A rice straw circular economy in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta turns leftover stalks into mushrooms and compost.
Rice straw circular economy models give Vietnamese farmers a reason to stop burning their fields. At New Green Farm Cooperative in the Mekong Delta, leftover stalks now feed mushroom beds and compost piles. As a result, member farmers have cut their use of chemical nitrogen fertilizer by 40%.
The cooperative works with about 100 farming households across 148 hectares. In its operating area, straw burning has dropped by 90-95%. Farmers are earning more while their fields send up far less smoke.
Burning has long been the default after harvest. It clears fields quickly and costs nothing up front. It also fills the air with smoke and dust and releases planet-warming gases.
A circular economy offers another path. It keeps materials in use, so one process’s waste becomes the next one’s raw material. In a rice straw circular economy, the stalks become food, fertilizer, and income.
New Green Farm put this idea to work in 2023, starting with seven core members. Director Dong Van Canh partnered with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) through the RiceEco project. The Mekong-Republic of Korea Cooperation Fund pays for RiceEco, which supports Vietnam’s One Million Hectares program for low-emission rice.
After harvest, a local machinery company bales the straw with mechanized equipment. The cooperative grows mushrooms on about 9,000 bales a year, or roughly 25 a day. Straw also goes into compost, which returns nutrients to the rice fields.
That compost explains the drop in chemical fertilizer. Using less fertilizer saves farmers USD 57 to 65 per hectare each season. Selling their straw adds another USD 13 to 15 per hectare per crop.
For the cooperative, each mushroom bale earns about 38 US cents in profit, or roughly USD 3,400 a year. Compost adds about USD 2,700 a year, or USD 38 per ton for 72 tons.
Canh says the model gives farmers more than one way to earn. Rice still brings in about 60% of the cooperative’s income, while mushrooms add about 30%. Compost, vegetables, and other products make up the rest.
In a rice straw circular economy, farmers grow more than rice and cultivate new income sources. Rice provides about 60% of the cooperative’s earnings, while mushrooms contribute another 30%, with compost, vegetables, and other products filling out the rest. Photo by Petr Ganaj on Pexels.
That income mix has helped the business grow. Operating space has expanded from 2,500 to about 11,000 square meters, roughly two American football fields. Products now reach buyers in Ho Chi Minh City and on Phu Quoc Island.
Canh’s role has changed over time. He moved from field labor to organizing production, managing staff, and finding buyers. His wife runs the cooperative’s onion and chili pepper plots.
Other cooperatives in the delta are seeing similar results. In Can Tho, the Tien Thuan Agricultural and Service Cooperative received straw balers and composting machines in June 2024. By September 2025, it was producing 12 to 15 tons of organic fertilizer a month.
Circular methods there add USD 50 to 70 of value per hectare. Burning straw or selling it loose adds only about USD 25. The cooperative’s mushroom houses produce up to 1,050 kilograms every six weeks.
Farmers there report that field crabs and earthworms have returned, both signs of healthier soil. The work has also created new jobs, especially for women. Machines now handle much of the heavy labor of clearing fields.
An estimated 30 to 40% of nearby farmers have adopted similar methods. That uptake matters, because a rice straw circular economy depends on many farms supplying straw.
The approach also works outside the delta. In northern Ninh Binh Province, the Nam Cuong cooperative composts rice straw with cow manure for its potatoes. A mechanized turner has cut composting time from 90 days to 45.
Potato fields that received this compost yielded 19 to 28 tons per hectare. Plots without it needed 20% more potassium and nitrogen fertilizer. The cooperative now supplies organic produce to meal programs at 20 local schools.
Growth has exposed some weak points. New Green Farm faces cash-flow gaps between harvests and limited capital to expand. Storage space also runs short during peak seasons.
Affordable loans and better baling equipment would help close those gaps. The cooperative plans larger warehouses for straw collection. Project partners also aim to bring the model to other cooperatives.
RiceEco has already brought the rice straw circular economy to 5,084 farmers and other stakeholders. It supports four pilot businesses in Vietnam and Cambodia. Its work also informed Vietnam’s 2023 national guideline on sustainable rice straw management.
For generations, people saw straw as something to get rid of. Cooperatives like New Green Farm have turned it into mushrooms, compost, and steady income. The rice straw circular economy shows that the answer to field burning can also be a business plan.
