This project builds on core work that has been undertaken by IRRI and its Vietnamese and Australian research partners - encompassing improved resilience in rice production and numerous nutrient-cycling projects in the region. The project is designed to increase the adaptive capacity of rice production systems in the Mekong Delta Region (MDR), and its overarching objective is to provide farmers and management agencies with technologies and knowledge that will improve food security in the Mekong Delta.

The Mekong Delta is Vietnam’s main rice area and accounts for half of the annual rice production. The Delta’s rice land use is divided into agro-hydrological zones which are controlled by the hydrology (especially the flood duration and depth), water availability and the salinity regimes. Over the last 30 years Vietnamese farmers have adapted to the changing environmental conditions by modifying and diversifying their production systems and water management. But recent and forecasted agro-hydrological changes threaten the viability of these farming and social systems and subsequently food security within South East Asia. Significant constraints that limit the ability of the farmers to adapt to the new hydrological regime include the availability of suitable cultivars, soil nutrient management options, the lack of knowledge of the potential threats from acid sulphate soil inundation, and planning tools.

This project builds on core work that has been undertaken by IRRI and its Vietnamese and Australian research partners - encompassing improved resilience in rice production and numerous nutrient-cycling projects in the region. The project is designed to increase the adaptive capacity of rice production systems in the Mekong Delta Region (MDR), and its overarching objective is to provide farmers and management agencies with technologies and knowledge that will improve food security in the Mekong Delta. There are five main project objectives: 1) to improve salinity and submergence resilience of locally adapted rice varieties and elite lines; 2) to build capacity for quantification of soil nutrient cycling (including the emissions of greenhouse gases) from rice fields; 3) to develop integrated soil, crop, nutrient and water management options; 4) to identify biophysical, social and economic factors determining the capacity of farmers to adapt to climate change; 5) to undertake in-depth analysis for land-use planning in coastal areas.

The project has six themes with the following objective and activities:

• Theme 1: Location-specific impact and vulnerability assessment
• Theme 2: Improvement of salinity and submergence resilience of locally adapted rice varieties
  and elite lines
• Theme 3: Managing resources for resilient rice-based systems coping with rapidly changing
  environments
• Theme 4: Analysis of farming systems and socioeconomic settings in rice farming households
• Theme 5: Integrated adaptation assessment of Bac Lieu Province and development of adaptation
  master plan
• Theme 6: Capacity building for assessing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions