Mitigation Assessments for Rice produced in Southeast Asia: Digital Platform for Quantification and Planning exemplified for Vietnam

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The envisaged project aims at improving Greenhouse Gas Assessments in Rice Production Systems of SE Asia derived from results obtained in the recently completed DFG research group ICON (Introducing Non-Flooded Crops in Rice-Dominated Landscapes: Impact on Carbon, Nitrogen and Water Cycles, FOR 1701). In spite of ample evidence of technical feasibility of low-emission rice cultivation, these practices have so far not been adopted at wider scale, which is primarily due to an information deficit about their reduction potential with constant or increasing rice yields. This technology transfer will establish a comprehensive and fully functional framework of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) calculations consisting of GIS-data repositories and user-friendly software (collectively called ‘Digital Platform’). This Platform will be exemplified for Vietnam, a major rice-exporting country that is challenged by increasing demand for documenting sustainable production practices in exported food. The Platform will support all, the currently applied Tier 1/ Tier 2 approaches based on emission factors as well as Tier 3 which encompasses a process-based simulation model, namely LandscapeDNDC developed and validated in the ICON project. The overall objectives are to a) integrate the process-based LandscapeDNDC model simulating plant growth and GHG emissions from rice in a custom-made user friendly software, b) compile relevant data bases and explanatory documents and by this c) allow potential users to quantify GHG emissions from rice by various modeling approaches (Tier 1 to Tier 3), d) illustrate the potential of the Platform for MRV (Measurement, Reporting, Verification) and mitigation planning and e) substantiate planning decisions for GHG mitigation within the context of individual mitigation proposals and projects. The Platform will be developed in an iterative approach to obtain feedback from Vietnamese partners on the functionality of the Platform from their perspective. At the same time, the project partners will engage in intensive training and outreach to other stakeholders in Vietnam and beyond. Apart from documenting the GHG footprint of traded rice, the Platform is also geared toward supporting climate policies in Vietnam and other rice growing countries under the Paris Agreement. Given the significance of rice in the national GHG budget, the Vietnamese mitigation target committed in the Nationally Determined Contributions will rely on the inclusion of this production system as an essential component of the Nationally Determined Contribution -- and thus on accurate quantification of GHG emissions for different scenarios and scales.