Farming production adapts to climate change

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh

He was speaking at a policy forum discussing opportunities for climate-smart food system jointly held by the International Potato Centre, the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security in Hanoi on April 10.

Vietnam has implemented a project on restructuring agriculture towards raising added value and securing sustainable development for six years. 

Localities in the Mekong delta that is predicted to be hardest hit by climate change have shifted 40,000 ha of farming land to aquaculture and growing fruit trees as part of efforts to make climate-smart agriculture. At the same time, they still managed to maintain rice output by increasing productivity and the quality of rice varieties.

Over the past time, international organizations have been helping Vietnam particularly the Mekong delta areas, reduce adverse impacts of climate change on agriculture, Doanh said.

He expected the international organizations continue playing their “key role” and work together with Vietnamese agencies and localities in more specific programmes to ensure climate-smart agriculture.

Climate change is producing negative effects on farming production in Vietnam and many other countries in the world, requiring nations to introduce solutions to climate-smart food systems.

At the forum, Deputy Minister of Agriculture of India Ashwini Kumar said India is working together with seven Asian countries in the production of plant varieties adapting to climate change, and can share with Vietnam its varieties models.

Participants presented groups of solutions to changing food producing, processing and consuming methods in agriculture in order to get adapted to climate change.