Farmers in Nghe An province save irrigation water by producing 'carbon rice'.

Saving irrigation water and reducing water loss in the fields.

This spring marks the third time Ms. Cao Thi Lan in Tan Chau hamlet, Dien Nguyen commune, Dien Chau district, has grown "carbon rice." After years of constantly checking the fields to regulate water levels, she and her husband are now much less burdened by this task. "Previously, there were times when the rice didn't need water, but there was still plenty, and we had to check and drain excess water from the fields. Now, when the rice needs water, it's available, and when the fields need it dry, the irrigation system shuts off the water supply, so we feel much more secure. The rice grows better, and we have a better harvest," Ms. Lan said.
In the past two planting seasons, her family's rice yield has been high, approximately 4 quintals/acre in the spring season and 3 quintals/acre in the summer-autumn season.

The head of Tan Chau hamlet, Mr. Phan Xuan Phuong, enthusiastically stated: "From the spring crop of 2024, all more than 70 hectares of rice fields in the hamlet will participate in the production of hybrid rice."Carbon credits."Rice fields that are strictly irrigated with alternating wet and dry conditions develop very well, are less prone to lodging, have fewer diseases and brown planthoppers, and have a shorter growing season. Production is favorable, yields are high, and there is even a possibility of generating additional income from selling carbon credits, so the farmers are very supportive," he said.

Before participating in the program, even when the rice plants didn't need water, farmers would anxiously call for water pumps whenever they saw cracks in the soil or even when the water level was still low. As a result, the rice fields were waterlogged year-round, leading to poor aeration and consequently, a lower number of grains per ear and a lower percentage of filled grains. Significantly, while saving water and irrigation costs, the program also improved yields."carbon rice"It was raised again from 10-15%.

In the spring of 2024 – the first production season of the project – Nam Dan district had 15 communes participating with an area of ​​over 1,028 hectares; that number increased nearly threefold in the summer-autumn season with over 3,030 hectares, and in this year's spring season, the entire district had 4,613 hectares of rice production generating carbon credits, with some communes having quite large areas such as Kim Lien with 625 hectares and Nam Anh with 360 hectares…

Mr. Nguyen Dinh The, Deputy Head of the District's Agriculture and Environment Department, stated: On average, over two production seasons, the number of irrigation cycles using the alternating wet and dry irrigation technique is 4.3 times, lower than conventional production methods, thus reducing labor and electricity costs. Meanwhile, the actual yield reached 67.4 quintals/hectare in the spring season and 56.3 quintals/hectare in the summer-autumn season, higher than the average of 3.3 quintals/hectare in the spring season and 1.6 quintals/hectare in the summer-autumn season.

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By using intermittent irrigation techniques instead of continuous flooding, water consumption has been reduced by 30-50%, and the number of irrigation cycles per crop has been reduced from 7 to 5. However, the rice plants have grown better, tillered more, become stronger, and are more resistant to lodging. Rice yields have increased by 10-15% compared to traditional farming methods, and production costs have decreased significantly.

Mr. Nguyen Tien Duc - Head of the Provincial Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection

Meeting green production criteria

The irrigation system of Nam Irrigation Company Limited irrigates 17,000 hectares of rice in Nam Dan, Hung Nguyen, Nghi Loc districts and Vinh City. Of that, nearly 8,000 hectares are currently irrigated for carbon credit production. According to Mr. Pham The Phi, Head of the Technical Department of the company, all 17,000 hectares are irrigated using open-field irrigation, but the application and monitoring of water levels in canals and fields are not yet rigorous. Farmers generally don't fully understand the system, so they get anxious and demand water pumping whenever the water level drops. On the areas producing carbon credit rice, we no longer face the pressure of unnecessary pumping, especially during drought periods.

Thanks to this, the unit saves nearly 3 billion VND in electricity costs per year by reducing the number of irrigation cycles by 3 compared to traditional farming, and more importantly, it saves a significant amount of water. This story is even more significant given that in recent years, ensuring sufficient irrigation water for rice has been a very difficult problem due to the fact that the canal system and infrastructure are old and dilapidated, causing water loss; especially in the last 5-7 years, the water level of the Lam River has been increasingly low, and the water level through the Nam Dan sluice gate is less, causing the downstream canal system to be insufficient to supply the pumping stations that draw water from the Dao River system.

The carbon credit rice production program was implemented in Nghe An province starting from the spring crop of 2024 in Nam Dan, Nghi Loc, Hung Nguyen, Dien Chau, and Do Luong districts, covering over 5,700 hectares. This production method not only helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions but also significantly saves irrigation water.

In particular, according to Mr. Nguyen Tien Duc - Head of the Provincial Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection: Reducing greenhouse gas emissions also helps us meet the criteria forgreen productionThis expands opportunities to access high-quality rice export markets. This farming method reduces emissions by 50-55% compared to traditional continuous irrigation farming in transplanted rice and by 66.67% in direct-seeded rice, especially during the tillering stage. In fact, the emission reduction measured in Hung Nguyen, Do Luong, and Dien Chau reached 5-6 tons of CO2 equivalent/ha/crop.

Mr. Phan Tien Thanh - Business Development Manager - Green Carbon INC (a Japanese company specializing in environmental consulting and involved in generating and selling carbon credits both domestically and internationally) added: Currently, rice production for carbon credits in Nghe An only applies the open-field irrigation method, due to the fragmented and small-scale nature of rice production in the locality, with limited commercial production. In the future, as this production method develops, we will continue to implement other aspects such as fertilizer and straw management, and selecting suitable and efficient rice varieties.