Plant Protection Department and CropLife Asia signing MOU to collaborate in implementing the “Sustainable Pesticide Management Framework”

Hanoi, 11th July 2023 – On 11 July 2023, at the office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the Plant Protection Department (PPD) and CropLife Asia (CLA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate in implementing the “Sustainable Pesticide Management Framework” (SPMF), with the witness of Vice Minister - Dr. Hoang Trung of MARD, Dr. Tan Siang Hee – Executive Director of CropLife Asia, Board of Directors of CropLife Asia and CropLife Vietnam.

It is increasingly challenging to be a farmer all over the world, including in Vietnam. 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 making minimal impact on the environment.

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

Vice Minister Dr. Hoang Trung shared at the signing ceremony: “The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development highly appreciates CropLife's recent contributions to Vietnam’s Agriculture Sector. CropLife Vietnam currently holds the role of co-chair of the Agro-Chemicals taskforce under the Sustainable Agricultural Development Partnership in Vietnam (PSAV). The proposals of CropLife to strengthen cooperation, introduce advanced technologies on plant protection and plant varieties as well as extend activities to promote responsible use of these solutions to transform agriculture production in sustainable framework are in line with the general goals and orientations of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in improving management efficiency for a safe, transparent and sustainable agriculture-food system in Vietnam.”

Mr Alexander Berkovskiy, President of CropLife Asia said: “Vietnam continues to be an agricultural powerhouse in Southeast Asia, an international leader in key crop exports, and a crucially important market for the member companies of 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 food heroes making food security and sustainability possible. Our role is to provide them with access to the latest innovations in their toolbox to do that.”

Dr. Huynh Tan Dat, Deputy Director General of Plant Protection Department also highlights: “Pursuing successes achieved, Sustainable Pesticides Management Framework is a holistic collaboration program by focusing on both an accelerated and sustainable transition of pesticide management and use in long-term. It will also create more opportunities for parties to join in policy consultation process and propose smart solutions to newly arising problems under the management of the Plant Protection Department. We believe that this cooperation framework will maximize the efforts of industry’s stakeholders; enhance multiple partnership to introduce, manage and use plant protection solutions in a sustainable way; contributing to support the shared goals of building a responsible agriculture sector.”

Dr. Tan Siang Hee, Executive Director of CropLife Asia: “The biggest 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 SPMF can help Vietnam realize the vision of driving more sustainable food systems while protecting the farmers livelihoods.”

SPMF is a global key program and foundational commitment by CropLife International, with deployment in Africa, Asia and Latin America Enabling farmers to have access to the best technologies, the best practices and the best partners is at the heart of this industry commitment. With the initial commitments and cooperation agreement made today with PPD, the CropLife SPMF Vietnam program is expected to officially launch with multiple national partners within the fourth quarter of the year and encourages stakeholders to join in working towards this shared goal.

About CropLife Asia & CropLife Vietnam

CropLife Asia is the not-for-profit association and regional organization of CropLife International - representing the voice of the plant science industry. CropLife advocates for a safe and sustainable food industry and aims to develop the application of scientific innovation in agriculture to ensure food security. CropLife Asia supports the activities of 15 associations across the continent and is led by 6 leading member corporations in the development of pesticides, seeds and/or biotechnology research and development. More information about CropLife Asia is available at website: www.croplifeasia.org.

In Vietnam, CropLife and its members are always committed to supporting and implementing long-term strategies to help Vietnamese farmers effectively apply scientific solutions in agricultural farming to promote growth, improve crop yields, produce high-quality agricultural products while minimizing negative impacts on the environment. More information about CropLife Vietnam is available at website: www.croplifevietnam.org.

For media inquiries, please contact

Ms. Vinh Dao – Coordinator – CropLife Vietnam - Email: vinh.dao@croplifevietnam.org – Cell: +84 983330209