New rice farming method has helped people mitigate the negative impacts of climate change

Unusual weather such as more rains and rainfall than in previous years is occurring throughout Son La province in general and Thuan Chau district and 4 project communes in particular in the first 6 months of 2022. Excessive rain has led to some unexpected consequences in farming and raising livestock. The flowering and fruiting have been affected, resulting in a decrease in yield and quality. Furthermore, pests and diseases have also appeared due to heavy rain, making it more difficult for people to prevent.

In order to strengthen resilience and mitigate the negative impacts of climate change on rice cultivation, in the first 6 months of 2022, the Centre for Sustainable Rural Development (SRD) in collaboration with the Son La Provincial Sub-Department of Plantation and Plant Protection , People's Committee of Thuan Chau District and People's Committee of 4 communes, namely Muoi Noi, Bon Phang, Chieng Pha and Nam Lau  organized 05 training courses on Climate Adaptive Rice (CAR) ) for the citizen. This activity is within the framework of the project “Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate change in the agriculture and forestry sector in Northwestern highlands", funded by Bread for the World (BfdW).

Each training class which attracted 30 farmers (representing 30 households) undergone 8 training sessions by both theoretical materials and practical activities. For instance, these techniques have been applied directly in each trainer’s fields.

By attending training courses, 150 participants have experienced and applied the following knowledge and techniques. For instance, CAR rice cultivation techniques were experimented by using pure rice varieties to increase adaptability to natural conditions and local soil, and enhance resistance to weather conditions and pests. The trainers also exchanged and applied the method of transplanting 1-2 seedlings/clump with space from 15 to 17 cm, instead of traditional method of transplanting 3-5 seedlings/clump with space less than 10cm. Next, the trainers were also guided on the usage of fertilizers through two experimental plots comparing organic fertilizer and inorganic fertilizer application. One experimental plot was completely fertilized with well-rotted manure and microbial organic fertilizers, and the remaining one were fertilized with 100% chemical fertilizers. During the training sessions, trainers were guided on visiting the fields, and investigating the growth status of rice plants as well as the situation of pests and diseases to decide whether to spray pesticides or not.

After 3 months of study, discussion and practical experience, the training courses held field workshops from July 5 to July 8, 2022 to review the obtained results, as well as planning for the Summer-Autumn crop season. Each field workshop has got their tensions from 45 to 50 participants, including representatives from the Agricultural Extension Center of Son La Province, Son La Sub-Department of Plantation and Plant Protection, the Department of Agriculture of Thuan Chau District,the Agricultural Service Center of Thuan Chau District, leaders of 4 project communes,  and people. The participants visited and observed the model fields, listened to and shared about the methods, the implementation process and results of the CAR (Climate Adaptive Rice) rice cultivation process. After that, all participants and people continued to exchange and share more experiences and results of the above activities.

In the conference room, all the participants listened to people’s sharing. Furthermore, accounting tables for economic cost and measurement indicators of the model fields were highlighted in the reports on the results of the implementation of the model. The measured results confirmed the first and most important point, which was the ability to reduce the percentage of black rice and the breakage of rice plants in the rainy weather conditions like this year, compared to many other people's fields that had not followed the project method. Secondly, the transplanting of 1-2 seedlings/clump not only saves 50-60% of the amount of rice seed but it also helps the rice plants to grow, set branches and produce longer flowers. Therefore, the number of solid seeds was also higher than the number in the control fields of other people. Third, experiments on the use of rotting manure, microbial organic fertilizers and chemical fertilizers have carried out. It was shown that with organic fertilizers, rice plants grow slower but the plants are very strong and the stems are stiff with less pests and diseases, meanwhile, with the experimental plot of chemical fertilizer, the rice growth is faster but uneven, the rice stem is tall and soft with more pests and diseases. Fourth, trainees have found that CAR rice cultivation has helped them reduce 1-2 times of pesticide spraying, even some households only sprayed once for the spring crop. past (before participating in the training, people's habit is to spray 3-4 times). The reduction in the number of times of spraying pesticides plus the use of organic fertilizers has contributed to an increase in the proportion of natural enemies to balance with pests and diseases. Fifth, all participants assessed that the yield of the model rice field is much better when comparing with the control fields. According to measurements and calculations by lecturers and trainees, rice transplanted by the CAR method gives a yield increase of 10 to 15% compared to the conventional method of farmers in adverse weather conditions. Furthermore, the profit from saving rice seed, labor and number of times of spraying pesticides is about 1.000.000VND to 1.500.000VND for 1,000m2 of rice.

From the above-mentioned positive results, the participants of the 5 training classes have committed to continue applying these techniques introduced by the project from the 2022 Season. Most directly, they will transplant 1-2 seedlings sparsely, use decayed manure and micro-organic fertilizers, visit the fields regularly and use pesticides only when absolutely necessary. SRD staff and the Son La Provincial Sub-Department of Plantation and Plant Protection will accompany the People's Committee of Thuan Chau district and the People's Committee of 4 communes to promote and replicate this model to other villages and communes in the district.