Vietnam launches digital scoring tool to support low-emission rice programme
Vietnam has become the first country in the Mekong Delta region to deploy a digital compliance assessment tool for its national low-emission rice programme, supporting efforts to strengthen sustainable rice production, improve traceability and expand access to premium export markets.
The initiative is being led by the International Rice Research Institute in partnership with the Vietnam Rice Industry Association and the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Can Tho City.
At the centre of the programme is the ViRiCert digital platform, jointly developed by IRRI and VIETRISA to assess farming practices linked to Vietnam’s 1-Million-Hectare low-emission rice initiative. The system is designed to evaluate compliance with sustainable cultivation standards while supporting certification, traceability and the issuance of production unit codes for rice growers.
Can Tho City has become the first locality in the Mekong Delta to pilot the tool, applying it across 11 agricultural cooperatives involved in large-scale, high-quality rice production aligned with the programme’s low-emission objectives.
The ViRiCert system uses a digital scoring mechanism to assess compliance across multiple farming stages, including water management, mechanised land preparation, seed use, fertiliser application, pest management and straw handling after harvest. Farming data from growers and cooperatives is uploaded, verified and managed through the platform in line with the programme’s technical requirements.
Preliminary assessments recognised three cooperatives in Can Tho for their adoption of sustainable farming practices and commitment to low-emission rice production: Thanh Cong Agricultural Cooperative, Nghia Thang Rice Production Cooperative and Khiet Tam Agricultural Cooperative.
Nguyen Chi Giang said the digitalisation of agricultural data would support monitoring, traceability and the future development of certification systems for Vietnam’s green rice sector. She added that proof of sustainable production practices would be increasingly important for accessing higher-value international markets.
Officials involved in the project said the assessment process is already encouraging farmers and cooperatives to place greater emphasis on technical compliance, environmental responsibility and production data recording.
According to Le Thanh Tung, all localities participating in the 1-Million-Hectare programme are expected to obtain the Vietnam Green and Low-Emission Rice trademark. The trademark is currently awarded free of charge to cooperatives and enterprises meeting the required production and scoring standards under the ViRiCert system.
VIETRISA said around 70,000 tonnes of certified rice have already been exported under the low-emission rice trademark to markets including Japan, Europe and Australia.
The broader programme is supported through funding and collaboration involving the World Bank MOM-P Project, CGIAR Scaling for Impact and Digital Transformation Agriculture programmes, alongside TaiwanICDF’s CABIN initiative focused on sustainable and low-carbon rice innovation in Southeast Asia.
