[Podcast] Application of laser-controlled field leveling technology in rice production: Precise agricultural solutions to be adapted to climate change

18 November, 2024

Keywords: agricultural industry, technology application, rice production, leveling fields

After more than three years of implementing a project to apply laser-controlled field leveling technology in rice production by the Environment Center for Development (EfD) in Vietnam, University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH) sponsored the implementation in border Giang Thanh District, Kien Giang Province and Chau Phu District, An Giang Province has been introducing high economic efficiency. This method helps farmers reduce costs of pumping water, seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides while increasing productivity. This is a precise agriculture solution to adapt to climate change with an important breakthrough in improving added value and sustainable development of the agricultural industry.

Project titled “Assessing the needs and the ecological efficiency of laser-controlled field leveling technology in rice production in the Mekong Delta region, Vietnam”

The research project titled “Assessing the needs and the ecological efficiency of laser field leveling technology in rice production in the Mekong Delta Region, Vietnam” aims to analyze the differences in the need of applying laser-controlled field leveling technology and the factors that determine farmers’ acceptance of this technology, using the Cragg model in two decisions as follows: participation and willingness to pay (WTP) for technology adoption. The project also analyzed the impacts of applying this technology on input efficiency and productivity as well as used these results to analyze the cost benefits of applying this technology in rice production. The scientific contributions of the study lie in analyzing the differences in demand for laser field leveling services in specialized rice cultivation systems and the effects of land fragmentation through Simpson indications in terms of the willingness to pay WTP for LLL service. In addition, it is to research and to analyze the impacts on input efficiency, productivity, and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and cost-effectiveness – social benefits of rice production within the technology-application group compared to another group that did not apply technology, using a randomized controlled trial.

The research team from UEH has implemented various different activities in the project as follows:

First, after selecting communes that have not applied laser-controlled field leveling technology in rice production by 2020 yet, the research team invited experts to organize 10 workshops to provide information regarding this technology and the service of providing and answering questions from farmers related to this technology to approximately 500 interested farmers. The group interviewed 303 households among the workshop participants that were absolutely interested in investing in applying this technology to rice fields.

Second, in addition to funding from the Vietnam Environment Center for Development (EfD) under the Southeast Asia Institute of Environmental Economics, the research team coordinated with local officials to coordinate the “Project to support the leveling of local rice production fields” at the locals with the funding approved from the government. This local funding source supports farmers in implementing laser leveling services with a support level of 2 million VND per hectare in addition to a support level of up to 5 hectares per household.

Third, the research team connected local farmers with laser leveling service providers outside the Province and arranged experts to repair and to upgrade old leveling machines.

Fourth, the project’s technical experts consulted the winning farmers in the process of applying laser leveling technology.

Finally, the project provided local authorities with the assessments of the effectiveness of laser-controlled field leveling to support further propaganda and secure approval for government funding in deploying and applying on a large scale.

Bringing scientific research from the project into practical application and replication

The Vietnam Environment Center for Development EfD has sponsored the research team of University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH) to implement the project with the goal of solving the problem of water scarcity and adaptation to climate change as well as reducing the impact of greenhouse gas emissions in rice farming in the Mekong Delta. Giang Thanh and Chau Phu districts in Kien Giang and An Giang are those localities with large-scale rice cultivation and the need to use laser-controlled field leveling technology is completely necessary.

Initially implementing this project, the UEH research team coordinated with the District Department of Agriculture and the farmers to conduct field surveys to facilitate leveling and to evaluate effectiveness before deploying this leveling technology. Concurrently, it is to implement the experimental auction method to select households with reciprocal conditions and to ensure randomness to participate in the model into 2 groups: implementation group and control group. When participating in the project, the farmers support part of the costs for activities, receive the technical support from project experts and the cost of transporting leveling equipment to each field.

In accordance with the actual records, the most obvious benefits of applying laser-controlled field leveling in rice production are reducing the amount of seeds sown, avoiding flooding, and reducing fertilizers and pesticides; significantly reducing irrigation water. Thanks to this project, this field leveling technology using lasers in rice production has been invested and replicated by the locality to meet the spontaneous demand for investment and replication of farmers after recognizing the project’s effectiveness from the farmer households participating in the project.

