The Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) in partnership with the Thai Binh provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development held a conference to review the spring rice crop and present prizes to the winners of the project "AgResults Vietnam Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Pilot" (AVERP) (Phase I).

A winner of the AVERP project (Phase I) honoured at the event. (Photo: SNV Vietnam)

The project aims to test and scale up innovative technologies, tools, and approaches to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while increasing yields in rice cultivation.

The three winners received prizes worth a total of 100,000 USD. Of the amount, 50,000 USD was given to the first prize winner – FARI-SEED JSC, a member of Field Crops Research Institute.

The AgResults Vietnam Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Pilot is a four-year, USD-8-million results-based financing project that aims to test and scale up innovative technologies, tools, and approaches to reduce GHG emissions in the land cultivation and production stages for rice, while also increasing yield, reducing poverty, protecting the environment, and combating the effects of climate change.

The AVERP project is conducted in two phases in the Red River Delta’s Thai Binh province. The first phase of the project took place over two rice crops, during which selected organisations tested their technologies. Six out of 11 competing organisations were selected to go through to the second phase.

The project’s Phase II will begin in spring 2019 and consists of four consecutive crops, during which organisations will scale their proven technology to reach the greatest number of smallholder farmers. Participating organisations will be paid based on their results achieved in both phases.

Its objectives are to reach 75,000 farm households in Thai Binh, reduce 375,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions, and save about 15 percent of costs for smallholder farmers due to lower input use.Following the first phase of the project, three companies that have developed and demonstrated effective technologies and solutions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance yields were selected to receive prizes in total of USD 100,000.

They are Seed Plant JSC under the Field Crops Research Institute, Binh Dien Fertilizer JSC, and An Dinh Technology Development And Investment Company Limited.

The second phase of the project will begin in spring 2019 and consists of four consecutive cropping seasons during which the organisations will scale their proven technology in order to reach the greatest number of smallholder farmers.

If proven effective, the solutions tested and scaled in this project can then be expanded to other areas of the Red River Delta and other parts of Vietnam.

At the ceremony, Professor Dr. Nguyen Hong Son, General Director of Crop Production Department made a remark, “This is an innovative project as we allow enterprises and organisations to test technologies by themselves. Only when the technologies prove their advantages they can be accepted for spill-over and still further tested by the voluntary adoption of SHFs. This innovative method allows the enterprises to fully take the initiatives to demonstrate their technologies and prove its preeminence before transferring them to farmers.”/.

VNF