Box 3.21 Three Reductions, Three Gains A media campaign called “Three Reductions, Three Gains” (“Ba Giam, Ba Tang”) was launched in Can Tho and Tien Giang Provinces in 2003 to motivate farmers to reduce seed and fertilizer rates and pesticide use. The project involved bringing together research and development partners, extensive farmer participatory experiments, getting local expertise to train extension staff and farmers, and working together with all stakeholders to plan and implement the scaling up initiative. A total of 4,000 posters, 70,000 leaflets, 100 cassettes of the radio drama, and 100 VHS/CDs of the TV drama were produced for distribution. In addition, complementary exhibitions, TV interviews with farmers, TV game shows, and village-level demonstrations and promotions were organized. Monitoring surveys showed that in both provinces, farmers’ use of seed, nitrogen fertilizer, and pesticides changed significantly. Their seed rates dropped about 10 percent, nitrogen rates fell about 7 percent, insecticide sprays were reduced by 13-33 percent, and the proportion of farmers using insecticides declined by about 11 percent. These practices were supported by changes in attitudes that favored high inputs. The campaign reached 70 percent of farmers in the target sites, resulting in bumper crop and profits (about US$58 per hectare) for farmers in the Mekong Delta in 2003. The campaigns in Cantho and Tien Giang had significant multiplier effects. In July 2004, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development attributed the increase in farmer earnings to Three Reductions and awarded the project the 2003 Golden Rice award. On February 18, 2005, the minister of agriculture signed a policy paper urging all provinces to adopt “Ba Giam, Ba Tang” and created a national committee to develop nationwide implementation plans. In December 2005, the Can Tho Government awarded “Ba Giam, Ba Tang,” the Best Innovation Award for bringing increased earning to thousands of farmers and reducing environmental pollution.
Source: M. Escalada (International Rice Research Institute) |
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