Pioneering a Sustainable Future with Low-Emission Rice
The landscape of agriculture in Vietnam is undergoing a transformative shift, with Vinarice, a key member of the Vinaseed Group, at the forefront of this change. The company recently secured a substantial grant of more than $136,000 from the Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) to support its innovative low-emission rice initiative. This funding is being used to cultivate sustainable rice across an expansive 21,000 hectares of rice fields, with remarkable results. The project has already contributed to a significant reduction of 89,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide during the 2024-2025 winter-spring crop season. This achievement builds on Vinarice’s prior success, where it earned over $18,000 for a record reduction of nearly 3,900 tonnes of CO2. Furthermore, the entire area involved in the project has been officially certified with the Vietnam Green & Low-Emission Rice logo by the Vietnam Rice Industry Association. According to an SNV representative, this progress is perfectly aligned with the global objective of limiting temperature increases and sets a clear precedent for Vietnam to establish a distinguished national rice brand and, eventually, a framework for selling carbon credits on the international market by 2028.
Cultivating Profitability and Reducing Emissions
The benefits of the low-emission rice model extend far beyond environmental impact, creating a powerful economic incentive for adoption. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MoAE) has confirmed that this new cultivation method helps farmers save on production costs by a significant margin, ranging from 8.2 to 24.2 percent, by optimizing the use of seeds, fertilizers, and irrigation water. This efficiency directly translates to improved profitability and income for farmers, with an estimated increase of $160-340 per hectare compared to traditional farming. Furthermore, the model has demonstrated an ability to boost productivity by up to 7 percent. From an environmental perspective, each hectare cultivated under this new model contributes to a reduction of 2-12 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. With agriculture accounting for nearly 18 percent of Vietnam’s total greenhouse gas emissions, and rice cultivation making up a staggering 75-80 percent of the methane emissions within the agricultural sector, the potential for this initiative to contribute to the nation’s climate goals is immense. The World Bank estimates that the broader project in the Mekong Delta could reduce 10 million tonnes of carbon annually, generating approximately $100 million in carbon credits each year, underscoring the lucrative nature of this green transformation.
Private Sector Leadership in High-Value Exports
While the one-million-hectare low-emission rice initiative is a national priority, the private sector is playing a pivotal role in its implementation and market commercialization. Companies like Trung An High-Tech Farming have already demonstrated the immense potential of this model by successfully exporting its first 500-tonne batch of low-emission rice to Japan at a premium price of $820 per tonne, which is nearly double the standard market rate. The company, in partnership with Japan’s Murase Group, plans to follow this success with a second export batch of 3,000 tonnes and is actively preparing to enter the Australian market. Likewise, A An Food JSC. has recognized the appeal of low-emission rice to higher-income consumers and has rapidly scaled up its own cultivation areas from over 600 hectares in 2024 to more than 3,500 hectares by July 2025. According to the company’s deputy general director, Truong Duy Hai, this shift in cultivation practices is not only about sustainability but also about opening doors to challenging, high-end export markets in Japan and Europe that demand superior quality and ethical production, thereby elevating the reputation and value of the Vietnamese rice brand on a global scale.
Strategic International Partnerships Pave a Path Forward
The progress made in the low-emission rice initiative is further bolstered by strategic international partnerships, most notably with Japan. Vietnam has already brought about 180,000 hectares of rice under this high-quality, low-emission cultivation, marking a significant step toward its one-million-hectare goal. This achievement strengthens the prospects for continued international cooperation, especially with Japan, a country that has a track record of partnering with Vietnam on 14 projects and has already issued over 35,000 carbon credits under the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM). Looking ahead, the two nations are set to intensify their collaboration on low-carbon agriculture. The focus will be on advancing techniques like alternate wetting and drying in rice farming, a method that is highly effective at reducing emissions and generating high-quality carbon credits. As Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Dinh Tho, deputy director of the Institute of Strategy and Policy on Agriculture and Environment, concluded, scaling up this initiative through the JCM will not only increase farmer incomes and build climate resilience but also powerfully underscore Vietnam’s leadership in building a green and sustainable agricultural sector.
