Vietnam Promotes Low-Emission Rice Farming to Boost Green Growth

Vietnam is focusing on the nationwide expansion of low-emission rice farming models to reduce environmental impact and promote sustainable agriculture. This initiative is central to the country's "green growth" strategy, aiming to balance climate change adaptation with agricultural productivity enhancement. A forum organized by the National Agricultural Extension Center (under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) in Nghe An province on September 22 discussed "Expanding Low-Emission Rice Farming Models and Green Growth." The forum aimed to explore concrete measures to promote the adoption of low-emission rice farming models and maximize their economic and environmental benefits. Low-emission rice cultivation is expected not only to reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional farming but also to contribute to the production of high-quality rice and, consequently, to increased farmer incomes. However, its widespread adoption faces barriers such as technical challenges, the burden of initial investment, and insufficient information dissemination to farmers. The Mekong Delta region in southern Vietnam, a major rice-producing area, plays a crucial role in the dissemination of these low-emission rice farming models. There are already moves in the region to develop it from a pilot phase into a production area for high-quality, low-emission rice. By replicating successful models nationwide, the Vietnamese government intends to enhance the sustainability of the entire agricultural sector and strengthen its contribution to international climate change mitigation efforts. This can be seen as an indication of Vietnam's ambition to establish itself as a model case in the international community for balancing economic growth with environmental protection.