An Giang, Vietnam—setting an example

In early February 2008, the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC) and the International Rice Research Institute received letters from the People’s Committee of An Giang, in the Mekong River Delta of Vietnam. This group requested that the IRRC work closely with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) of An Giang Province and the Plant Protection Department (PPD) to assist with the application of technologies to raise the productivity of rice cultivation. Together with neighboring provinces Tien Giang and Dong Thap, An Giang is the premier rice-growing region of Vietnam. These three provinces together provide a third of the rice produced in the Mekong River Delta and are important for the success of Vietnam’s rice export trade.

In late February 2008, Dr. Grant Singleton, IRRC coordinator, visited An Giang and met with Mr. Nguyen Van Phuong (director, DARD), Mr. Nguyen Huu Huan (deputy director general, PPD), Dr. Mai Thanh Phung (deputy director, National Agriculture Extension Center), and Mr. Nguyen Huu Ang (An Giang sub PPD). In An Giang, the DARD currently has 30 hectares under best practice (Thoai Son District), with plans to expand to 10,000 hectares and 15,000 households by 2010. If successful, it is expected that diffusion of best-practice technologies will be rapid beyond 2010 through diffusion from one farmer commune to another, and from farmer to farmer.

The aim is to develop An Giang as a model province for best practice for rice production. The IRRC will provide technical assistance by advising on the training of trainers, developing a business plan for the use of laser leveling and postproduction technologies, provide technical advice on an integrated approach to best practice management of lowland irrigated rice, and assist with documenting the learning from this initiative and documenting the impacts on farmers. The learning is essential for developing a national strategy for scaling out best management practices for the production of irrigated rice.

In the Tri Ton and Tinh Bien districts of An Giang, men, women, and children gather as a community and hunt for rats. During their April 2008 community hunt, 376 rats were caught in Tinh Bien!

This initiative will be overseen by a national advisory committee of the Ministry for Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). This committee will ensure outreach of the lessons learned from this initiative to other provinces. The committee will report directly to a MARD vice minister and this is a proven pathway for dissemination of technologies, through sub PPDs, provincial departments of agriculture, local media, and links with nongovernment organizations such as World Vision (through their area development programs).

Dr. Singleton visited demonstration sites for various IRRC technologies at two locations in An Giang. The first was in Chau Thanh District, a site laser-leveled 3 years ago. Alternate wetting and drying (AWD) was introduced 2 years ago and farmer Nguyen Thi Diep (see photo at right) is very pleased with the savings in fuel costs (water is pumped; previously irrigated 7–8 times, now 5–6 times, with less water each time). Also, because of leveling and AWD, she has had a 1 ton/hectare (t/ha) increase in production (now 8 t/ha). She also has saved on seed and fertilizer costs and uses a drum seeder to establish the crop.

The second site was in Tri Ton District, a 15-ha site that was laser-leveled in early 2007. The farmer, Nguyen Loi Duc, was trained through an IRRC-coordinated initiative to laser-level. He is very impressed with the results of the laser leveling—reduced fuel costs and fertilizer use; better control of weedy rice, golden apple snail, and rats. Mr. Duc commented that yields have increased from 5.3 to 6–6.5 t/ha.

These are exciting developments in An Giang. Future issues of RIPPLE will report on developments and progress with the scaling out of IRRC technologies to smallholder farmers in the Mekong River Delta.

Grant Singleton (g.singleton@cgiar.org), photos by T. Mendoza

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