On August 17, 2023, the innovation conference on digital technology named "Digital transformation towards green and sustainable agriculture development" was organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Hanoi. At the conference, Oxfam introduced Rice Hero, the first mobile application in Vietnam that assists users in monitoring greenhouse gas emissions during rice cultivation, harvesting and processing.

According to the Report: “Spearheading Vietnam’s Green Agricultural Transformation: Moving to Low-Carbon Rice by the World Bank in 2021”, Vietnam's agricultural emissions account for about 19% of the country's total emissions, of which emissions from rice alone account for 48%. Therefore, controlling and limiting emissions from rice plays a vital role, contributing to significantly reducing environmental pollution, towards the goal of sustainable development for Vietnam's agricultural industry.

About the Rice Hero app: this app is designed to be intuitive and user-friendly. Users (i.e. farmers, businesses) only need to enter three types of information: farming parameters (e.g. rice production, land area), crop parameters (e.g. information about the rice species and crop protection agents), operation management information (e.g. rice cultivation methods, production inputs like fertilizers or types of machinery used). The application subsequently calculates and presents the user's greenhouse gas emissions for each production stage per hectare and suggests appropriate emission reduction solutions. 

Highlights of the application: All of this data will be processed on cloud computing technology, providing valuable information such as emission maps by area, graphs comparing emissions across regions or against default standards, and detailed reports from region, province, commune to the producer level. In addition, Rice Hero offers other features to support rice producers and businesses, including weather forecasts, agricultural extension information, and real-time updates on rice prices based on the market. 

Rice Hero also provides governance data and emission maps at communal, districtual, provincial and regional levels. This supports the assessment and recommendations for more appropriate and sustainable farming models. The application is aligned with the Government's direction towards green agriculture, pushing for emission reduction within supply chains, aiming for low-carbon labels for businesses, thus increasing export capacity to high value markets such as Europe and America.

At the conference, experts also suggested that it is necessary to establish a fundamental data infrastructure for agriculture and rural development, and at the same time strengthen the coordination between local and central units in digital transformation to protect green and sustainable agricultural practices.

The conference "Digital transformation towards green and sustainable agriculture development" was organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) on August 17, in order to promote innovative solutions about digital technology in agriculture and rural development.

Visual introduction to Rice Hero here.

Images: Oxfam and Vietnam Agriculture Newspaper