10 companies honoured for efforts to expand sustainable rice farming

10 companies honoured for efforts to expand sustainable rice farming

The Netherlands Development Organisation SNV in Vietnam, on May 19, organised the Award Ceremony for the Summer–Autumn Season of 2025 to recognise 10 companies demonstrating outstanding performance in partnering with smallholder farmers on sustainable rice farming practices.

10 companies honoured for their efforts to expand sustainable rice farming practices

The award is designed to encourage profitability, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and strengthen social inclusion outcomes, while supporting the development of a more sustainable rice value chain in line with the objectives of the TRVC Project.

Vietnam Rice Co., Ltd. (Vinarice), a member of Vietnam National Seed Group JSC (Vinaseed), recorded the strongest overall performance in the programme. The company delivered an average greenhouse gas emission reduction of 3.76 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent per hectare, alongside an average farmer profit margin of 49 per cent. Vinarice has also partnered with 5,525 farming households to develop a sustainable rice cultivation area spanning over 27,000 ha, accounting for around 60 per cent of the scheme’s total area.

Meanwhile, in terms of economic outcomes, the TRVC Project's average profit margin achieved by smallholder farmers reached 49.27 per cent in Dong Thap province and 51.58 per cent in An Giang province. On the environmental front, the project delivered verified greenhouse gas emission reductions totalling 164,494.41 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent.

In addition, all participating companies integrated policies and implemented measures aimed at encouraging social inclusion and equity across both their internal operations and value chain partnerships within the project areas.

Christie Getman, country director of SNV Vietnam, said the TRVC Project had shown over three crop seasons that meaningful change is possible when businesses, cooperatives, farmers, government agencies, and development partners work together.

According to Getman, participating companies tested improved rice production models, promoted more efficient use of seed, fertiliser, and water, strengthened farmer linkages, and helped cut greenhouse gas emissions while improving profitability and productivity. She added that the initiative had delivered “concrete and measurable results” that directly support Vietnam’s one million hectares high-quality, low-emissions rice programme.

Nguyen Thi Tra My, CEO of The PAN Group and chairwoman of Vinaseed, said sustainability has long been a core strategic direction for the group across the agricultural and rice value chain, rather than a short-term initiative.

She described the government’s one million hectares high-quality, low-emissions rice programme as “a new direction for the future of the rice industry”, adding that TRVC had emerged as one of the group’s most effective value chain initiatives.

Drawing on the project’s implementation experience, My said the transition towards high-quality, low-emissions rice production would require a fully integrated value chain approach spanning seeds, cultivation, crop protection, procurement, processing, branding, and marketing.

She added that the group hopes to continue working with domestic and international partners to expand sustainable, low-emissions rice value chains in Vietnam.

Over the last three rice crops , Vinarice partnered with more than 11,000 farming households, with a total accumulated area of ​​over 48,500 ha. The total reduction in emissions reached nearly 184,000 tonnes of CO₂, equivalent to an average reduction of 3.76 tonnes of CO₂ per hectare of cultivated land.

With the close coordination of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MAE), local authorities, provincial project management units, and departments and agencies in Dong Thap and An Giang provinces, together with the active participation of companies and farmers, the TRVC Project continues to record significant expansion in implementation area across successive cropping seasons.

In the Winter–Spring season of 2025–2026, the total registered area across the two provinces reached 66,064 ha. Cumulatively, after four cropping seasons, the initiative has achieved a total implementation area of 150,523 ha, equivalent to over 75 per cent of the overall project objective.

These results represent an important contribution to the transition towards a low-emission rice production system and support the implementation of the programme on the sustainable development of one million ha for specialised rice farming with high-quality and low emissions, associated with green growth in the Mekong Delta by 2030, led by the MAE.

More broadly, the efforts of companies participating in the TRVC Project also contribute directly to global climate change mitigation efforts by supporting Vietnam’s commitments announced at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference, including limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C and reducing methane emissions by 30 per cent by 2030.

VIR