Leading companies honored for driving low-emission rice production linkage

The “locomotives” for low-emission rice production

On May 19, the Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) held an award ceremony for the 2025 summer-autumn crop season (crop 3), honoring 10 companies with outstanding achievements in partnering with smallholder farmers practicing low-emission rice cultivation under the project “Transforming the Rice Value Chain for Climate Resilience and Sustainability in the Mekong Delta (TRVC).”

The 10 honored companies included: A An Food Joint Stock Company; Chon Chinh Import-Export Co., Ltd.; King Green Natural Foods Joint Stock Company; Angimex–Kitoku Co., Ltd.; ThaiBinh Seed Group Joint Stock Company; Trung An High-Tech Farming Joint Stock Company; Viet Nam Rice Co., Ltd. (Vinarice); Xuan Phuong Kien Giang Co., Ltd.; Co May Co., Ltd.; and Viet Nga Group Joint Stock Company.

Among them, Vinarice received the highest award, with more than 27,000 hectares registered in the competition. The company achieved an average greenhouse gas reduction of approximately 3.76 tons of CO₂ equivalent (CO2e) per hectare, while average household profits exceeded 49%. On this occasion, Vinarice received an award worth around AUD 340,000 (over VND 6 billion).

“Through the TRVC project, the company coordinated with farmers to implement multiple technical solutions, including the ‘1 Must, 5 Reductions’ model, alternate wetting and drying (AWD), reductions in seed use, fertilizers, pesticides, and improved water management,” said Nguyen Thi Tra My, CEO of PAN Group and Chairwoman of the Board at Viet Nam National Seed Group (Vinaseed).

Vinarice participated in crop 1 (summer-autumn 2024) with around 997 hectares as a pilot, and by crop 2 (winter-spring 2024–2025), the area had expanded to over 20,500 hectares. By crop 3 (summer-autumn 2025), the crop land exceeded 27,000 hectares.

Thus, after only three production seasons, Vinarice’s total project area surpassed 48,000 hectares, leading all participating companies and accounting for approximately 13.4% of the first phase (2024-2025) of the 1-million-hectare high-quality, low-emission rice scheme.

As a result, Vinarice was awarded the “Viet Nam Green Low-Emission Rice” label by the Viet Nam Rice Sector Association (Vietrisa) for more than 22,500 tons of rice.

According to Nguyen Thi Tra My My, the company maintained its benefit-sharing policy, allocating 40% directly to farmers and cooperatives and reinvesting 60% into training, capacity building, and technical improvements.

“Sharing billions of Vietnamese dong in project rewards with farmers throughout the past three seasons reflects a principle we have always upheld: farmers must truly be at the center of this transition process,” the PAN Group CEO said.

Expanding hundreds of thousands of hectares of low-emission rice

With its results-based reward mechanism, the TRVC project has encouraged many businesses to engage in low-emission rice production partnerships and promote advanced farming solutions to improve economic outcomes for farmers and value chain participants. One thing to note is that businesses must meet criteria, including ensuring minimum farmer profits of 30%, integrating gender equality, disability inclusion, and social policies within companies and value chains.

By the end of crop 3, the project involved 10 companies and 15 rice value chain partners, covering nearly 84,500 hectares and attracting more than 20,600 farming households.

According to independent verification by Regrow Agriculture (United States), average farmer profits reached 49.27% in Dong Thap and 51.58% in An Giang. Across the entire project, average profits stood at 50.79%, significantly exceeding the 30% target.

In terms of environmental impacts, the TRVC project achieved total emission reductions of nearly 164,500 tons of CO2e. At the same time, 100% of participating companies integrated policies and measures promoting social equity within their organizations and production linkages.

Tran Thu Ha, Director of the TRVC Project at SNV Viet Nam, said these results demonstrated companies’ commitment and leadership in building partnerships with farmers practicing low-emission rice production.

The project has already launched crop 4 (winter-spring 2025–2026), covering more than 66,000 hectares, while independent verification reports are underway. Cumulatively, after four crops, the TRVC project has reached over 150,500 hectares, equivalent to 75.26% of its target.

Companies are currently registering for crop 5 (summer-autumn 2026), with projected participation exceeding 200,000 hectares. These results indicate that businesses and farmers increasingly recognize the effectiveness of sustainable, low-emission rice production models.

“The TRVC project strategically assigns responsibilities to private businesses within the rice value chain, enabling them to become ‘locomotives’ organizing partnerships with farmers. It has created sustainable cooperation and mutual benefits while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, thereby improving linkages within the rice value chain. The project’s ultimate goal is to help Viet Nam’s rice sector become a producer and a responsible trader to the environment and society in the near future,” said the SNV Viet Nam representative.

$ 1 = VND 26,389 (Source: Vietcombank).