The event was attended by experts, leaders of provinces in the Mekong Delta, representatives of international organisations, the International Rice Research Institute, businesses and cooperatives in the region.
The delegates discussed shortcomings and limitations in the development of rice production in the Mekong Delta, including the absence of sound planning for rice production, the low rate of sustainable rice cultivation, the high rate of post-harvest losses, the modest value in rice export, and high logistics costs.
They also pointed out that rice production has caused negative impacts on the environment and climate change, due to the lack of a system to control greenhouse gas emissions
Therefore, they highly appreciated the necessity of the project on sustainably developing one million ha of high-quality rice and promoting green growth in the Mekong Delta.
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The project will be implemented in 2024 in 12 provinces of the Mekong Delta, targeting to have 719,000ha of high-quality rice by 2025 and over one million ha by 2030. |
Speaking at the seminar, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan acknowledged, that although the rice sector has seen encouraging progress in all stages from production to trade, it also faces limitations that need to be addressed, to achieve sustainable and efficient production.
He stressed the need to renovate the current rice production toward increasing farmers' income, and reducing the impact on the environment while mitigating and adapting to climate change.
Once it is approved by the Government, the project will be implemented in 2024 in 12 provinces of the Mekong Delta, targeting to have 719,000ha of high-quality rice by 2025 and over one million ha by 2030.
The rice cultivation area under the project is expected to meet multiple goals, including improving the value of the rice value chain and farmers' income, ensuring food security and serving rice export, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change.
