How Vietnamese Farmers Built a Rice Straw Circular Economy that Pays.
New Green Farm Cooperative in Vietnam, led by Dong Van Canh with support from IRRI and partners, turned rice straw once burned as waste into mushrooms, compost and lower rice production costs.
New Green Farm Cooperative in Vietnam has built a circular business around rice straw, a material farmers in the area had long burned or worked into flooded fields. According to IRRI Vietnam, the cooperative's director, Dong Van Canh, now uses the straw to produce mushrooms and organic fertilizer. The cooperative was founded in 2023 with seven core members. Before the change, only five members worked directly on mushrooms, which were grown by traditional methods in small, scattered plots exposed to weather.
The shift came through work involving the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and its partners, including the RiceEco Project funded by the Mekong-Republic of Korea Cooperation Fund. The cooperative was introduced to mechanized straw composting. Demonstrations showed that a compost turner could cut the labor and time needed to process straw. The freshest straw goes to mushrooms. Spent mushroom substrate and other residues become fertilizer for rice, fruit trees and vegetables. Mechanized baling services from Tu Sang Machinery improved the straw supply, and the cooperative keeps production links with around 100 rice-farming households across 148 hectares.
The operation has grown. It now uses about 8,000 square meters of outdoor mushroom area, 2,000 square meters for compost and 500 square meters for facilities and storage, up from 2,000 square meters for mushrooms and 500 for general production before RiceEco. Rice still brings in about 60 percent of income, mushrooms about 30 percent, and compost, vegetables and other crops about 10 percent. The page estimates mushroom operations use about 9,000 bales a year for roughly USD 3,400 in profit, and compost output of about 72 tons a year adds roughly USD 2,700.
Rice production has also changed. Combining straw-based fertilizer with low-emission farming practices, the cooperative reported a 40 percent cut in chemical nitrogen fertilizer use. It also reported savings of about VND 1.5 to 1.7 million (USD 57 to 65) per hectare per season on fertilizer and pesticides, plus VND 350,000 to 400,000 (USD 13 to 15) per hectare per crop from selling straw.
Funding is now the cooperative's next constraint, according to the page. Mushrooms need money upfront while compost takes time to mature and sell, which can delay the next mushroom cycle. The cooperative also lacks enough storage to stockpile straw when it is plentiful. Canh says the next stage of support needs affordable finance, machinery and storage, not only training.
Canh is now invited to speak across the Mekong Delta and to join assessments for cooperatives considering the same model. In its final report, RiceEco said it reached 5,084 farmers and related stakeholders and helped pilot four businesses in Vietnam and Cambodia.
Note: The headline refers to Vietnamese farmers in general, but the page describes one cooperative, New Green Farm, which works with about 100 rice-farming households.
At a Glance
- New Green Farm Cooperative was founded in 2023 with seven core members and now works with about 100 rice households across 148 hectares.
- Composting capacity reached about 72 tons a year, with an estimated profit of USD 38 per ton.
- The cooperative reported a 40 percent reduction in chemical nitrogen fertilizer use when combining straw-based fertilizer with low-emission practices.
- Mushrooms contribute about 30 percent of income, and rice remains about 60 percent.
- RiceEco reached 5,084 farmers and stakeholders and helped pilot four businesses in Vietnam and Cambodia.
Sources
This brief was written by Brightside Report from the reporting linked above. Spot an error? Request a correction.