From field to market: building an SRP-verified rice value chain

Rice is no longer judged on yield and price alone; today’s markets are asking how it is grown, how it is tracked and what impact it leaves behind. Buyers, distributors, and consumers – particularly in premium markets such as Europe – increasingly want to know how rice is grown, whether it is safe and fully traceable and if its production contributes to sustainable development.

In this context, the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) Standard offers an internationally recognised framework for answering these questions. Its 41 core requirements cover farming practices, input management, water use, soil and nutrient management, pesticide use, labour conditions and occupational safety. Verification under the SRP Assurance Scheme not only confirms confirm compliance but also helps farmers to improve production efficiency and enhance the value of their rice, cooperatives to improve their internal management systems and companies to reinforce traceability and credibility when accessing domestic and international markets.

With the ambition of making rice value chains more inclusive and sustainable, Rikolto plays a connecting and technical support role, enabling farmers, cooperatives and companies to progressively meet SRP requirements.

In 2025, Rikolto focused on supporting cooperatives and farmers to complete assessments and achieve farm-level verification against the SRP Standard. In 2026, support expanded to companies seeking verification under the SRP Chain of Custody (CoC) Standard, ensuring the integrity of SRP-verified rice throughout procurement, milling, processing and trading.

Supporting farmers and cooperatives and farmers on the path to SRP Verification

Rikolto worked closely with the Asian Organic Agriculture Research and Development Institute (AOI) to guide cooperatives and companies through the process: from understanding SRP requirements and strengthening their Internal Management Systems (IMS) to completing documentation and preparing for independent verification.

In August 2025, Thang Loi Agricultural Service Cooperative and Tan Binh Agricultural Cooperative underwent farm-level SRP assessments. These included document reviews, interviews with farmers and inspections of the fields. To verify compliance with the SRP Standard, auditors examined IMS records, farmer lists, production logs, input use records and monitoring reports. At Thang Loi, the assessment extended to SRP Chain of Custody requirements. This involved reviewing documentation systems, visiting milling, processing and packaging facilities, inspecting raw material and finished product warehouses, and checking traceability and data reconciliation procedures.

By November 2025, these efforts yielded tangible results. Tan Binh Cooperative achieved SRP farm-level verification for 20 farmers covering 91.51 hectares, with an average farmer performance score and IMS score of 93%. Thang Loi Cooperative achieved verification at both farm and CoC levels for 19 farmers covering 98.70 hectares, with an farmer score averaging 91.4% and an IMS score of 83.3%. Farmer scores measure how effectively sustainable practices are applied in the field, while the IMS score shows how effectively the cooperative’s management system ensure proper oversight and implementation. With farmer scores above 90%, both cooperatives demonstrated a strong level of alignment with internationally recognised sustainable rice production requirements.

For Mr. Ta Van Bong, Director of Tan Binh Cooperative, the achievement is the outcomes of years of effort: “The verification of 20 member farmers under the SRP Standard across nearly 100 hectares is both a great joy and the result we have long worked towards. Recognition for our sustainable rice production gives our cooperative greater confidence when entering the market, especially international markets. In the future we are committed to expanding this model so that more members can benefit from sustainable production.”

Farmers can see the impact on their fields and household economies. Mr. Phan Cong Chinh - a farmer from Tan Binh who has been using SRP practices for around five or six years - explains: “Adopting the SRP Standard helps us to reduce seeding rates, as well as the use of fertilisers and pesticides. This lowers costs and protects our health. My family sells straw, incorporates rice residues back into the soil and uses organic fertilisers to improve soil quality. I am very proud to have received SRP verification this time and I hope fellow farmers will continue to follow proper practices so that our cooperative’s SRP rice can grow sustainably.”

“Adopting the SRP Standard helps us to reduce seeding rates, as well as the use of fertilisers and pesticides. This lowers costs and protects our health."

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Nga, from the independent verification body Preferred by Nature: “Even it its first year of assessment, Thang Loi Cooperative has demonstrated strong commitment. We highly appreciate the farmers’ level of compliance with SRP requirements. Farmers have seriously applied Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) techniques to reduce emissions, fertilised according to the needs of the crop, and paid attention to environmental protection and occupational safety.”

Strengthening companies and opening market opportunities

With production systems in place, the next step was to ensure the integrity of SRP rice throughout the supply chain. From 26 to 28 January 2026 Rikolto supported Angimex-Kitoku Co., Ltd., Hong Tan Rice Co., Ltd., and the subcontracted milling facilities Thanh Tam Co Do One Member Co., Ltd. in their SRP Chain of Custody (CoC) Standard verification.

At Thanh Tam Co Do, particular attention was given to how SRP rice is kept separate and traceable at every stage. This involved verifying SRP paddy intake records, inspecting storage areas to ensure clear physical segregation and checking that cleaning procedures were in place to prevent cross-contamination. The assessment also covered product labelling and the reconciliation of input-output data, to ensure that traceability is maintained from reception to final dispatch.

For Hong Tan and Angimex-Kitoku, the assessment reviewed management systems, procurement processes, raw material sourcing areas and data consistency.

For Ms. Tran Ngoc Chau, Deputy Director of Angimex-Kitoku: “SRP verification plays an important role in our development strategy, especially since Europe is our main market. Achieving verification strengthens our traceability systems and imprves product quality assurance.”

Ms. Luu Thi Yen Hang, Director of Hong Tan Rice Co., Ltd., sees it as a gateway to new opportunities: “Verification against the SRP Chain of Custody (CoC) Standard gives us the confidence we need to expand into new markets. In the coming period, we will continue strengthening our partnerships and expanding rice sourcing from cooperatives within Rikolto’s project areas.”

In March 2026 Rikolto and its partners organised Inclusive Business (IB) training sessions for staff at Hong Tan Rice and Angimex Kitoku. The training focused on market intelligence, quality requirements, consumer demand and marketing strategies for SRP-verified rice. Building on this process and following successful verification, Rikolto will support Hong Tan in developing packaging and labelling for its SRP-verified products, enhancing product visibility and commercial value in the marketplace.

Through an integrated approach combining on-farm technical support with strengthening internal management systems, facilitating verification processes, connecting market actors and building commercial capacity, Rikolto aims to foster an ecosystem in which farmers, cooperatives and companies grow stronger together, share benefits more equitably, and advance towards a transparent, inclusive and sustainable Vietnamese rice sector in the long term.

Editor: Irene Salvi