LONG AN, Vietnam (AP) — There is one thing that distinguishes 60-year-old Vo Van Van’s rice fields from a mosaic of thousands of other emerald fields across Long An province in southern Vietnam’s Mekong Delta: It isn’t entirely flooded.
That and the giant drone, its wingspan similar to that of an eagle, chuffing high above as it rains organic fertilizer onto the knee-high rice seedlings billowing below.
Using less water and using a drone to fertilize are new techniques that Van is trying and Vietnam hopes will help solve a paradox at the heart of growing rice: The finicky crop isn’t just vulnerable to climate change but also contributes uniquely to it.
Rice must be grown separately from other crops and seedlings have to be individually planted in flooded fields; backbreaking, dirty work requiring a lot of labor and water that generates a lot of methane, a potent planet-warming gas that can trap more than 80-times more heat in the atmosphere in the short term than carbon dioxide.
Inside the bizarre Las Vegas conference where Trump
Blinken reiterates U.S. opposition to Israeli invasion of Rafah
Jake Gyllenhaal's Apple TV+ miniseries Presumed Innocent tops high
Invest In China: Multinationals embrace new opportunities created by China's green transition
Defund Columbia: Robert Kraft pulls his money as other donors blast 'f*****g crazy' anti
China's Tianjin launches 1st roadway for intelligent connected vehicles
Ryan Garcia vs Devin Haney is ON despite troubled fighter weighing 3.2lbs overweight
Musician T Bone Burnett is trading his dystopian sensibilities for some warm
You can't park there! Council builds new £51million 850
Feature: 69 years on, the Bandung Spirit remains alive in the Global South
90s rock star, 57, showcases her timeless beauty as she returns to the spotlight after 20