Three pillars of Dien Bien’s green agricultural transition

Dien Bien Province has strong potential for developing a competitive agricultural economy, with key commodities including rice, Arabica coffee, macadamia, and tea. However, as demands for higher quality, greener production, and deeper international integration continue to rise, unlocking this potential through value chain development, production restructuring, and greater investment has become increasingly important to enhance the competitiveness of the province's agricultural products.

With the approval of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment and the Dien Bien Provincial People's Committee, the Vietnam Agriculture and Nature Newspaper, in collaboration with the Dien Bien Department of Agriculture and Environment and the Viet Nam Gardening Association, will organize the forum titled "Promoting Sustainable Agriculture through Green Transition and Strengthening Value Chains for Dien Bien's Key Agricultural Products."

The forum will take place on July 18, 2026, at Hoa Ban Hall, Dien Bien Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Center, Street 5, Dien Bien Phu Ward, Dien Bien Province.

The event aims to promote green, low-emission agriculture, strengthen linkages among businesses, cooperatives, and raw material production areas, and enhance the value of Dien Bien's key agricultural products and those of the Northwest region through sustainable value chain development.

From maximizing output to building sustainable ecosystems

In the past, agricultural production in Dien Bien largely focused on increasing yields and output. Today, however, the province faces a new challenge: developing a higher-value agricultural sector while using natural resources more efficiently and minimizing environmental impacts. As a result, the green transition is no longer simply a trend, it has become an essential pathway for ensuring the long-term sustainability of agriculture amid climate change and increasingly stringent market requirements.

For a mountainous province like Dien Bien, where agricultural production is closely linked to hillsides, forests, and diverse ecological landscapes, the green transition involves far more than adopting new farming techniques. It requires restructuring production systems to balance economic development with the conservation of natural resources. This marks a fundamental shift from an output-driven model to an ecosystem-based approach that prioritizes quality, sustainability, and long-term value creation.

According to Chu Thi Thanh Xuan, Deputy Director of the Dien Bien Department of Agriculture and Environment, the green transition in agriculture is being pursued through a comprehensive restructuring of the sector toward concentrated commodity production, more efficient use of natural resources, lower greenhouse gas emissions, greater climate resilience, and higher-value agricultural products. The goal is not only to produce safer food but also to build a more competitive, sustainable, and resilient agricultural sector.

"We are translating the green transition into practical action in the field. In the Muong Thanh Valley, many farmers have adopted alternate wetting and drying (AWD) irrigation for rice cultivation, reduced the use of chemical fertilizers, increased organic fertilizer application, and implemented integrated pest management. While these changes may seem modest, they help reduce methane emissions, lower production costs, and gradually foster more environmentally friendly farming practices," Xuan said.

Lo Van Bun, a farmer from Noong Nhai Village in Muong Thanh Ward who has adopted low-emission rice cultivation practices, said his family previously relied on traditional farming methods, using large amounts of irrigation water, fertilizers, and pesticides. After receiving technical guidance on AWD irrigation, greater use of organic fertilizers, and integrated pest management, production costs have fallen significantly while rice yields and crop health have remained stable.

"At first, I was concerned that using less water and fertilizer would reduce yields. But after several growing seasons, I found that the rice developed well, production costs were lower, and the fields were cleaner. That's why my family has continued using these practices. With further technical support and stable market access, more farmers will be confident about expanding environmentally friendly production," Bun said.

Farmers like Bun demonstrate that the green transition is no longer merely a policy objective. It is increasingly becoming a practical choice for rural communities, as economic benefits go hand in hand with environmental protection and more sustainable use of natural resources.

The green development approach is expanding beyond crop production to forestry and livestock farming. With its vast forest land resources, Dien Bien is promoting integrated agroforestry models, combining production and protection forests with medicinal plants, native tree species, and understory crops. These practices not only improve land-use efficiency but also enhance carbon sequestration, reduce soil erosion, and protect local ecosystems. In the livestock sector, the adoption of biogas digesters for waste treatment and the reuse of agricultural by-products as organic fertilizer are gradually laying the foundation for a circular agricultural economy.

