Australian groups eye agri-based innovation

Increasing collaboration between Australia and Vietnam in technology transfer, innovation and investment paves the way to promote the development of the green and digital agricultural industry.

- By Song Oanh

The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, The University of Queensland, and SunRice Group on March 12 announced a mutual commitment to extend their research partnership to strengthen climate-smart rice production in the Mekong Delta.

With in-principle terms incorporating an AUD1 million ($695,000) co-investment, this new activity will look at supporting Vietnamese smallholder farmers to address the increasing climate vulnerabilities and meet premium export market standards. It will deliver gender-inclusive, climate-smart capacity building for farmer cooperatives, helping them refine their post-harvest efficiency and traceability to supply premium buyers.

It will advance the ongoing breeding innovation to have high-quality, climate-resilient rice varieties ready for commercialisation.

"The partnership over the past four years has delivered concrete achievements in Vietnam by increasing the supply of compliant rice, improving farmers' capability and profitability, and reducing production costs. This new activity also aligns with the objective of Vietnam reaching one million hectares of low-emission, high-quality rice," said SunRice Group CEO and managing director Paul Serra.