Mekong Delta to solidify 1 million ha of rice production, boost investment for co-ops

Standardizing participation criteria

Following the recent administrative mergers of provinces and cities, Mekong Delta localities have reviewed the areas eligible to participate in the program to develop 1 million hectares (1MH) of high-quality, low-emission rice by 2030, based on the project’s technical criteria.

At a conference reviewing two years of implementation, the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment reported that the total area registered by localities for implementation through 2030 has reached more than 869,000 hectares, down nearly 70,600 hectares from the previously registered figure of almost 940,000 hectares.

After the mergers, the implementation plan for the program through 2030 stands at more than 869,000 hectares, equivalent to 92.49% of the pre-merger plan and 86.9% of the project’s overall target by 2030.

Specifically, Tay Ninh Province has registered 114,000 hectares (down 11,000 hectares); Dong Thap Province more than 128,000 hectares (down about 62,400 hectares); Vinh Long Province 50,000 hectares (down 736 hectares); An Giang Province nearly 351,400 hectares (down 836 hectares); Can Tho City nearly 171,000 hectares (up almost 4,400 hectares); and Ca Mau Province about 54,700 hectares, unchanged from the previous figure.

The reduction in registered acreage stems from a renewed review of eligibility requirements under the program’s technical criteria, including irrigation infrastructure, the capacity to apply low-emission cultivation practices, the potential for production linkages, and the ability to conduct measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) of emissions.

Dong Thap and Tay Ninh recorded the largest reductions. The main reason is the conversion of part of the rice-growing area to other crops with higher economic returns. In some production zones, infrastructure and supply-chain organization remain insufficient, while stricter criteria were applied during the latest review compared with the initial registration stage.

Before scaling up implementation, local authorities and related units organized a series of pilot models to assess the project’s effectiveness.

In An Giang, by the end of 2025 the program had been implemented on 151,000 hectares. In 2026, the province plans to expand implementation by another 183,000 hectares.

Le Huu Toan, Director of the An Giang Department of Agriculture and Environment, said the province has so far achieved 50% of the registered acreage target submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment for the 2026–2030 period.

Toan also highlighted a shift in farmers’ production mindset since the program began. Previously, technical practices such as the “1 Must, 5 Reductions” and “3 Reductions, 3 Gains” approaches focused mainly on cutting seed use, fertilizer and pesticides, but farmers could not quantify the extent of reductions or the environmental value created.

By integrating these practices into the one-million-hectare program and introducing measurement tools, farmers can now determine specific emission reductions. In pilot models in An Giang, average emissions have been reduced by about 7.5 tons of CO₂ per hectare.

In early 2026, the An Giang People’s Committee approved a zoning plan for high-quality rice production. Under the plan, about 150,000 hectares will serve as flexible conversion areas, while roughly 350,000 hectares will participate in the one-million-hectare program.

Need for investment resources

Despite initial results, several localities say that effective and sustainable implementation of the program will require additional investment in infrastructure and improved capacity for production organizations, particularly cooperatives.

Can Tho City aims to have nearly 171,000 hectares participating in the program by 2030.

As the second-largest rice-growing locality in the Mekong Delta after the recent mergers, with about 319,000 hectares of rice land, Can Tho had implemented the program on 104,500 hectares by 2025. The roadmap calls for expansion to nearly 171,000 hectares by 2030, with 171 cooperative groups and cooperatives participating.

However, implementation still faces numerous challenges. Ngo Thai Chan, Director of the Can Tho Department of Agriculture and Environment, said irrigation infrastructure and in-field transportation systems remain inconsistent across the area. Mechanization services, particularly the collection and processing of rice straw, are still limited.

In addition, some cooperatives have weak management capacity and limited adoption of digital technology. Access to credit for production under the program also remains difficult.

Chan added that although rice consumption linkages within the program have begun to form, they are not yet stable. The number of participating enterprises remains modest, and the scale of linkages has yet to match the region’s potential.

From this reality, Chan urged the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to provide technical and financial support for infrastructure investment projects under the one-million-hectare program. Such investment is considered essential to help farmers and production organizations improve the efficiency of low-emission rice cultivation.

Regarding funding arrangements, Do Thanh Trung, Deputy Minister of Finance, said the ministry fully supports the initiative and is committed to working with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to finalize procedures for reporting to the Prime Minister and formally proposing the project to the World Bank (WB).

However, as Vietnam is implementing wide-ranging reforms aimed at decentralization and greater authority for local governments, the Ministry of Finance hopes the World Bank will continue its support by harmonizing procedures and reducing certain requirements typically imposed by lenders during project implementation.

According to Trung, stakeholders need only establish a comprehensive plan for the entire project, including annual implementation components, thereby allowing greater autonomy for borrowing entities.

“This is one of the reform steps that the Ministry of Finance highly values if the World Bank can accompany lenders in Vietnam as well as implementing agencies,” Trung said.

He also called on the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, and Mekong Delta localities to proactively propose allocations from the state budget or provide credit from cooperative development support funds.

Such resources would enable cooperatives to invest in machinery and equipment for production, thereby reducing risks and improving efficiency as they participate in the one-million-hectare high-quality, low-emission rice program.