Chu Thi Thanh Xuan added that the green transition is not a series of isolated changes within individual sectors, but a comprehensive transformation encompassing mindset, production methods, and value chain organization. "Only when farmers adopt more sustainable practices, businesses invest differently, and cooperatives serve as effective links between producers and markets can green agriculture deliver lasting benefits," she said.

Building on these efforts, the Dien Bien Department of Agriculture and Environment is gradually developing green transition models tailored to local conditions. These initiatives are viewed not only as immediate solutions to improve production efficiency but also as the foundation for building a modern, climate-resilient agricultural sector capable of meeting future development demands.

Three pillars of the green transition

If the green transition represents the destination, then practical production models are the pathway for Dien Bien to achieve it. According to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Environment, the transition is being built on three strategic pillars: low-emission agriculture, the restructuring of crop production toward concentrated commodity farming, and the development of circular agriculture. While each pillar adopts a different approach, they all share the same objective: enhancing agricultural value, improving resource efficiency, and ensuring long-term sustainability.

The first pillar is low-emission agriculture. This goes beyond simply reducing greenhouse gas emissions; it involves reorganizing production along value chains and making more efficient use of resources, including land, water, and agricultural inputs. In the Muong Thanh Valley, farmers are adopting alternate wetting and drying (AWD) irrigation for rice cultivation, reducing chemical fertilizer use, increasing organic fertilizer application, and implementing integrated pest management. These measures are delivering multiple benefits by lowering production costs, reducing methane emissions, and improving the quality of agricultural products. The approach is considered well suited to meeting the sector's dual objectives of boosting productivity while protecting the environment.

At the same time, Dien Bien is leveraging its extensive forest resources by promoting integrated agroforestry systems. Combining production and protection forests with medicinal plants, native tree species, and understory crops not only creates additional livelihood opportunities for local communities but also helps conserve soil and water resources, increase carbon sequestration, and preserve ecological balance. This comparative advantage places Dien Bien in a strong position to advance green agricultural development.

The second pillar is crop restructuring. According to Chu Thi Thanh Xuan, this is not simply a matter of replacing one crop with another, but a broader effort to reorganize agricultural production toward concentrated commodity farming as part of the sector's restructuring strategy. Low-productivity farmland, upland fields, and inefficient rice-growing areas are gradually being converted to higher-value crops such as coffee, macadamia, fruit trees, pineapples, and passion fruit, selected to match the ecological conditions of each region.

Importantly, this transition extends beyond economic benefits. Expanding perennial crops with greater ground cover helps reduce soil erosion and land degradation, while the development of concentrated production zones that follow safe farming practices, with lower reliance on chemical fertilizers and pesticides and greater compliance with VietGAP standards, is laying the foundation for environmentally sustainable agriculture capable of meeting increasingly demanding market requirements.

The establishment of concentrated production areas also strengthens agricultural value chains by linking production with processing and marketing. This approach helps overcome fragmented, small-scale farming, reduces production costs, and improves resource efficiency. As Xuan noted, the essence of this model is not merely changing crop varieties but fundamentally restructuring agriculture to become greener, more efficient, and more sustainable.

The third pillar is circular agriculture. Agricultural by-products that were once discarded or handled using conventional methods are now being reused to create new value. Crop residues such as rice straw and other plant waste, along with livestock manure, are increasingly processed into organic fertilizer or treated through biogas systems. These practices reduce environmental pollution, lower production costs, and provide a practical pathway for Dien Bien to develop a circular agricultural economy.

Chu Thi Thanh Xuan emphasized that these three pillars are not implemented in isolation but complement one another as part of the broader restructuring of the agricultural sector. When applied in an integrated manner, the green transition will not only improve agricultural productivity and product quality but also generate broader environmental, ecological, and competitive advantages for Dien Bien's agriculture.

This integrated approach is expected to provide a solid foundation for Dien Bien to achieve its long-term vision of developing a concentrated, market-oriented agricultural sector that is green, smart, and sustainable.