Can Tho (VNS/VNA) - Moving to low-carbon rice production offersthe highest potential for Vietnam to meet its goal of cutting methane emissionsby 30% by 2030 while boosting the competitiveness of a strategic export item, anew World Bank report says.

The report, titled “Spearheading Vietnam’s Green Agricultural Transformation:Moving to Low-Carbon Rice,” suggests that Vietnam can transform the rice sectorby cutting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, improving resource efficiency andyields, boosting resilience, and diversifying production.

Such transformation will require significant investment and major policyreforms to align incentives and coordinate behaviours of stakeholders at alllevels.

“The agricultural sector, despite all its successes, is an importantcontributor to GHG emissions in Vietnam,” said Carolyn Turk, World Bank CountryDirector for Vietnam, during the launch of the report in the “IntegratedClimate Resilience and Sustainable Development of the Mekong Delta” workshop,co-organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the WorldBank in the Mekong Delta City of Can Tho on September 23.

“It has reached a point where a transition to lower-carbon modes of farming isimperative - the longer it takes to switch, the higher the costs will be.Experience suggests that government has a catalytic role to play in driving thegreen transition through strategic allocation of public investment andstrengthening the enabling environment for private sector participation in amodern, green agriculture sector,” she noted.

Rice, which is Vietnam’s most important crop and grown on more than half of itsagricultural land area, accounts for 48% of the agriculture sector’s GHGemissions and over 75% of methane emissions.

Based on conservative estimates, improving water management and optimisingapplication of inputs such as seeds, fertilisers, and pesticide can helpfarmers maintain or increase yields by 5 to 10% and reduce input costs by 20 to30%, thereby boosting net profits by around 25%.

More importantly, these improved techniques would also help cut GHG emissionsby up to 30%.

Such approaches were successfully piloted in over 184,000 ha of rice farmingunder the "Vietnam Sustainable Agriculture Transformation" Projectfinanced by the World Bank.

“These methods have been proven effective,” said Benoît Bosquet, World BankRegional Director for Sustainable Development in East Asia Pacific. “If we canscale them up in the whole agricultural sector, they will help Vietnam progresstowards its 2050 net-zero greenhouse gas emissions target.”

The report highlights five short- to medium-term policy areas to accelerate thetransition to low-carbon agriculture, including ensuring policy coherence andplan-budget alignment, repurposing policy tools and public expenditures,promoting public investments, strengthening institutions, and enabling theprivate sector and other stakeholders to participate.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan said localities inthe region must be active in implementing integrated Mekong planning,especially in the field of agriculture.

The most important thing is to “get rid of the output-first mindset”, and movetowards a profitable approach through sustainable livelihood models for ricefarmers, helping people increase their income per unit area.

“In the face of climate change, changing market trends and agriculturaldevelopment directions, it is necessary to have well-oiled coordination betweenlocal authorities, scientists, businesses and farmers,” the ministerstressed./.