production programs have been gradually applied in recent times to green rice cultivation.

Specifically, the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is an ecological rice cultivation method that brings high efficiency and productivity, reduces greenhouse gas emissions based on technical impacts to reduce input costs such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and saves irrigation water. The impact techniques include: transplanting young seedlings, single-crop transplanting, sparse transplanting, water management, weeding, mud aeration, and organic fertilizer application.

Ms. Duong Thi Nga, Deputy Director of the Northern Plant Protection Center, said: From 2016 to 2020, 17 provinces implemented 1,192 SRI models with the participation of more than 4 million farming households, with an applied area of about 300,000 hectares each year.

The effectiveness of SRI application in Vietnam shows that the amount of seeds is reduced by 70-90%; the use of chemicals is reduced by 70-100%; irrigation water is saved; pests and diseases are reduced; rice plants are more resistant to lodging; rice productivity is increased; production costs are reduced by an average of 342 to 520 VND/kg of rice...

Specifically, in Bac Kan province, depending on the variety, field and level of application (full or partial), the average rice yield increased by 10-20%, equivalent to an increase of 3.2 million to 5.8 million VND/ha/crop.

According to calculations, if 100% of the province's pure rice area applied SRI, the amount of money saved from saving rice seeds and increasing productivity alone would reach 18.2 billion VND per year. In addition, saving water and increasing the use of organic fertilizers also directly impact the environment, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and aim for comprehensive low-emission rice production.

Not only localities, many businesses operating in the field of rice production, processing and export are also promoting the process of growing and processing rice with low emission certification.

With the goal of "Sustainable development with farmers", Loc Troi Group Joint Stock Company has applied drone technology to reduce the amount of water used when spraying, spraying, and irrigating; used solar energy in production, researched and developed a set of crop protection products that balance three elements: organic-biological-chemical, aiming to reduce 1 million liters of chemicals dumped on Vietnamese fields each year; produced according to SRP standards (sustainable rice production standards); implemented a carbon credit cooperation plan in the future.

Combining solutions

At the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) in 2021 held in Glasgow, Scotland (UK), Vietnam made a commitment to strive to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Recently, at the 4th Global Conference on Sustainable Food Systems, Vietnam also set the goal of becoming a country that produces and supplies transparent-responsible-sustainable food, meeting national food security requirements and contributing to world food security. Therefore, reducing greenhouse gas emissions in rice cultivation at this time is becoming more and more necessary.

According to Mr. Tran Minh Hai - Vice Principal of the School of Public Policy and Rural Development, in order to develop high-quality rice cultivation areas and reduce emissions, it is necessary to prioritize the development and application of science and technology in areas such as: creating new varieties that meet the requirements of the export and domestic consumption markets, have high nutritional value, and adapt to climate change; popularizing good production processes integrated with high technology and digital technology; selecting and establishing synchronous mechanization models for rice production; developing transparent management system applications using block chain for the rice value chain; developing and applying technology to use and recycle rice by-products (straw, husks) and deep processing from bran and rice materials.

In addition to technology issues, it is necessary to cooperate with international organizations such as the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to receive financial, policy and technical support for the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in rice production, building a measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop a carbon credit market in specialized rice farming areas.

This investment cooperation is necessary because the cost of converting to low-emission rice cultivation is quite high. A typical example of this cooperation is the Vietnam Sustainable Agricultural Transformation Project (VnSAT) funded by the International Development Association (IDA), implemented from 2015 to 2022. The project has supported more than 240,000 rice farmers to apply the “alternate wet-dry” and “1 must 5 reduction” irrigation methods on an area of about 163,418 hectares.

Accordingly, the input level in rice cultivation has been reduced such as: reducing the use of pesticides, fertilizers, water; reducing post-harvest losses by 20-30%; increasing rice yield by 3-4%; increasing selling price by 5-10% and boosting net profit by 28%, mainly due to reducing production costs. The project has helped reduce emissions of nearly 1.5 million tons of greenhouse gases.

It is expected that when the Project on sustainable development of 1 million hectares of high-quality rice cultivation associated with green growth in the Mekong Delta is widely developed, the area of low-emission rice cultivation will also be multiplied, with the goal that in addition to selling high-quality rice, Vietnam can sell carbon credits on the global carbon market.

According to the World Bank report, Vietnam will need to invest 515 USD/ha to meet the emission reduction target for the medium scenario and up to about 3,890 USD/ha for the high scenario by 2030.

Although the costs are significant, the long-term net benefits are positive. This comes from a variety of benefits, including reduced greenhouse gas emissions, water savings, reduced production costs, reduced air and water pollution, etc.

In addition, many other savings are also achieved from modernizing infrastructure in the rice value chain.

Furthermore, promoting sustainable low-carbon rice cultivation has the potential to improve food safety, improve grain quality by reducing chemical residues, and reduce water pollution. In value terms, these savings are likely to far exceed the estimated investment costs.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/thach-thuc-ve-giam-phat-thai-trong-san-xuat-lua-post752449.html

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