On April 9, in Can Tho City, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MONRE) held a conference to review 1 year of implementing the Project "Sustainable development of 1 million hectares of high-quality and low-emission rice cultivation associated with green growth in the Mekong Delta (MD) by 2030" (referred to as the Project).
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Do Duc Duy, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam, Permanent Vice Chairman of Can Tho City People's Committee Duong Tan Hien chaired the conference.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, 7 central-level pilot models in the 5 provinces of Kien Giang, Soc Trang, Tra Vinh, Dong Thap and Can Tho have helped reduce production costs by 8.2 - 24.2%, thanks to a 30 - 50% reduction in seed output, a savings of 30 - 70 kg of fertilizer/ha, a 1 - 4 reduction in spraying pesticides and a 30 - 40% reduction in irrigation water. At the same time, productivity increased by 2.4 - 7%, helping to increase farmers' income by 12 - 50%, equivalent to an increase of 4 - 7.6 million VND/ha compared to traditional farming. More importantly, the model has contributed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, with an average reduction of 2 - 12 tons of CO2 equivalent per hectare.
Speaking at the opening of the conference, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Do Duc Duy said that in the context of increasingly severe climate change, clean, green and sustainable production has become a trend and an inevitable requirement.
After more than 1 year of implementation, the Project has gradually affirmed its correctness, necessity and initially brought remarkable results in transforming the agricultural sector towards modernity, sustainability and adaptation to climate change.
2025 is an important year, a year of acceleration, breakthrough, and completion of the 5-year plan for socio-economic development and the plan for the development of the agricultural and forestry sector. The NN&MT industry was assigned the highest growth target ever of 4%.
According to data published by the General Statistics Office, in the first quarter of 2025, the GDP growth rate of the agricultural sector reached 3.74%, the highest level since 2019.
Of which, the total industry's production value increased by 3.7%, cultivation increased by 2.98%, livestock increased by 4.55%, forestry increased by 6.67% and seafood increased by 3.98%. Agricultural, forestry and fishery exports reached 15.72 billion USD, up 13.1% over the same period.
These are important premises towards a growth target of 4% and agricultural, forestry and fishery exports reaching 65 billion USD in 2025. Contributing significantly to the above growth results is the results of the 1 million ha Project.
At the conference, delegates focused on discussing and evaluating objectively and comprehensively the results achieved in 1 year of implementing the Project; Proposing solutions to continue raising awareness, creating consensus from local authorities at all levels to each farming household, cooperative, and enterprise in implementing the Project.
In particular, propose solutions to improve capacity and create a support mechanism for cooperatives to play a central role in organizing production, purchasing and consuming products; share good experiences, effective models, and creative ways through the practical implementation of the Project to select solutions to expand rice production areas according to sustainable farming processes.
