4s2b: Roles of rice landraces in sustainable food production in the coastal Mekong delta of Vietnam

Abstract

Rice production has played an essential role in farmer’s livelihoods in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta and food security in Vietnam. In the past  three decades, intensive rice production with high-yielding rice varieties significantly contributed to national food security and the agricultural economy. High-yielding rice varieties, characterised by short-growth duration and high reliance on high input levels of agro-chemicals, have gradually replaced rice landraces with long-growth duration, low external input requirements and relatively low yields. A raised question is whether such the rice landraces will still play their roles under pressures from negative impacts of climate change and reduced flows of the Mekong, and the promotion of agricultural transformation in the Mekong Delta.