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

4.1.2. Solutions responding to climate change in the rice sector

Faced with such severe impacts of climate change, the governmental and
local agencies and farmers have devised solutions to adapt and respond to climate
change. Each country will have different solutions to cope with climate change,
however solutions usually focus on varieties, farming techniques, irrigation system....

In Viet Nam, widely adopted measures to adapt to climate change in rice
production are (i) Transforming inefficient rice land due to flooding, drought, saltwater
intrusion to other crops and livestock suitable to natural conditions of local and
for high efficiency. During the 2016-2020 period, Viet Nam transformed about 592
thousand ha of inefficient rice to other crop production or aquaculture. (ii) Research,
select, and create rice varieties capable of adapting and tolerant to abnormal weather
conditions including group of rice varieties with high yield and resistance to pests
and diseases, extremely short-duration rice varieties, resistant to pests and diseases;
Salt-tolerant rice varieties, Drought-tolerant rice varieties; (iii) Changing the seasonal
calendar to adapt to climate change: Spreading crops, arranging flexible and suitable
planting seasons greatly contribute to mitigating the negative impacts of climate
change on rice cultivation; (iv) Applying farming techniques such as techniques of
integrated pest management (IPM), integrated crop management (ICM), water-saving,
use of fertilizers suitable for each type of soil, land cover, Programs “3 decreases 3
increases”, “1 must 5 decreases”, System of Rice Intensification (SRI) to help cope
with increased drought conditions, increase resistance to pests and diseases, and
reduce production inputs to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from
rice farming to help mitigate climate change; (v) Developing rice models combined
with other crops and animals that are well adapted to climate change such as rice-
vegetable model adapting to drought, lack of water; rice-fish, rice-lotus models
adapting to flood conditions; rice-shrimp model adapting to saline intrusion, etc. (vi)
The irrigation system to protect rice production is still being invested in upgrading
year by year, ensuring water supply to rice-intensive areas, regulating water in the dry
season. Disaster prevention infrastructure and water reservoir systems are regularly
upgraded and repaired to reduce damage caused by natural disasters and serve the
rice production activities of the farmer.

In Cambodia, the leaders have made decisions on investing in the expansion
of agricultural production: expansion of harvested area (increasing cropping intensity
as well as expanding physical area), adding or repairing irrigation infrastructure,
increasing the use of fertilizer, and using improved seeds. Increasing the irrigation
area and promoting shorter-duration rice varieties have made it possible for farmers
to grow at least two crops per year. However, the Ministry of Water Resource and
Meteorology of Cambodia has a limited capacity to provide drought forecasts and
alert farmers. Farmers, therefore, are therefore more vulnerable to droughts than to
floods, even though the government has constructed several irrigation infrastructures,
such as dams, canals, and pumping stations, in the study areas to mitigate the risk of
droughts. Most farmers in the study areas still depend entirely on rainwater as their
source of water for their crops because they do not have sufficient access to water
from irrigation systems or other sources.

In Lao PRD, the government and farmers have applied adaptation measures
to climate change as follows: (i) The use of paddy adaptation rice varieties to replace
traditional rice varieties can reduce the effects of late-season drought and dry

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