Cutting emission when farm produce has hit a growth ceiling

Deputy Minister Hoang Trung placed this message at the center of the implementation framework for the National Plan for Low-Emission Crop Production 2025 - 2035, with a vision to 2050. Notably, the plan targets not only greenhouse gas reduction and international commitments, but also directly addresses increasing agricultural value, cutting input costs, and raising farmer incomes.

Rice will be the first crop to receive standardized low-emission cultivation practices and an emissions measurement system, followed by coffee, durian, corn, and other major commodities.

A new game for Vietnamese agriculture

For years, Viet Nam's agricultural competitive advantage rested on price and volume. But major import markets are progressively tightening green standards, traceability requirements, and demands for carbon transparency across the full production chain. Emissions reduction has ceased to be an environmental conversation; it has become a condition for maintaining market access.

Under the 2026-2030 phase, the sector will develop criteria and a branding framework for a "Vietnamese low-emission agricultural produce" label covering rice, coffee, vegetables, fruit, and tea. Raw material zones will be linked to traceability systems, transparent emissions data, and green export standards. Agricultural value in the future will depend not only on yield and quality, but on how cleanly production can be verified.

In rice, Viet Nam's largest crop and a significant source of methane emissions, the plan emphasizes expanding alternate wetting and drying (AWD) irrigation, improved straw management, reduced seeding rates, and optimized fertilizer use, integrated with the existing One Million Hectares of High-Quality, Low-Emission Rice program in the Mekong Delta.

For coffee, the direction is a circular production model across the Central Highlands and Son La, incorporating water-efficient irrigation, organic fertilizers, byproduct reuse, and soil health restoration. Selected zones will be developed as pilot low-emission coffee areas linked to traceability and sustainable export.

Across the fruit sector, durian, dragon fruit, mango, pomelo, and passion fruit, emissions reduction models will focus on irrigation management, organic fertilization, byproduct processing, and compliance with importing markets' green standards.

Deputy Minister Hoang Trung was direct about the plan's near-term priorities. Through 2030, the focus is on raising awareness among farmers and businesses about the practical financial benefits of low-emission cultivation - lower input costs, higher profitability, and products marketable under a recognized low-emission label.

The current phase is not oriented toward generating or selling carbon credits. "The focus right now is not on selling carbon credits or participating in the international carbon market," the Deputy Minister stated. That process remains complex and requires years to develop. The immediate priority is establishing new production practices that position Vietnamese commodities to meet future market requirements. Measured emissions reductions will, however, be documented to serve national greenhouse gas inventory needs.

Building the low-emissions infrastructure: the MRV system

At the technical core of the plan is an MRV framework, a system for measuring, reporting, and verifying greenhouse gas emissions from crop production. Without standardized measurement, the Deputy Minister noted, it is nearly impossible to verify low-emission claims or satisfy the data transparency requirements of sophisticated import markets.

Under the 2026 schedule, the sector will finalize low-emission cultivation practices and a national MRV system for rice, while developing equivalent frameworks for corn, coffee, and durian. By 2030, a fully integrated MRV system will operate from the national to the local level, with standardized methodologies for each major crop group and pilot digital platforms for emissions data management.

The plan is being implemented through concrete provincial models, not policy statements alone. Twenty-two provinces and cities have already adopted action plans. In Quang Tri, a low-emission rice model covers more than 6,000 hectares across 13 communes. Hung Yen plans to bring 3,000 hectares under alternate wetting and drying irrigation with emissions measurement equipment installed in 2026. Hue is developing a "three reductions, three increases" model combining water management and low-emission straw handling.

Technical assessments show these models reduce not only methane emissions but simultaneously lower seed quantities, fertilizer volumes, water use, and overall production costs, translating environmental gains into direct economic benefit for farming households.

A parallel priority is expanding circular agriculture and byproduct-processing technologies, including biochar, organic and microbial fertilizers, agricultural residue processing, and comprehensive mechanization of rice production. The plan also targets the formation of large-scale, enterprise-linked low-emission raw material zones connected to traceability systems and export markets, with enterprises and cooperatives supported in building supply chains and market linkages.

Thirteen participation proposals have already been received from international organizations and domestic enterprises, focused on field model development, technology transfer, mechanization, biochar, and MRV system building.

Deputy Minister Hoang Trung concluded with a clear division of responsibilities: "The ministry will focus on developing mechanisms, policies, and technical procedures, while local authorities hold the decisive role in actual implementation, selecting production zones and building models suited to local conditions", consistent with the current national direction toward strong decentralization.

The underlying message of the entire plan is a fundamental shift in Viet Nam's agricultural growth model. The path that delivered decades of export expansion through more land, more inputs, and more volume has reached its natural ceiling. The next phase will be built on cleaner, more verifiable, and more resource-efficient production, aligned with the standards of the global markets that Vietnamese farmers ultimately serve.