MARD and CropLife launch 'Sustainable Pesticide Management Framework'

It has become increasingly challenging to be a farmer in Vietnam, or indeed, the world. Besides having to produce more food to feed a growing population, farmers have to deal with the impact of erratic weather patterns and the degraded quality of land. The way forward is to make farming more sustainable so that farmers can improve their crop yields while creating minimal impact on the environment.

The Sustainable Pesticide Management Framework (SPMF) is a holistic, comprehensive, and long-term initiative for enabling sustainable food systems. Under the MoU, CropLife will work with relevant stakeholders in Vietnam to establish a framework for using pesticides sustainably, and advance innovation to support smallholder farmers in Vietnam. The scheme supports the Vietnamese government and MARD in their transition to more sustainable food and agriculture systems that protect health, the environment, and crop production.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, MARD Deputy Minister, Hoang Trung, said, “We greatly appreciate CropLife's proposal to strengthen cooperation and promote advanced technologies to transform agricultural production within a sustainable framework that is in line with MARD's objective of a safe, transparent, and sustainable agriculture sector in Vietnam.”

Alexander Berkovskiy, president of CropLife Asia, explained that Vietnam continues to be an agricultural powerhouse in the region, an international leader in key crop exports, and a crucially important market for CropLife.

"In the drive towards greater food production and sustainability in Vietnam, the farmer is the key player. The men and women who produce the crops are the heroes, making food security and sustainability possible. Our role is to provide them with access to the latest innovations to do that,” said Berkovskiy.

Huynh Tan Dat, deputy director general of the PPD, also highlighted that the SPMF will create more opportunities for parties to consult on policies and propose solutions to problems.

"We believe that this cooperation framework will maximise the efforts of the industry’s stakeholders and enhance multiple partnership to introduce, manage, and use plant protection solutions sustainably, while building a responsible agriculture sector,” Dat said.

Tan Siang Hee, executive director of CropLife Asia said, “The greatest challenge ahead for Vietnamese farmers is to provide sufficient and safe food in an economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable manner, against the backdrop of climate change and natural resource constraints. We hope that the SPMF can help Vietnam realise the vision of a more sustainable food system while protecting the livelihoods of farmers.”

The SPMF is a key global initiative and foundational commitment from CropLife International, and has already been deployed in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Enabling farmers to access the most modern technology, the best practices, and the best partners is at the heart of the scheme. With the initial commitments and cooperation agreement made with the PPD, the CropLife SPMF is expected to launch during the fourth quarter of 2023 in Vietnam with multiple national partners, encouraging stakeholders to contribute to work towards the shared goals.

CropLife Asia is a non-profit association and regional organisation of CropLife International and advocates for a safe and sustainable food industry, aiming to develop scientific innovation in agriculture to ensure food security.

CropLife Asia supports the activities of 15 associations across the continent and is led by six member corporations in the development of pesticides, seeds, and biotechnology research.

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