- Vietnam, a major rice exporter, is aiming to transform its farming techniques by reducing emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas.
- Rice fields produce methane due to flooded conditions disrupting soil oxygenation, which makes up 8 percent of man-made methane emissions globally.
- The crop holds cultural and economic importance in Vietnam, with the Mekong Delta being an important area for rice production since the end of the Vietnam War.
There’s one thing that sets 60-year-old Vo Van Van’s rice fields in Long An province in southern Vietnam’s Mekong Delta apart from thousands of other emerald fields: It’s not completely flooded.
he and giant droneThe spread of its wings is like that of an eagle, flying overhead as organic fertilizer rains down on the knee-high paddy plants below.
Using less water and using drones to make fertilizer are new technologies that Van is trying out and that Vietnam hopes will help solve a paradox at the core of rice growing: The fine crop is not only vulnerable to climate change. It is sensitive, but also makes a special contribution to it.
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Rice should be grown separately from other crops and planted separately in flooded fields; Back-breaking, dirty work that requires a lot of labor and water, producing a lot of methane, a powerful planet-warming gas that can trap 80 times more heat in the atmosphere in the short term than carbon dioxide.
A large drone carrying fertilizer flies over rice fields in Vo Van Van in Long An province in southern Vietnam’s Mekong Delta on January 23, 2024. Using less water and using drones to make fertilizer are new technologies that Van is trying out, and Vietnam hopes to do. Help resolve a paradox at the core of rice growing: The capricious crop is not only sensitive to climate change, but also makes a unique contribution to it. (AP Photo/Jay C. Hong)
This is a problem unique to rice growing, as submerged fields prevent oxygen from entering the soil, creating conditions for methane-producing bacteria. According to a 2023 Food and Agriculture Organization report, rice fields contribute 8% of all man-made methane in the atmosphere.
Vietnam is the world’s third largest rice exporter, and the central importance of Vietnamese culture is evident in the Mekong Delta. The fertile patchwork of lush green fields surrounded by silvery waterways has helped prevent famine since the Vietnam War ended in 1975. Rice is not only the mainstay of most meals, it is considered a gift from the gods and is worshipped.
It is shaped into noodles and sheets and fermented into wine. In busy markets, motorcyclists take home 22-pound bags. Barges carry mountains of grain up and down the Mekong River. Rice grains are dried and hulled by machines, before they are packed for sale in factories lined from floor to ceiling with rice sacks.
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Van has been working with Loc Troi Group, one of Vietnam’s largest rice exporters, for the past two years using a different method of irrigation known as alternate wetting and drying, or AWD. It requires less water than traditional farming because their paddy fields are not constantly submerged. They also produce less methane.
Using drones to fertilize crops saves labor costs. with climate shocks Citing migration to cities, Van said it was difficult to find people to work in the fields. It also ensures that the exact amount of fertilizers is applied. Too much fertilizer causes soil to release nitrogen gases that warm the earth.
Once crops have been harvested, VAN no longer burns rice stalks – a major cause of air pollution in Vietnam and its neighbors as well as Thailand and India. Instead, it is collected by the Lok Troi Group for sale to other companies who use it as livestock feed and to grow straw mushrooms, a popular addition to stir-fries.
Vans provide benefits in a variety of ways. Its cost has reduced while its agricultural yield remains the same. The use of organic fertilizer enables them to sell in European markets where customers are willing to pay a premium for organic rice. The best part is that he has time to take care of his garden.
“I am growing jackfruit and coconut,” he said.
Nguyen Duy Thuan, CEO of Loc Troi Group, said these methods enable farmers to use 40% less rice seeds and 30% less water. The costs of pesticides, fertilizers and labor are also low. Thuan said Loc Troi – which exports to more than 40 countries, including Europe, Africa, the United States and Japan – is working with farmers to increase acreage using his methods from the current 100 hectares to 300,000 hectares .
This is a far cry from Vietnam’s own target of growing “high-quality, low-emission rice” on 1 million hectares of agricultural land by 2030, an area more than six times the size of London. Vietnamese officials estimate it would reduce production costs by a fifth and increase farmers’ profits by more than $600 million, according to state media outlet Vietnam News.
Vietnam recognized early on that it would have to reconfigure its rice sector. It was the largest rice exporter, ahead of both India and Thailand, to sign a 2021 pledge to reduce methane emissions at the annual UN climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland.
According to recent research by Vietnam’s Institute of Water Resources Sciences, the industry loses more than $400 million each year. This is worrying not only for the country but for the world.
The Mekong Delta, where 90% of Vietnam’s exported rice is grown, is one of the world’s most vulnerable regions to climate change. The UN climate change report in 2022 warns of massive floods in the wet season and drought in the dry season. Hundreds of dams built upstream in China and Laos have reduced river flow and the amount of sediment that is carried through the river to the sea. Sea levels are rising and river bottoms are becoming saline. And unsustainable levels of groundwater pumping and sand mining for construction have further compounded the problems.
Changing age-old patterns of rice cultivation is expensive, and even though methane is a more potent cause of global warming than carbon dioxide, it receives only 2% of climate financing, World Bank President Ajay Banga told the United Nations Climate Change. Said at the summit. Dubai last year.
Banga said tackling methane emissions is “a rare, clear-cut area” where low-cost, effective and replicable solutions exist. The World Bank is supporting Vietnam’s efforts and has begun helping the Indonesian government to expand climate resilient farming as part of more than a dozen projects to reduce methane around the world.
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More countries are expected to follow suit, although there is no “one-size-fits-all,” said Lewis H. Ziska, a professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University. “One commonality is that there is a need for water,” he said, adding that different methods of planting and irrigation can help. manage water better.
He said growing more genetically diverse rice varieties would also help because some are more resilient to extreme heat or require less water, while others may emit less methane.
Nguyen Van Nhat, director of rice export company Hoang Minh Nhat, said his suppliers are using rice varieties that can thrive even when the water is salty and in extreme heat.
Now, the business is adapting to unseasonal rains that make it difficult to dry rice, increasing the risk of mold or insect damage. Typically, rice is dried in the sun immediately after harvesting, but Nutt said his company has drying facilities at its packaging factory and will also install machinery to dry the grains close to the fields.
“We don’t know which month is the rainy season, like we did before,” he said.
