ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Agricultural and Food Economics
Volume 9 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2025.1617417
This article is part of the Research TopicEco-Conscious Food Systems: A Unified Framework From Processing To Waste ManagementView all 6 articles
Potential for CO2 Emission Reduction from Large-Scale Rice Fields in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam: A Case Study on OM4040 Rice Variety
Provisionally accepted
- 1Hochiminh city University of Natural Resources and Environment, Hochiminh, Vietnam
- 2Voice of Environment (VoE), Assam, India
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Transitioning from traditional smallholder to large-scale, mechanized rice farming offers significant potential for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Southeast Asia. This study assessed the environmental and economic performance of large-scale OM4040 rice cultivation in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, using IPCC methodologies. Results showed a 15.5% reduction in CO₂-equivalent (CO₂e) emissions per ton of rice produced, driven by improved water management (e.g., alternate wetting and drying), laser-assisted land leveling, and optimized fertilizer use. Mechanized operations were found to increase fuel-based emissions, but higher yields offset this effect. Additionally, postharvest straw reuse contributed to avoiding 2.4-3.0 tons CO₂e per 10 ha per season, reinforcing circular economy principles. Economically, large-scale systems were more profitable only when land rental costs were excluded. The integration of carbon efficiency and sustainability indices provided a comprehensive evaluation of emission trade-offs. These findings support the adoption of climate-smart rice production systems and underscore the need for enabling infrastructure and land policy reforms to enhance scalability and sustainability.
Keywords: CO2 Decrease, Large fields, Mekong Delta, sustainable agriculture, Food
Received: 24 Apr 2025; Accepted: 05 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Phuong Vu and Choudhury. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Thai Phuong Vu, Hochiminh city University of Natural Resources and Environment, Hochiminh, Vietnam
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