Monsanto praised for persistent efforts in developing Vietnam’s agriculture

The firm got the special recognition from the Rural Economy Newspaper under Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

The move aims to recognise companies and individuals with long-term efforts and significant contributions to the development of Vietnam’s agriculture and rural economy.

“At Monsanto, we believe Improve Agriculture Improve Lives and are working hard to realise that vision through our 4Ps pillar: Prosperity for farmers through Products-Practices-Partnerships. We are pleased as this honour recognises our commitment, but we know there is much more work to be done and look forward to working collaboratively across the industry to continue advancing sustainable agriculture,” said Nguyen Dinh Manh Chien, Monsanto Vietnam’s country director.

Monsanto Vietnam was nominated and selected as the results of its longstanding commitment and action to improve Vietnam’s commodity sector and farmers’ lives throughout 2011-2014.

The company spent approximately $1 million on seed research and development to develop seeds suited to local agro-climatic conditions to enable farmers to increase corn productivity.

This local best-fit product in combination with its "Hi-Pop" practice have helped hundreds of thousands farmers in the provinces of Son La, Phu Tho, Dong Nai, An Giang and Ba Ria-Vung Tau become more prosperous from achieving an increase of at least 30 per cent in yield in comparison with national’s average corn yield.

Monsanto is taking a public private partnership (PPP) approach on MARD’s Rice-to-Corn Rotation Initiative in the Mekong Delta in partnership with farmers and local departments of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the feed industry.

This programme enables better seed, practices and market linkages that helped 8,800 farmers in the delta region earn over $1 million incremental income and saved 80 per cent of time, cost and labour during 2013-2014.

To provide sustainable assistance to the communities in need, in partnership with several local non-governmental organisations such as the Vietnam Red Cross, Monsanto helped to improve lives of 2,000 rural households via providing funding to improve sanitation conditions in the northern province of Hoa Binh and enable alternative sources of incomes via agriculture and livestock tools in four rural communities during 2010-2011.

In 2014, the company continues to extend funding to Vietnam via $150,000 commitment to support secondary education for 175 girls and improve literacy for more than 60,000 children in the rural area.