Lam Dong shapes low-emission agricultural products

Transforming to a green production mindset

The Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee has recently promulgated an action plan to implement the "Low-emission production in the crop sector for the 2025–2035 period, with a vision to 2050" project across the province.

The plan aims to synchronously deploy solutions to promote the transformation of the crop production system toward low-emission, circular, and climate-resilient practices. Through this, the province expects to enhance production efficiency, improve livelihoods for local people, and foster sustainable development toward a green agriculture, while strengthening the sector’s competitiveness and ensuring food security.

Under the roadmap to 2035, the locality strives for the crop sector to contribute to reducing at least 15% of total greenhouse gas emissions compared to the 2020 baseline. Notably, the province aims for over 80% of agricultural waste to be collected and reused within circular systems, while more than 30% of the total cultivated area will adopt sustainable, low-emission production standards.

From now until 2035, Lam Dong province will focus resources on emission reduction across the province, prioritizing crops with large production areas and high emission reduction potential, such as organic vegetables, coffee, maize, cassava, durian, pepper, and rice. To achieve these targets, the province will synchronously implement many technical solutions tailored to each crop group, based on low-emission farming processes.

For industrial crops and fruit trees such as coffee, pepper, and durian, measures include water-saving irrigation, smart nutrient management, and intercropping to develop a multi-layered cultivation model, thereby increasing biomass carbon stocks and reducing soil erosion.

For vegetable and flower production, farming households are required to optimize the use of fertilizers and pesticides while increasing the use of organic fertilizers and biological products.

For rice farming, the alternate wetting and drying irrigation technique will be applied, along with straw management that avoids open-field burning. Meanwhile, maize and cassava areas will adopt contour strip intercropping to prevent erosion and cover with green manure crops, organic fertilizers, and lime to improve soil fertility.

Notably, Lam Dong will prioritize the development of a "low-emission" label for its two flagship products, including coffee and pepper. This is considered an important step to enhance product value and support businesses in accessing international markets with strict technical barriers, such as the EU.

Building a data ecosystem and carbon credits

One of the plan's breakthrough contents is the establishment of a Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) system, alongside a digitalized emissions database integrated with the centralized Smart Monitoring and Operations Center.

The province will actively guide and support organizations and individuals in applying electronic production logbook software linked to growing area management, enabling accurate monitoring of fertilization, irrigation, and by-product treatment activities. Thereby gradually preparing relevant conditions for participation in the carbon market and developing pilot mechanisms to attract and support enterprises in implementing agricultural carbon credit projects.

With a vision to 2050, Lam Dong's crop production is oriented toward ecological and modern development, making a significant contribution to the green transformation of the agricultural sector, with 100% of key crop areas applying sustainable farming practices. At the same time, a digitalized emissions database for the crop sector will be established and fully connected with the national monitoring system, while the "low-emission" label will be developed and widely adopted across key agricultural commodities.