Evaluating the project, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Duoc – Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Giang Thanh District – stated: “After 3 years of project implementation, the area of field leveling with lasers in Giang Thanh District is, currently, over 1,000 hectares; through the transfer of science and technology, this model has brought massive efficiency to farmers participating in the project, specifically reducing costs in water pumping by 15 – 17%, fertilizer costs 15 – 20%, reducing lodging by approximately 20%, most notably, reducing the amount of seeds sown. All of these help increase efficiency for farmers, contributing to increasing income for farmers, reducing poverty and building new rural areas in Giang Thanh District”.

As a farmer who did directly apply laser field leveling technology for the third consecutive crop, Mr. Hoang Huy Thang – living in Dong Co Hamlet, Vinh Phu Commune, Giang Thanh District – shared that: with 15 hectares of rice cultivation family land, after each harvest, he applied leveling the fields with this new technology and witnessed remarkable results year after year. Besides, when implementing, he received a lot of support for land preparation costs, field leveling, seeds, fertilizers and pesticides as well as rice cultivation techniques. When applying laser-controlled field leveling technology, the field surface is created evenly: helping reduce the number of seeds sown by approximately15 to 30%, reducing the number of times water which is applied to the field in a rice crop, reducing rice planting time, and reduces fertilizer. In particular, productivity increased approximately 20% more than before and reduced post-harvest losses.

Mr. Nguyen Van Binh, a farmer in Dong Co Hamlet, Vinh Phu Commune, Giang Thanh District – also shared: “Applying laser leveling reduces the following amounts of water pumped, gasoline costs, and rice production seeds, spraying effort in addition to health protection.”

From the effectiveness of this project, from the 2021-2022 rice crop until the curent time (September 2024), the Agriculture Department of Giang Thanh District has been forming and implementing field leveling technology using laser rays to contribute to the formation of large rice fields, applying policy agricultural technologies in rice cultivation to adapt to climate change on over 2 thousand hectares, contributing to reducing production costs, increasing productivity and moving towards sustainable agriculture in Mekong Delta region.

It should be affirmed that the application of laser-controlled field leveling technology is considered a smart agricultural technology suitable for rice production to adapt to risks caused by climate change and scarcity of irrigation water and to minimize greenhouse gas emissions, to reduce labor time and to improve input use efficiency, especially irrigation water. Through implementation and survey time, it has been identified that leveling fields with lasers reduces average production costs from 2 to nearly 3 million VND/ha/crop thanks to the increased rice productivity, saving on irrigation costs, being easy to kill weeds, reducing the number of seeds and labor, limiting pests and so on.

Practical values brought from the project The UEH research team’s project has created significant impacts in promoting the deployment and the replication of precision agriculture technologies to adapt to climate change and to save water resources, specifically laser-controlled field leveling, as well as in implementing a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in rice production in the Mekong Delta region. To be illustrated in further details, the project promoted social learning networks among experts, farmers, officials and leveling service providers through workshops, expert consultations, and scientific research reports. This has improved knowledge of precise agriculture for farmers and officials and provided training and transfer of practice to representative farmers and cooperative members. In addition, this social network has created an effect in replicating practical applications of technology from scientific research. The successful implementation of laser field leveling technology and the resulting profits have driven the popularity, widespread acceptance and demand for this leveling service in the region, leading to Local governments’ and key farmers’ investment in machinery and equipment to deploy the technology themselves. Finally, the project results confirm the economic feasibility of laser field leveling technology, demonstrated through private and social economic analysis, emphasizing water savings and Reduce GHG emissions in rice farming.

Dr. Le Thanh Loan – Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics, Natural Resources and Environment, Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics (UEH), Project research team Leader – shared: “From a scientific study with a randomized trial method in comparison, the project has connected the participation of many stakeholders listed as local authorities, agricultural extension organizations, cooperatives, farmers, precision agricultural technology service providers, and farmers, scientists and experts in the field of engineering technology. With the cooperation of the parties along with the necessity and the practical application value of this scientific research, the project has reaped practical results demonstrating the economic effectiveness of technology and humanization besides expanding field leveling technology controlled by laser beams. From these practical results, I do hope that the value of the project will increasingly spread socially in improving economic efficiency in rice farming, which is an important source of livelihood for farming households and will spread on environmental aspects in promoting sustainable agriculture that saves water resources and adapts to climate change.”

Author: Dr. Le Thanh Loan – Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics (UEH).

This is an article in a series of articles spreading research and applied knowledge from UEH with the message “Research Contribution For All – Research For The Community”, UEH respectfully invites dear readers to look forward to the upcoming newsletter UEH Research Insights.

News and photos: Author, UEH Department of Marketing and Communications