Bayer CropScience supports Vietnam rice farming

Bayer CropScience Vietnam is working on a four-point action plan to boost rice farming and the agriculture sector in Vietnam as a whole, thus helping local farmers improve their incomes, said Torsten Velden, country head of Bayer CropScience Vietnam. Mr. Velden shared this information at the Rice Symposium 2014 held in the Mekong Delta City of Can Tho. More than 250 participants representing key stakeholders from across the public and private sector nationwide gathered at the event to discuss issues faced by rice farmers.

At the event, speakers and experts discussed the current state of Vietnam’s rice cultivation sector as it is a foundation for enterprises in the industry to map out sound strategies and action plans.

While Vietnam has seen rice export volume increasing year after year, the added value of exported rice has barely followed suit. Farmers are mostly low-income earners and do not have much funding for technology, seeds and crop protection products to help them increase output and improve their livelihood.

In addition, most farmers are small growers or family-run businesses, meaning that rice production is mostly carried out on a small scale, resulting in higher costs. Meanwhile, there are many stakeholders involved in the rice production process from seed to table.

Key stakeholders and participants at the symposium agreed that there is an urgent need to look into harvest technologies to help improve productivity and output, and boost the branding of Vietnam rice to increase its competitive edge over neighboring countries.

With a close relation with the objectives, Velden updated Bayer CropScience Vietnam’s activities towards realization of its action plan to fuel the growth of rice farming in the nation.

First tabled at the rice symposium last year, the plan outlines four key areas to drive a holistic approach towards increasing rice yields and advancing world food security and food safety. These include leading innovations to address the key challenges of rice farming through new solutions, improving farmer capability by providing them with tools, technology and training, raising agricultural productivity in an environmentally-compatible and sustainable manner, and expanding partnerships across the rice value chain and between the public and private sector.
Over the past year, the plan reported the strong progress that Bayer has made towards realizing its action plan, Velden said.

Moreover, Bayer inaugurated a SeedGrowth Center in Can Tho in June. The first such facility in Vietnam showcases modern seed treatment technology and machinery and provides an integrated system for on-seed application, helping minimize the impact of pests and diseases as well as lowering the instances of chemical use and handling.

By introducing this new technology and making it available to farmers, Bayer for the first time is providing farmers with a solution to control the rice blast disease from sowing without interrupting their traditional process of soaking.

Regarding the Rice Value Chain (RVC) project which Bayer started last year, Velden said that the concept has expanded to more provinces covering a larger area, with the number of participating farmers double. RVC farmers have seen an average decrease of 9% in input costs versus an increase of 6% in yield, leading to a 30% increase in profit.

The Better Rice Initiative Asia (BRIA) is another key partnership that Bayer has undertaken with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) under the German Food Partnership to improve the rice value chain in Vietnam. Since the roll-out of BRIA, Velden said that they have observed an improvement in livelihood options for rice farmers in three provinces, as a result of an ecologically sustained increase in rice production and an improved linkage to quality markets. Bayer will continue to roll out the BRIA initiative in three more provinces next year.

The need for more and closer collaboration across the value chain is more pertinent now than ever. On December 18, the global rice production still fails to meet consumption needs, but this increasing demand has not translated into higher rice prices and, in turn, improved incomes for Vietnamese rice farmers, he stressed.

“By linking these smallholder farmers with value chain partners such as rice millers, distributors and retailers, as well as with global food processors, Bayer has enabled farmers to enjoy more assurance with the sale of their harvests and the prices of their produce. At the same time, they now have access to the necessary tools, technology and training to help them increase their productivity and yields.” Velden added.