Regional research “Agricultural innovations review in Sub-Mekong region countries” in the framework of the project “Network for Agriculture and Rural Development Think-tanks for Countries in Mekong sub-region” – November 2022 - April 2023.

To adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change, especially responding to saltwater intrusion, the climate change adaptation agricultural production model at the Giong Trom pomelo cooperative (Ben Tre province, Mekong Delta) has been established in 2013.

Pomelo Garden adapted to climate change in Giong Tom, Ben Tre province

Source: IPSARD’s survey in 2022

Giong Trom cooperative model has been formed since 2013 with only 12 initial members. With the form of community contribution, the cooperative now has more than 80 members. Although agricultural production in the commune is heavily affected by salinity intrusion, the cooperative members’ production still can overcome difficulties and achieved high benefit thanks to switching to pomelo cultivation to adapt to climate change.

In addition, due to synchronous solutions applied, the cooperative has successfully mitigated negative impacts of climate change on their production. Members have built internal dikes and implemented a polyculture regime of circular agriculture. In addition, the cooperative encourages members to use high-tech equipment such as salinity monitoring systems and pest warning systems. In particular, the cooperative also receives the advice and support of agricultural experts who closely monitor the crop situation.

The cooperative has negotiated suitable shipping prices and expanded the scale of booths on e-commerce platforms. During the Covid-19 pandemic, members of the cooperative were trained in online on sales and now they have proficient skills to sell online. This is really a suitable distribution channel to solve the problem of "bumper crop, low price", and allow famers to get higher profit from increasing their products value by 15-30%.

Click this link for detail information: Agricultural model of climate change adaptation