GREEN AGRICULTURE IN VIETNAMCase of rice sector in Mekong river delta

Green Inclusive Growth Conference SEA

Siemriep, 25-26 March 2014

Nguyen Anh Phong

Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development

INTRODUCTION• During last decades, Vietnam's economy grown mainly

based on the exploitation of natural resources inefficiently by outdated technologies, which created more waste and pollution

• Decision 1393/QD-TTg (Sept 2012) of PM approved "The national strategy for green growth in the 2011-2020 period and vision to 2050”

• The Mekong Delta has best comparative advantage in agriculture and aquaculture production in Vietnam

• The Mekong Delta has developed a number of “green” agricultural production models. Can we scale up the green models as “green” development strategy in Mekong Delta?

Environmental pollution from agricultural production

• The over-used of fertilizers, plant protection chemicals and veterinary medicines is still fairly common

• Many agricultural by-products are not utilized effectively and discharged as wastes– 39.4 million tons of straw and million tons of rice husk (burned) – 2.47 million tons of sugar tops and leaves, 1.42 million tons of

bagasse,…

• Livestock and aquaculture are the largest sources of waste in rural areas.– About 40-70% of livestock solid waste is processed, and the rest are

discharged directly into the environment– Aquaculture in the Mekong Delta discharged nearly 500 million m3 of

sludge and waste annually

Food safety and bio-security

• Overused and lack of controlled of plant protection (prevalence of chronic toxic chemicals contamination in farmer is 18%)

• Inappropriate use of antibiotics and other chemicals (100% of farms are using veterinary drugs for prevention and treatment)

• Limited understanding of effects of pesticides and chemicals on the environment and health of farmers and sale agents

• Highly polluted environment of livestock production areas also cause negative effects to the surrounding ecological environment – 4.4% vegetables exceed maximum allowable concentrations of

pesticide-infected

– 30% livestock, poultry products exceed allowable concentrations of microbiological contamination

– 0.8% of aquaculture products contains chemical residues

– 6.7% seafood is biological contaminated

Quality of agricultural inputs

• 10% of 70 thousand tons of plant protection are of low quality

• Fake and poor quality fertilizers consumed mostly in Central Highlands, the Mekong Delta and Red River Delta (key agriculture areas of Vietnam)

– 64.3 % of samples in 2010 and 41.8 % of samples of fertilizers in 2011 failed to meet the standards

• Difficulties to control feed quality, especially in sale process

• Quality of agricultural input on market are unregulated and it has a strong influence on the efficiency of agricultural production and environmental protection

What is green development?• There are many concepts, but commonly include of three

main points:– Green Economy is an environment-friendly economy,

reducing greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate climate change effects.

– Green Economy is an economy with intensive development, using less fuel and strengthening the ecological industries and technological innovation.

– Green Economy is an economy with sustainable growth, poverty reduction and equitable development.

What is green agriculture development?

• Green and clean agriculture:– The synchronous application of processes, technologies that

use reasonably and save inputs for agricultural production, along with the efficient use of land, water resources, etc.

– Lessen greenhouse gas emissions through sustainable agricultural development.

– Enhance the competitiveness of agricultural products.– Develop processing technology and recycle by-products,

wastes, etc.– Ensure sustainability in all economic, social and

environmental pillars.

Green and clean agricultural production models for rice

Models Flower on rice field

Place My Thanh Nam Commune, Cai Lay District, Tien Giang Province

ContentsThe use of biological measures – growing flowers on rice bounds to attract natural enemies to destroy insects that harmful to rice (e.g. brown plant hoppers, rice leaf folder etc.)

Strength

• Reduce pesticide• Create ecological balance• Enhance landscape values for the field• Reducing environmental pollution and production costs • Improving income

Weakness

• Difficulties to develop on a large scale on the large fields and small dike systems.

• This model relies heavily on self-discipline of the farmers • It is lack of mechanisms to ensure the stability

MODELS 3 REDUCTION, 3 INCREASES

Place An Giang (2001)

Contents3 reductions: seed; N fertilizer, plant protection chems; and 3 increases: productivity and quality; economic efficiency, and health and environmental protection

Strength

• Average reduction of 94 kg seed / ha • Reduce of 11-13 kg nitrogen / ha• Reduce by 2.5 times for spraying pesticides• Reduce of one sprays time for disease• Increase yield by 0.1-0.5 tones / ha• The average profit increased by 2.25 million VND / ha

Weakness

• Inorganic fertilizer and pesticides decrease but not much, • Still use much water• Unstable • Different with GAP practices

Green and clean agricultural production models for rice

Models 1 MUST, 5 REDUCTION

Place An Giang (2006)

Contents 1 must: certified seed; 5 reduction: seed, N fertilizer, plant protection chems, water and harvest-post harvest losses

Strength

• Certified seed guarantee output quality • Costs reduced by 15-20%• profit increased by VND 4 mil/ha• 1M5R provides a foundation for applying VietGAP, GlobalGAP • Potential to lower carbon emissions due to AWD (alternate

wetting and drying) and N use based on LCC (leaf control chart) Reduce loss during and after harvest

Weakness

• Poor internal transport and irrigation systems, poorly leveled rice fields -> difficulties in water savings, combine harvestor

• Difficulty in introduced AWD in central pumping areas as of the agreement b/w cooperatives and famers signed before crop estabilshment

• Public investment in mass media for 1M5R may not be adequate • Famers still care about yield rather than costs and profits

Green and clean agricultural production models for rice

COMPARISON OF PROFITABILITY BETWEEN 2 PRACTICES

WS(n=66) SA(n=76)

1M5R Control Diff. 1M5R Control Diff.

Seed rate (kg/ha) 115.4 191 75.6 109.0 181.7 72.7

Nitrogen (kgN/ha) 103.7 127.2 23.5 103.5 125.1 21.6

Insecticide (sprays/crop) 1.4 3.8 2.4 1.1 3.5 2.4

Fungicide (sprays/crop) 2.7 3.7 1 3.1 4.6 1.5

Water use (pump/crop) 7 8.5 1.5 6.4 7.7 1.3

Lodging rice ratio(%) 4.9 15.9 11 6.8 17.7 10.9

Yield (tonnes/ha) 7.6 7.4 0.2 5.9 5.7 0.2

Production cost (VND/kg of rice)

2,490 3,134 644 3,418 4,053 635

Profit (mil VND/ha) 21.371 17.129 4.242 12.876 8.570 4.306

CH4 gas emissions in different practices

By products for higher value added and green production

• Straw: materials for mushroom, bio-ethanol, bio-coal, carbon credit (by reduction of straw fires)

• Husk: rice husk briquettes (coal), plywood• Broken rice: rice powder (noodle, cakes, confectioneries etc.)• Rice bran: extract Gamma Oryzanol for pharmaceutical

products, cosmetics, food supplements for anti-aging )

CONCLUSION

• Green application existed by market driven and incentives of stakeholders

• Green development would be in many apsects/ activities along the value chain of a agriculture commodity

• Need a strong linkage among stakeholders in value chain to sustain the green application

• Private sector would be “leading factor” for the green development of a agriculture product

• Need a support of public sector in providing public good and services and in creating suitable policy environment