Vietnam adopts “Three Reductions, Three Gains” as national policy

The Vietnamese government has endorsed the “Three Reductions, Three Gains” (locally called “Ba Giam, Ba Tang”), initiated as an IRRI project in 2002, as a national agricultural policy. This was communicated in a letter from the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Cao Duc Phat (photo at bottom left), instructing the agricultural sector to disseminate the system of technology and knowledge throughout the country.

                               A national lead committee and provincial- and district-level implementation committees are being established to oversee the implementation.

To further promote the program, training and field visits will be organized for extension workers and farmers. Each province will continue to research and refine the techniques, adapting them to local needs.

The minister urged the use of mass media such as radio and TV to communicate Ba Giam Ba Tang principles to farmers. In January 2006, a budget of about US$230,000 was allocated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) to 64 provinces, specifically for Ba Giam Ba Tang implementation. Annual meetings will be organized at provincial and national levels to review progress and yearly budgets.

“The introduction of Ba Giam Ba Tang is very timely especially to help raise farmers’ incomes in these days of rising oil prices,” said Dr. Phat. “In addition, the practices are environmental friendly.” According to Mr. Nguyen Huu Huan, chairman of the national committee, Ba Giam Ba Tang is now practiced by more than 1 million farmers. “In the recent brown planthopper outbreaks in the Mekong Delta, most farmers practicing Ba Giam Ba Tang escaped heavy pest attacks.”

The Vice Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Bui Ba Bong, expects that 50% of rice farmers in the country will be using Ba Giam Ba Tang within the next 3 years.

In Ba Giam Ba Tang, farmers are urged to experiment with adjusting their seed and fertilizer rates to that recommended by the Cuu Long Rice Research Institute (CLRRI) and to stop early insecticide sprays. “Since most farmers in the Mekong are using very high seed and chemical rates, they inevitably would seek to adjust by reducing,” said Dr. Pham Sy Tan, agronomist and deputy director of CLRRI. In a farmer participatory experiment carried out by 951 farmers, farmers gained increased incomes of US$58 and US$35 per hectare, in winter-spring and summer-autumn crops, respectively. To popularize Ba Giam Ba Tang, the team, involving several stakeholders, used a multimedia approach that had successfully promoted “No early spray” and reduced farmers’ insecticide use by 53% several years ago.

The Ba Giam Ba Tang campaign, supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) was launched on 8 March 2003 in Can Tho City.

“We have applied the incremental approach to agricultural extension and added reducing seeds and fertilizers to `no early spray,'" explained Dr. M.M. Escalada, a communication scientist from Leyte State University, now on sabbatical leave at IRRI. The media used included posters, billboards, leaflets, newspapers, radio, and TV. A radio soap opera, initiated by Rockefeller Foundation, called Chuyen Que Minh aired as Radio IPM by the Voice of Ho Chi Minh City and several provincial radio stations, had 29 episodes on Ba Giam Ba Tang. Surveys carried out showed that farmers in the campaign areas had reduced seed and nitrogen rates by 10% and 7%, respectively, and insecticide sprays by 25%.

“With government endorsement and financial support, 'Three Reductions' practices now have the potential of reaching all rice farmers in Vietnam,” said Dr. K.L. Heong, who initiated research and the use of communication media at IRRI. “This project represents a clear example of how research is directly linked to policy adoption and the importance of understanding farmer decisions and using a multi-stakeholder process in building quality partnerships.”

The “Three Reductions” program in Vietnam has been awarded the “Golden Rice” Award in 2003 and was runner-up in “Success Stories” competition sponsored by SDC.
 

        (Published in the IRRI Bulletin, 12-16 June 2006)

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