SACCR Project: Helping Ethnic Minorities Change Their Farming Mindset

After more than 3 years of implementation, the Project "Enhancing the resilience of small-scale agriculture to water security due to climate change in the Central Highlands and South Central Coast" (SACCR Project) with many agricultural models implemented has helped ethnic minorities in the project area change their awareness, thinking, and backward farming practices, and know how to apply scientific and technical advances in production to increase the value and yield of crops.

Initial success

Nha Hui village (My Son commune) has 238 households, of which nearly 50% are ethnic minorities, people's lives mainly depend on agricultural production and livestock farming. Through the SACCR project with the model of hybrid corn and green bean rotation to withstand climate change, Ms. Mau Thi Binh - a household in the village, was supported with hybrid corn NK7328 and green bean DX208 along with fertilizers, pesticides and instructions on farming techniques from land preparation, water-saving irrigation to biological pest management. Ms. Mau Thi Binh said that thanks to planting according to technical processes, fertilizing and applying pesticides properly, corn and green bean plants grow well and give high yields. On an area of ​​0.16ha, after nearly 4 months, the corn plant yielded nearly 1.5 tons with the current selling price of 8,000 VND/kg, generating an income of nearly 12 million VND/crop, an increase of more than 21% compared to the old farming practice, with a profit increase of 36%. Continuing to rotate mung bean crops on the same area of ​​land after 3 months, Ms. Binh harvested more than 170kg, generating an income of more than 5 million VND/crop.

People visit the hybrid corn and green bean farming model to withstand climate change in Nha Hui village, My Son commune.

In previous years, Ms. Kator Huynh in Ba Rau 2 village (Thuan Bac commune) and other villagers cultivated according to traditional, backward practices, so productivity was low and many years of crop failure due to pests and diseases. Through the SACCR Project, she was supported with 4kg of DX208 green bean seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides on an area of ​​nearly 0.17ha. After 3 months of cultivation, her family harvested 176kg of green beans, with the current selling price of 30,000 VND/kg, earning nearly 5.3 million VND, a profit increase of nearly 22% compared to old farming practices. Ms. Kator Huynh said that thanks to implementing reasonable farming solutions, a water-saving irrigation system, closely monitoring the situation of pests and being instructed on timely prevention, pests were limited and production costs were reduced.

Mr. Nguyen Van Dung - Director of the Provincial Agricultural Service Center said: "The hybrid corn and green bean rotation model to withstand climate change has special significance in helping people find solutions to adapt to climate change such as saving water, using crops adapted to poor and arid lands, increasing soil nutrition. When rotating crops, some pathogens will be cut, thereby reducing the use of pesticides, limiting environmental pollution in agriculture, and improving economic efficiency per unit area".

Need to replicate the model

According to Mr. Luu Hong Son - Vice Chairman of My Son Commune People's Committee, in recent years, agricultural production in the commune has been affected by climate change. Ethnic minorities still cultivate in a traditional and backward way, leading to low crop productivity. The hybrid corn and green bean rotation farming model has achieved some remarkable results. But what is more special about the model is that ethnic minorities have access to new and more effective farming techniques and measures to cope with climate change. This result has demonstrated the correct policy in applying science and technology to agricultural production, opening up a new direction for the agricultural sector in communes with a large population of ethnic minorities, contributing to socio-economic development and improving people's lives.

Leaders of the Department of Agriculture and Environment inspected the hybrid corn and green bean rotation model to withstand climate change in My Son commune.

With the success of the model, Mr. Vo Van Cong - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment hopes that the SACCR Project Management Board will coordinate with the Provincial Agricultural Service Center to continue to strengthen training and transfer farming techniques to households to expand to remote areas, areas heavily affected by climate change. At the same time, he suggested that localities strengthen product consumption connections so that people can feel secure in production, aiming at the highest goal of improving people's lives, especially ethnic minority areas.

Mr. NGUYEN VAN BINH - Director of the Ninh Thuan SACCR Project Management Board: The SACCR project is funded by the Green Development Fund (GCF). The project focuses on supporting poor and near-poor households, ethnic minorities, and women with a farming area of ​​less than 1 hectare. In Khanh Hoa, the project will be implemented in the 2021-2026 period with more than 8,000 households participating. In addition to supporting irrigation materials, equipment, and technical training, the project also builds climate-resilient agricultural learning points, connects markets, and credits, helping small farmers to stabilize production and develop sustainably. From 2023 to present, in the communes in the southern region of Khanh Hoa province, the Ninh Thuan SACCR Project Management Board has supported the digging of 235 ponds and the installation of 520 last-mile connection systems with a cost of 11.8 billion VND; supported the installation of 1,000 water-saving irrigation systems for 1,000 project beneficiaries with a value of 4.1 billion VND; supported agricultural materials for 4,816 households with a total cost of 34.4 billion VND. In addition, the project also organized training for 6,962 households on soil and biomass management using the field classroom method; organized 140 training courses for 6,418 households on water resource management and climate change resilience.

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Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/kinh-te/202508/du-an-saccr-giupdong-bao-dan-toc-thieu-so-thay-doi-tu-duy-canh-tac-79c1957/