1 Must Do, 5 Reductions
"1 Must Do, 5 Reductions" is a methodological principle that was developed during Phase IV of the IRRI's Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC) and promoted by the Agricultural Competitiveness Project (ACP) of the World Bank. It means in essence, producers are encouraged to use certified seed (the '1 must do') and then achieve '5 reductions' in seed rate, fertilizer rate (nitrogen), pesticide rate, water consumption through alternate wetting and drying, and post-harvest losses as a means to improve the overall sustainability of rice production.
The ACP found that as a result of changing practices, farmers’ upfront costs fell by 20% while crop productivity increased between 5% and 10%, improving farmer incomes up to one-third.
In addition, the project’s training and extension services, provided to over 33,000 farmers in two provinces in the Mekong Delta, allowed them to become aware of greenhouse gas emissions reduction achieved through the water management technique Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD). AWD reduces the need for nitrogen fertilizer and chemical pesticides which minimizes nitrous oxide emissions and mitigates indirect emissions when producing the resources.
