After three months of growing rice using alternating wet-dry irrigation and fertilizing with a reasonable process, Le Nhu Hung, a farmer in Binh Hoa commune (Krong Ana, Dak Lak) has reduced the volume of irrigated water by half. 

The new farming method allowed him to cut production cost by 15 percent this crop and increase rice yield by 2 tons compared with the old method.

With 4 hectares of low-emission rice growing area, his family has harvested 45 tons of rice. Hung and other farmers in the locality who grow low-carbon emission in the commune are expecting to sell carbon credits to a foreign company.

In Binh Hoa commune, 42 hectares of rice apply the alternate wet-dry irrigation method initiated by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). The expected rice yield is 11 tons per hectare.

It is estimated that under IRRI’s farming method, each hectare of rice would produce 3 carbon credits. The company that collects rice carbon credit in Dak Lak is a member of Thailand’s Netzero Carbon which has agreed to pay $20 for every credit. As such, farmers would earn VND1.5 million more for every one hectare of low-emission rice.

After a working session with the local authorities, the buyer committed to buy carbon credits after reports on emission reductions are released, with no need to wait for the carbon credits to be issued by a third party. 

At present, Europe still doesn’t accept any certificate by any organization, but reports on emission reductions are based on UN standards and regulations.

Tran Minh Tien, CEO of Net Zero Carbon Vietnam, said the company is awaiting the official statement from the US-based Spiro Carbon about the emission reduction results of the rice farming model in Dak Lak. When the statement is released, the company will buy carbon credits and grant the first carbon credits from rice production in Vietnam to Dak Lak farmers.

According to the Dak  Lak Department of Agriculture, there are 100,000 hectares of rice farming area in the province. If DakLak farmers successfully sell carbon credits, the province will expand the low-emission rice growing area to help farmers get additional income and contribute to environmental protection.

There are 7.1 million hectares of rice growing area in Vietnam. In addition to the 1million hectare high-quality low-emission rice growing program in Mekong Delta by 2030, other localities have also begun applying the low-emission farming process to sell carbon credits. 

Nghe An province, for example, is cooperating with JICA to consider a project on generating carbon credits from methane reductions in rice production.

With 180,000 hectares of rice growing area, the province every year can produce 1.1 million tons of food, and it has the potential of reducing 1.44 million tons of equivalent CO2.

The cooperation project to issue carbon credits in rice production kicked off in the 2024 spring crop. In the first crop, the project is on an area of 6,000 hectares of rice in the districts of Nam Dan, Nghi Loc, Hung Nguyen, Do Luong and Dien Chau with the participation of 24,000 farming households.

Meanwhile, deputy chair of QuangTri provincial People’s Committee Ha Sy Dong said the total organic rice farming area in the province has reached 1,100 hectares.

Dong said growing organic rice is the right path to follow. The province will develop organic rice fields and a circular economy, and gradually eliminate the carbon footprint in gardens and fields.

As for the project on developing 1 million hectares of specialized high-quality low-emission rice in Mekong Delta, the World Bank estimates that the specialized farming area may cut 10 million tons or carbon each year. 

With the price of $10 per carbon credit committed by the World Bank, farmers can earn $100 million a year from the 1 million hectares.

In addition, the rice farming sector will additionally have VND16 trillion per annum thanks to savings on production costs and increased product prices. The value of Vietnam’s rice will rise once Vietnam builds a low-emission rice brand.

Low-emission rice farming has been developed in some Mekong Delta provinces. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam said agencies are building a legal framework to regulate the operation and development of the farming model.

Tam An