Viet Nam is an agricultural country with 80% of its population living in the rural areas. The agricultural sector contributes nearly one third of the national GDP. Recognising the importance of the role of agricultural economic development in the national economy, the Government has paid great attention to environmental protection and management of natural resources, including water and land, for sustainable agricultural development. In addition to other environmental issues related to agricultural development, scientific studies show that paddy rice cultivation contributes to releasing the major greenhouse gas of methane to the atmosphere, contributing to the environmental problem of global warming. These studies and results of field-tested models also show that significant methane reduction potential could be achieved in paddy rice cultivation through innovative water management regimes with intermittent irrigation technical practices.

The project will take place in Dien Ban District, one of the main paddy rice cultivation areas in Quang Nam province. The total land are of the district is 21,428 ha, with 12.039 ha of agricultural land (56%) (among the agricultural land area, there are 6,000 ha of paddy rice with only chemical fertiliser application and double-cropping system). However, agricultural development in general and paddy rice production in particular has faced many difficulties and challenges. The serious degradation of infrastructure of the irrigation system in the district, such as pumping stations, irrigation channels, has led to the significant loss of water and electricity in irrigation work. In addition, technical capacity of the operational workers who execute the irrigation system is very limited. This has been considered as a major obstacle in applying advanced techniques and technologies in irrigation system management.

In order to address the issue, the local Government has given priority to improvement of agricultural production through technical advancement and better management. In addition to increase of technical inputs, the local Government has been constantly improving its irrigation system to serve agricultural economic development. The major goal is to promote water conservation in achieving sustainable agricultural development with better irrigation practice so as to achieve yield increase.

The project meets the goal of GEF/SGP by reducing greenhouse gas emission from paddy rice cultivation through innovative water management regimes with intermittent irrigation technical practices. The associated benefits also include reduction of water and electricity use for paddy rice production and yield increase. The project will focus on transferring technology on water management regimes with intermittent irrigation technical practices and building technical capacity for the local community. It will also give priority to awareness raising on environmental protection and climate change issue for local communities.

Due to the lack of technical information and low public awareness on climate change issue and technologies, there is a strong lack of projects which demonstrate new technologies and techniques in reducing methane emission from paddy rice cultivation. The project develops the model which has the potential to be largely replicated in other localities in Quang Nam Province in particular and in Vietnam in general.