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Risks and risk responses of rice farmers in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

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Abstract

In the recent years, rice farmers in the Mekong River Delta (MRD) have faced increased risks of weather and pestilence, both of which directly impact the sustainability of their livelihoods. In this regard, the objective of this paper is to investigate the risk facing rice farmers and the impact of risk mitigation strategies on profit of the farmers in the Mekong Delta. The results, estimated from a sample of 342 farmers, show that 80 percent of the farmers faced two types of risk, namely weather risk, risk of crop pests and diseases. Mitigation strategies of the farmers are (1) adjusting planting schedules and growing techniques, (2) water resource management, (3) rice protection products, and (4) reducing production scale. The results of regression analysis showed that the first and second strategy are found to be positively correlated with farmer's profit. It is also revealed that farmers who actively respond to risks have higher profit than passive farmers, consistent with a common perception of "prevention is better than cure". The policy implication to be drawn from the study for the government and the MRD agricultural sector is to guide farmers in risk identification and prevention. At the same time, it is necessary to invest in upgrading the risk forecasting system in agriculture and to invest in completing irrigation infrastructure allowing actively regulate water for production.

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Notes

  1. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change.

  2. Vietnam government has implemented a number of policy promoting high yield and high quality rice nationwide since 2008 (i.e. Tam Nong Policy—Resolution No. 26/2008/NQ-TW, National Food Security—Resolution No. 63/2009/NQ-CP, Master plan on development of agricultural production to 2020—Decision No. 124/2012/QD-TTg, agricultural extension—Decree No. 02/2010/ND-CP, research and development in agriculture—Resolution No. 26/2012/QH13). As a results, high yielding varieties are commonly used by the rice farmers in the studied areas.

  3. Risk response strategy is a combination of specific policies and measures applied to mitigate the harm caused by risks, the effectiveness of risk response strategies shown for risks adaptability of the farmers (Ozor et al. 2012).

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by Vietnam National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED) under Grant Number 502.01-2015.23.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Economics, Can Tho University, Campus 2, 3/2 street, Ninh Kieu, Can Tho, Vietnam

    Kiet Tuan Nguyen & Chi Huu Phuong Ho

  2. Can Tho, Vietnam

    Duc Cong Trinh

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  1. Kiet Tuan Nguyen
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  2. Chi Huu Phuong Ho
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  3. Duc Cong Trinh
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Correspondence to Kiet Tuan Nguyen.

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The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available in the Open Science Framework repository, https://osf.io/cdzgw/. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/CDZGW.

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Nguyen, K.T., Ho, C.H.P. & Trinh, D.C. Risks and risk responses of rice farmers in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Lett Spat Resour Sci 15, 129–144 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12076-021-00290-5

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