Within frame of the community-based climate change adaptation programme financed by the Global Environmental Facilities (GEF), the Vietnam Union of S&T Associations (VUSTA)’s Binh Dinh branch decided to carry out a pilot project on minimizing the impact of sea level rise and adapting to climate change, particularly ensuring stable rice production for the sake of food security at Phuoc Hoa commune, Tuy Phuoc district.
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Rice farmers were on a field study tour to the model of intensive rice cultivation in Phuoc Hoa salt-marsh. Photo: Trieu Chau
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Phuoc Hoa commune is located at the lower section of the Kon River and adjacent to Thi Nai lagoon. Over 500ha of its cultivated land is flooded in winter-spring crop but lacks water and is contaminated with alum in autumn crop.
The arable land experiences large-scale floods and accretion of silt during 4 months/year. Flood-tide pushes the saline water intrusion further into the mainland, causing adverse effect to the agricultural production and the aquaculture, leaving negative impact on the local economy.
As in a forecast for climate change impacts, Phuoc Hoa commune will suffer changes of temperature, rainfall and sea level rise. Its rice cultivated land will be seriously damaged if there is no suitable response to the climate change.
In the pilot scheme, 77 farmer households at the 2 hamlets of Kim Dong and Tan Gian grew 2010 winter-spring and autumn crops on 10ha of near-dike lowlands.
All of the participating households were trained in intensive farming techniques of commercial rice, techniques of transplanting rice in straight lines, techniques of pure line rice multiplication. 8ha out of the 10 ha was for the plantation of rice lines of AS96, IR64Sub1 and SH2. The rest 2 ha was for sowing pure rice line of DV108.
The Project Management Steering Board (PMSB) regularly followed up the implementation, guided the target farmers and transferred each of the household modern technologies through direct “witness and practice” approach.
The farmers followed the required technical guides well. As a result, the rice varieties of the experimented model grew well and yielded high with productivity of 65.5 – 69 quintals per hectare, even 80 quintals per hectare, 15-20 quintals higher than the other local rice varieties at the same lowlands.
In autumn crop, thanks to the appropriate care, fertilization techniques and pesticide practices, the experimented rice varieties reached 65 quintals per hectare in spite of unusual weather patterns with high temperature and high salinity of the cultivated land.
“Growing rice at the near-dike lowlands of the 2 hamlets of Kim Dong and Tan Gian used to be very difficult,” said Bui Thanh Long, one of the target farmers of the project. “Despite a large amount of sown rice seeds, the harvest was often poor as the rice couldn’t resistant to the floods and died.”
“As the project was implemented, we were very happy because we were trained on farming techniques of saltwater-adapted rice plantation. We sow just 6kg of rice seeds over an area of about 497m2. The fertilization and pesticide costs reduce while the productivity increases, particularly in case of SH2 variety. We are very happy.”
The project aims to help the local farmers get familiar with new salt-tolerant rice varieties, said a member of PMSB, Dr. Nguyen To Tran.
Through the plantation of such varieties, they know production technologies and actively response to the climate change, avoid abandoning farmland whenever there are floods and salt water intrusion, added she.
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