Presentation by B. Ole Sander, International Rice Research Institute or research supported by CCAFS, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, and USAID International conference on agricultural emissions and food security: Connecting research to policy and practice 10-13 September 2018 Berlin, Germany

1. Low-emission development of rice
production in Vietnam: Lessons Learnt
from Scaling of Alternate Wetting and
Drying in the Red River Delta
Bjoern Ole Sander1, Vu Duong Quynh2, Nguyen Thi Hue2,
Mai Van Trinh2, Jorrel Aunario1, Justin McKinley3,
Reiner Wassmann1
1International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, Philippines
2Institute for Agricultural Environment, Hanoi, Vietnam
3Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

2. GHG emissions from rice production in Vietnam
VN Nat. Comm.:
• Emissions from rice sector are
higher than emissions from
transport sector
• Emissions from rice are around
50% of all agricultural emissions
Carlson et al., 2016
• Vietnam emits ~10% of global
methane emissions from rice
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
VIETNAM
Shareoftotalnational
GHGemissions
Transport emissions Rice emissions

3. Vietnam’s commitment to the
Paris Agreement
Targets of Nationally Determined Contribution for 2030
• 8% reduction voluntary contribution
• 25% reduction depending on international support
• 11 actions identified in NDC implementation plan of which
5 are rice-related and 3 target water management in rice

4. Flooded field is left to
dry out
When water level drops to
a threshold (15cm below
soil surface), the field is
irrigated again
Perforated
tube for
observing
water level in
the soil
AWD saves up to 30% of
irrigation water and reduces GHG
emissions by ~50%

5. Jan-Apr.
harvest
(1.77M ha)
May-Aug.
harvest
(2.63M ha)
Sept.-Dec.
harvest
(3.08M ha)
PhenoRice Vietnam: When and where?

6. Climatic AWD suitability maps, Vietnam
Methodology: Nelson et al., 2015
• Based on cropping calendar, rice extent and
water balance
• Considering biophysical factors only (soil texture/
percolation, rainfall, temperature, solar radiation)
Sander et al., manuscript in preparation

7. Climatic AWD suitability analysis
in Thai Binh province
Based on provincial soil map 1:50,000
High suitability: > 80% of growth duration has water deficit
Low suitability: < 50% of growth duration has water deficit
Spring rice Summer rice
Sander et al., manuscript in preparation

8. Socio-economic AWD suitability assessment
Local experts from DARD and extension services rate various factors,
e.g. elevation, farmer awareness, irrigation facilities from 1-10
High suitability: average rating > 8
Low suitability: average rating < 5
Spring rice Summer rice
Sander et al., manuscript in preparation

9. Results from Costs & Returns Analysis
• A major economic incentive of AWD is realized through
lower irrigation costs
• AWD uses less water
 lower costs of irrigation
• Study in MRD and RRD
found no difference
in irrigation costs:
– CF Rice: $37.33 ha-1
– AWD Rice $34.88 ha-1
– Difference: $2.45 (ns)
McKinley et al., manuscript in preparation

10. Irrigation Subsidy
• Upon closer inspection:
– CF farmers who receive subsidy
(blue) pay $15.21 ha-1 less than
AWD (green)
– CF farmers without subsidy (red)
pay $14.31 ha-1 more than AWD
farmers (green)
• Government subsidy artificially
lowers cost of irrigation,
disincentivizes farmers from
adopting AWD
McKinley et al., manuscript in preparation

11. • Conditional logit analysis (McFadden & Train) was used to determine factors
that influence adoption of AWD
• Results show that receiving an irrigation subsidy reduces adoption
probability for AWD by 20%
• Confirms that water pricing is an important factor
• Implementation of NDC actions should include discussion on irrigation
subsidies
Conditional Logit Analysis

12. Policy engagement
• Policy workshops on technical and high level have been
organized to continuously communicate and discuss findings
• Rice NAMA team has been formed to incl. MARD and MPI to
ensure concerted action on eye level for outscaling
Photo: Baomoi.com

13. Ingredients for successful
implementation
Trusted partnerships through joint studies
Continued engagement on all levels
Development of usable science-based outputs
Suggestion of implementable solutions

14. Thank you very much!
More information
ClimateChange.irri.org
GHGmitigation.irri.org
B.Sander@irri.org