September 2014

Source: CGIAR Blog

Rice farmer Ho Thai Benam stands outside a noisy hall, looking keenly at the on-going workshop keenly. Asked why the interest, she says: “I have children studying in the city and with low rice productivity, I don’t have enough money for their tuition.” She is here to find rice that is high yielding and that sells at a high price, she explains.

She is in the right place. The workshop going on behind her is about new and improved rice seeds resilient to harsher climate conditions, being conducted under the Climate Change Affecting Land Use in the Mekong Delta: Adaptation of Rice-based Cropping Systems (CLUES) project, led by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

With flooding in the Delta - where 60 percent of Vietnam’s rice is produced - becoming more intense, frequent and complex to control, climate-smart rice varieties are what Benam and the estimated 17 million farmers living in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta need most.

As the government’s Southern Institute for Water Resources Planning contemplates spending US$2.1 billion to protect crops and people from flooding, researchers have mapped hot spots of flooding and salinity intrusion, and assessed the impact of infrastructure development on the hydrology of the lower Mekong River since 2011.

Full article

Website: http://www.cgiar.org

Published: September 25, 2014