Determinants of System of Rice Intensification Adoption and its Impacts on Rice Yield in the Upland Region of Central Vietnam

The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is an eco-friendly approach that aims to increase rice yield, reduce required inputs, and improve rural households' income without burdening the environment. This paper investigates the factors that influence the adoption of the SRI practice in rice production and the impact of the SRI adoption on rice yields in the upland region of Central Vietnam. Utilizing the stratified random sampling method, 239 rice farmers in Quang Nam and Thua Thien Hue provinces were selected for the study. Our study employed the logit model to identify the determinants of SRI adoption and found that the age of respondents had a significant and negative effect on the adoption of SRI. In contrast, the amount of family labor, number of plots, and access to credit had significant positive effects on farmers’ decision to adopt SRI. In addition, the results showed that when rice farmers adopted SRI, their yields increased by 15.1% on average. Regarding the policy implications, the results suggest a need for a coordinated policy between the Vietnamese government and farmers to support the implementation of the SRI method in mountainous areas, especially to train farmers to use the SRI technique.

稻作强化系统（System of Rice Intensification，SRI）是一种环保型种植模式，旨在提升水稻产量、削减生产投入，并在不加重环境负担的前提下增加农户家庭收入。本研究聚焦越南中部丘陵地区的水稻生产，调查了影响SRI技术采纳的相关因素，以及采纳该技术对水稻产量的影响效应。本研究采用分层随机抽样法，在广南省与承天顺化省共选取239户稻农作为研究样本。本研究运用Logit模型识别SRI技术采纳的决定因素，结果显示，受访者年龄对SRI技术的采纳具有显著负向影响；而家庭劳动力数量、地块总数以及信贷获取能力，则对农户采纳SRI技术的决策具有显著正向影响。此外，研究结果表明，稻农采纳SRI技术后，其水稻产量平均提升15.1%。关于政策启示，研究结果建议越南政府应与农户协同制定配套政策，以支持丘陵山区SRI技术的推广应用，尤其需加强对农户的SRI技术培训。