The Government of Vietnam committed at the Climate Change Conference (COP26) in November 2021 that the country will achieve economy wide new-zero carbon emission by 2050. Decarbonizing plays a key role in defining Vietnam overall prospects in meeting its mid-century net-zero target. To help Vietnam reaching this target, now the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) has been experimenting a series of pilot activities on application of multiple drainage technique to reduce methane emissions in rice paddy in Nghe An province.
On 4th October 2022, JIRCAS experts provided their detailed explanation of multiple drainage technique, methods, digitization strategy and project schedule to Nghe An officer.
JIRCAS and Nghe An Water Resources Department agreed to implement AWD pilot at Dien Loi commune during the period 6/2022 – 3/2025
JIRCAS is planning to implement the AWD experiment for 5 cropping seasons. First season measured the original condition of water level under traditional practice. Then AWD will be implemented to 2nd to 5th season to compare the yield of rice and reduction of methane emissions.
JIRCAS experts and farmers at Dien Loi commune
After measuring the original condition of water level under traditional practice of the first crop season, JIRCAS collects e-kakashi equipment for maintenance. Equipment was installed in the rice paddy to measure the water level. Data will be transmitted through the internet to the server, so the user can collect and analyze the data remotely.
E-kakashi equipment
In Jan 2023, this equipment will be re-installed at the fields to collect data of new crop season (farmer AWD: farmers decided timing of irrigation and drainage according to their experience such as their foot prints and the crack of the surface of paddy fields).
In the near future, JIRCAS also plans to conduct further pilot experiment _ Monsoon Asia Climate Solution by Paddy Water Management (MACS) with severe water control -25cm threshold to compare the results of rice yield, water savings and measure the reduction of methane emissions in 4 years (2022-2025). Nghe An Water Resources Department has agreed to JIRCAS’s plan and will coordinate to find a suitable fields to implement.