Pepper sector cuts emissions through regenerative agriculture

For many years, Viet Nam has remained the world's leading exporter of black pepper. In 2025, the country exported 247,000 tonnes of pepper worth USD 1.6 billion, marking a record-high export value. However, Viet Nam's pepper exports are facing growing challenges, particularly as importing markets impose increasingly stringent requirements.

According to Mr. Le Viet Anh, Secretary General of the Viet Nam Pepper and Spice Association (VPSA), international buyers' expectations are changing significantly. Buyers today are concerned not only with product price and quality but also with how the product is produced. Requirements related to traceability, social responsibility, environmental sustainability, and greenhouse gas emissions reduction are becoming increasingly common across the global spice supply chain.

Major retailers and processors in the EU and the U.S. are setting ESG and net-zero targets across their supply chains. At the same time, EU is tightening requirements on traceability, pesticide residue limits, and social responsibility. Many international buyers now require suppliers to establish carbon emissions reduction roadmaps, while certifications such as Organic, Rainforest Alliance, and Regenagri are gaining increasing importance in the global spice sector.

On the production side, climate change is becoming more unpredictable. Extreme weather events are increasing the risks of drought and pest outbreaks in pepper-growing regions, leading to declining yields in many areas. Meanwhile, production costs and agricultural input prices continue to rise.

These market demands and production challenges are driving Viet Nam's pepper industry to adopt production models that are both environmentally sustainable and economically viable, ensuring stable incomes for farmers.

To address these challenges, VPSA together with its partners, has been implementing the Sustainable Vietnamese Pepper Production Project, promoting safe, low-emission pepper cultivation.

The project's technical package is built around four integrated pillars. The first is adopting IPM practices to minimize the use of chemical pesticides and replace them with biological control methods.

At the same time, beneficial microorganisms are introduced into pepper-growing soils through specialized biological products to suppress harmful soil-borne fungi and improve soil health. The program also promotes balanced nutrient management by significantly increasing the use of organic fertilizers, microbial fertilizers, and well-composted manure while minimizing the application of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers.

In addition, participating pepper farms adopt ecological farming practices, including maintaining ground cover vegetation, establishing buffer zones, planting shade and windbreak trees, and creating biological hedgerows to enhance biodiversity and improve ecosystem resilience.

After one year of implementing four safe, landscape-based pepper production models with no agricultural chemical residues and reduced CO₂ emissions, the program has achieved positive results.

In terms of biodiversity improvement, beneficial organisms have been found across all four landscape pepper models, including natural enemies such as ladybugs, spiders, insect-eating birds, frogs, and beneficial microorganisms. The ecological pepper farms did not experience any serious outbreaks of major pests and diseases.

Ecological pepper production has helped reduce residue risks in pepper products by effectively controlling certain active ingredients, including Imidacloprid, Acetamiprid, and Fenobucarb.

All models have delivered positive economic outcomes, with profits ranging from VND 145–251 million per hectare. The transition to sustainable farming practices has reduced total production costs by up to 24% while maintaining pepper yields.

Notably, most models recorded lower CO₂ emissions compared with the previous crop season. Emission reductions ranged from 13.5% to 21.5%, mainly due to reduced use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation energy. These results highlight the potential for emission reduction in pepper production while demonstrating the need for transition pathways tailored to the specific conditions of each farming household.

Building on these initial achievements, VPSA plans to expand regenerative farming models in the coming years. VPSA believes that regenerative agriculture will not only help Viet Nam's pepper industry better meet international market requirements but also strengthen Viet Nam's image as a sustainable and responsible spice supplier.

However, transitioning Viet Nam's pepper sector toward regenerative agriculture requires the participation of the entire value chain, including farmers, businesses, sustainable development organizations, and international buyers.

A VPSA member company, SIMEXCO Dak Lak, is implementing a regenerative agriculture and circular-economy farming program with objectives that include the complete elimination of banned substances, increasing farmers' incomes, reducing fertilizer and irrigation water use, and cutting annual emissions by 15%. The program is expanding the number of participating farmers, with a focus in 2026 on scaling up participation among pepper growers, aiming to establish 10,000 regenerative farms.

$ 1 = VND 26,490 - Source: Vietcombank.