AWD suitability mapping towards low emission rice production in Vietnam

Dr. Bjorn Ole Sander of IRRI Vietnam handing over the AWD suitability to Dr. Le Thanh Tung of DCP-MARD in a turnover ceremony.

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) works with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) to promote low emission rice production technologies in Vietnam. This is through adopting and scaling out different mitigation options such as alternate wetting and drying (AWD).

The AWD technology, developed by IRRI, addresses the twin problems of adaptation and mitigation through efficient water management. This water-saving approach enables rice farmers to save up on irrigation water by up to 30% and reduces methane emissions by 30-70% without a yield penalty. The outscaling of AWD in Vietnam is also supported by CCAFS and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition.

Following the successful application of AWD in An Giang province, one of the largest rice producing provinces in the Mekong River Delta (MRD), IRRI and MARD jointly organized the workshop: “Low emission rice production in MRD” in An Giang province to disseminate the results and promote replication to other areas.

During the activity, Dr. Bjoern Ole Sander, the IRRI country representative to Vietnam, and Dr. Leo Sebastian, the regional program leader of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) in Southeast Asia, officially handed over the An Giang AWD suitability maps to the DARD officials. The map was highly regarded by Mr. Le Thanh Tung, Deputy Director of the Department of Crop Production of MARD. During his talk, he emphasized that wider adoption of AWD will contribute to “sustainable rice production and better livelihoods of farmers in the MRD region”, as well as the global environment in general.

Acknowledging the benefits of AWD suitability mapping methodology in provincial climate-smart agriculture planning, representatives of 11 provincial DARDs discussed the ways forward in utilizing the suitability maps in their areas, including the barriers for AWD adoption and solutions to address them. They also identified potential rice production areas in their respective provinces to apply full AWD on about 647,000ha in the MRD. The group expressed their interest of implementing the mapping activities in their localities with technical support from IRRI.

The workshop was attended by more than 60 participants representing MARD, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) of An Giang and other 10 MRD provinces, local government research institutes, and universities

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