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PROJECT “NETWORK FOR AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
THINK-TAKS FOR COUNTRIES IN MEKONG-SUB REGION” (NARDT)

Area Ha 378,823 413,930 485,915 358,202 330,376
Sticky
Share % 8.6 8.5 10.8 6.0 7.0
Area Ha 312,069 410,376 287,508 289,561 206,138
Others
Share % 11.2 11.0 6.7 9.0 7.0
Source: Tran Xuan Dinh, 2021.

- Rice production standards

In general, Cambodia, Lao PDR and Viet Nam are also interested in rice
production according to safety and high-quality standards. Especially, in recent years
due to the impact of climate change as well as the requirements of consumers, rice
production in these countries has had positive changes towards more sustainable
production.

In Cambodia, people have paid more attention to the organic rice production
process in order to increase their income, especially this type of rice is favored by the
European market and is also the driving force to promote the country’s rice exports
in recent years.

In Lao PDR, most Lao farmers continue to use traditional agricultural production
practices, while neighboring countries have been using agricultural chemicals
intensively for decades. A major portion of rice production is specialty organic and
regular scented rice. This, combined with the increasing cost of petroleum-based
pesticides and chemical fertilizers, gives Laos a comparative advantage in producing
relatively low-cost, clean, and safe food products.

In Viet Nam, the rice sector has widely applied sustainable production
processes and standards voluntarily. Currently, there are 3 groups of techniques
applied to rice production in the regions, including: (1) 1 must (use of certified seed)
5 decreases (seed, fertilizer, water, pesticide and post-harvest losses), 3 decreases
(seed, fertilizer, pesticide) 3 increase (yield, economic effectiveness, product quality),
alternate wetting and drying (AWD), System of Rice Intensification (SRI), Sustainable
Rice Platform (SRP); (2) Organic standard; (3) Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practices
(VietGap) . In which, the majority of rice areas are produced under VietGap and other
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production methods of input reduction.

1.2. Main actors involved in the rice value chain of the country

The rice value chain of the countries is quite similar with the main actors
including input providers, farmers, traders/collectors, factories/millers, and enterprises
(milling, processing, exporting). In particular, the main actors in the production are
still small farmers. In general, the linkage in the rice value chains is limited and weak,
in which small farmers are still vulnerable and depend largely on other actors. Below
analysis is based on surveys of regional research partners (NAFRI, CDRI, IPSARD) in
2021 and 2022 and secondary data.

4 Issued by Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development.

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