That was the statement of Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam at the conference to review the implementation of the first 7 pilot models of the Project on Sustainable Development of 1 million hectares of high-quality, low-emission rice associated with green growth in the Mekong Delta region by 2030 (Project) chaired by the Ministry.
Look at the numbers that the 7 pilot models brought after the first crop: Input costs decreased by 10-15%. Including a 40-50% reduction in the amount of seeds to sow; a 30-40% reduction in the amount of nitrogen fertilizer; a 3-4 reduction in the amount of pesticide spraying; a 30-40% reduction in the amount of irrigation water. The production cost of 1 kg of rice decreased by 7-20% and the profit was 12-20% higher than outside the model. And the most important thing: All models have businesses associated with purchasing rice, some models have contracts with businesses to purchase rice at a higher price than outside the model.
Thus, 9 months since the Project was launched, there have been the first "sweet fruits" whose main beneficiaries are the pioneer farmers participating in the pilot.
Back in December 2023, right after the Project was officially launched, information about growing high-quality, low-emission rice that could benefit from selling carbon credits attracted great attention. Attractive, because "selling air" is unprecedented in Vietnam, especially just a few months later, Vietnam received the first 50 million USD from selling carbon credits, which made many localities with large green areas start to participate in this new market.
However, at that time, in a talk show on Lao Dong Newspaper about this Project, Professor Vo Tong Xuan especially emphasized the reorganization of the production system to reduce costs, reduce fertilizers and pesticides, increase profits and especially reorganize the sustainable link between enterprises and rice growers.
Earning money from selling carbon credits, especially selling carbon credits from rice cultivation to reduce emissions, is a very happy thing. But after all, for the 1 million hectares of high-quality rice project to be truly effective, more than anyone else, those who make it must also enjoy a high-quality life. At least, farmers do not have to worry about traders abandoning their deposits or the fluctuating rice prices that happened so often in the last Winter-Spring crop or the current Summer-Autumn crop. At least, farmers do not have to look at the golden ripe rice fields and worry about whether they will have enough to pay for fertilizer or not...
That is what farmers were relieved to see when participating in the pilot project. However, 7 models with more than 300 hectares of pilot is only a very small number for the first crop. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's plan to expand to 200,000 hectares in the next Winter-Spring crop is only a few percent of the total area of nearly 4 million hectares of rice land nationwide. What is necessary is that from the pilot results, the agricultural sector will research and propose solutions so that millions of farmers can not only survive, but also live well with their fields. Only then will the goal of maintaining 3.5 million hectares of rice according to Conclusion No. 81-KL/TW of the Politburo, Resolution No. 34/NQ-CP of the Government, Resolution No. 39/2021/QH15 of the National Assembly truly be effective and sustainable.
