Fertilize Right combines science and partnership to transform Vietnam's rice production

With the high costs of agricultural inputs and issues with flooding, lodging, and rice straw burning, the Fertilize Right project is transforming Vietnam’s rice farming by promoting efficient and effective fertilizer use. This collaboration between USDA, MARD, and IRRI continues to yield promising results, reducing input costs, labor demands, and environmental impacts while increasing farmers’ income.

Fertilizer plays a critical role in agriculture, particularly rice production. A 2023 survey by IRRI involving 10,000 farmers in the Mekong Delta found that fertilizer costs make up about 30% of the cost of producing rice. Traditional farming practices worsen this situation by using high seed rates (over 120 kg per hectare) and excessive fertilizer use (more than 110 kg of Nitrogen per hectare).

This heavy reliance on costly inputs, coupled with issues like continuous flooding, lodging, and rice straw burning, creates a significant burden on farmers, driving some to switch to vegetable and fruit production due to the prohibitive costs of growing rice.

To address this, innovations are needed to reduce input costs (seeds, fertilizers, pesticides), minimize postharvest losses, improve rice quality, and ultimately boost farmer incomes from rice, straw, and other potential carbon credits.

The Fertilize Right (FerRight) project tackles this challenge head-on by optimizing fertilizer use efficiency and effectiveness. This initiative is a collaborative effort between the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MARD), with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) as the implementing partner. FerRight aims to improve soil health and increase farmer incomes by providing practical guidance and promoting the adoption of advanced technologies. It operates across six pilot provinces: Nam Dinh, Hai Duong, Thai Binh in the Red River Delta; and Can Tho, Soc Trang, Dong Thap in the Mekong River Delta.

“Fertilize Right Vietnam…