In Vietnam, ways to reduce the impact of rice on global warming

Not new, these initiatives have multiplied over the past two years after a hundred countries pledged to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030.

Vietnam, like Indonesia or Bangladesh, is one of the signatories, but not the two biggest producers, India and China.

In Can Tho province, harvest is nearing completion and farmers are pushing small carts overflowing with bales of straw which will then be soaked and spread out to grow mushrooms for sale.

The mixture straw is then transformed into compost, using a machine, before being sold for around 15 cents per kilo.

“In the past, a few farmers did this manually, but it was too labor intensive. We have cut costs in half and will expand to meet market demand,” says Le Dinh Du, local plant protection department manager.

“Rice is having a nice trip . We don't waste anything.”

Reuse rice straw

According to Vietnamese authorities, irrigated rice cultivation has been responsible for almost half of methane emissions in 2019.

The straw reuse technique has been taught “widely to farmers and local agricultural officials” across the country, according to the CGIAR, an international center for agricultural research.

The number of those who actually doing is unclear.

Last year, more than 80% of the rice straw in the Mekong Delta was still burned, according to the World Bank.

According to the researchers, straw management coupled with another method of breaking up the layer of stagnant water in rice paddies to replenish oxygen and reduce bacteria, have “the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. greenhouse”.

In fact, rice, unlike other crops, “has a layer of standing water in the field, which means that there is no exchange of air between the ground and the atmosphere,” says Bjoern Ole Sander, who leads IRRI in Vietnam.

“These bacteria eat organic matter and produce methane.”

According to the Vietnamese authorities, this drying of rice fields has been adopted by a third or a half of the rice land in An Giang province (south) depending on the season, covering more than 200,000 hectares in 2019, twice more than in 2018.

Farmers who have taken the plunge into the Mekong are proud of the way it is grown and of being able to maximize its poten tiel and their income.

At the beginning, “it complicates our life,” says Canh. “But once we figure out how to take advantage of the straw, things are easier.”