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In recent years, agricultural activities in the Mekong Delta have frequently faced the potential risks of drought, saline intrusion and unusually heavy rainfall because of climate change, leading to a decline in crop yield. Therefore, this study aimed to establish rice planting seasons in An Giang, an upper-located province in the Mekong Delta.

The impacts of seasonal variation on the key rice seasons were simulated using the Food and Agriculture Organization-crop model for the OM6976 rice variety grown in the study area. For the simulation, the model combined crop, soil, weather and crop management data.

The results show that seasonal variation because of changes in weather factors leads to alternation in crop yields across the study area. Specifically, the spring and summer rice planting seasons are advanced by one to two weeks compared with the baseline, and crop yield increased by 5.9% and 4.2%, respectively. Additionally, planting for the autumn–winter rice season on 3 August increased crop yield by up to 8.1%.

In general, rice planting seasons that account for weather factor changes effectively reduce production costs and optimise production.

Based on a sample of 308 enterprises, this paper studies the determinants of export organic supply chain performance. The results indicate seven positive determinants that influence positively the supply chain performance, including: (i) need-satisfying ability (NSA), (ii) relationship management, (iii) information management, (iv) quality management, (v) coordination and cooperation mechanisms, (vi) operation management, and (vii) marketing strategy of the export organic supply chain. In contrast, the differentiated segmentation strategy and cost strategy have no impact on the export organic supply chain performance.

This study aims to evaluate the impact of climate change on some specific areas of agricultural production in Quang Nam Province, including assessing the possibility of losing agricultural land owing to sea level rise; assessing the impact on rice productivity; and, assessing the impact on crop water demand.

This study used the method of collecting and processing statistics data; method of analysis, comparison and evaluation; method of geographic information system; method of using mathematical model; and method of professional solution, to assess the impacts of climate change.

Evaluation results in Quang Nam Province show that, by the end of the 21st century, winter–spring rice productivity may decrease by 33%, while summer–autumn rice productivity may decrease by 49%. Under representative concentration pathway (RCP) 4.5 scenario, water demand increases by 31.1% compared to the baseline period, of which the winter–spring crop increases by 28.4%, and the summer–autumn crop increased by 34.3%. Under RCP 8.5 scenario, water demand increases by 54.1% compared to the baseline period, of which the winter–spring crop increases by 46.7%, and the summer–autumn crop increased by 63.1%. The area of agricultural land likely to be inundated by sea level rise at 50 cm is 418.32 ha, and at 80 cm, it is 637.07 ha.

To propose adaptation solution to avoid the impacts of climate change on agriculture, it is necessary to consider about the impact on losing land for agriculture, the impact on rice productivity, assess the impact on crop water demand and other. The result of this assessment is useful for policymakers for forming the agriculture development plan.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate how higher tax on tobacco would influence output and employment in Vietnam.

The authors used micro-simulation techniques proposed by Walbeeck (2010). Both national data (from Input–Output Table) and household data (Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey) were utilized.

The results showed that any increase in the excise tax for tobacco would have positive net impacts on both national output and employment. The tobacco industry would not be significantly affected due to its small contribution to national economy and employment. More importantly, money released from reduced tobacco consumption would be reallocated to other goods and services, and thus outputs and jobs in nontobacco sectors would increase.

The key limitation of this study was due to unavailability of updated data, especially Input–Output Table as well as household living standard survey.

This study concluded that government should increase tax on cigarette along with a well-planned roadmap to avoid unexpected consequences on income and employment of laborers in this sector.

This study replicated a popular approach in order to verify an important government policy (i.e. effect of tax on tobacco on output and employment) under Vietnamese context.

The consumption of rice that contains high levels of inorganic arsenic may cause human health risk. This study aims to determine As species concentrations, particularly iAs, in raw rice in Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City and its health risks.

A total of 60 polished raw composite samples of rice were purchased from traditional markets and supermarkets in HCM City. All samples were analyzed by HPLC-ICPMS for As species determination.

Mean concentrations of inorganic arsenic in all samples, which were purchased from supermarket and traditional market, were 88.8 µg/kg and 80.6 µg/kg, respectively. Overall, inorganic arsenic level was 84.7 µg/kg and contributed the highest proportion of arsenic species in rice with 67.7%. The proportion profiles for arsenic species were: As (III) (60 %); dimethylarsinic acid (32.2 %); As (V) (7.7 %) and methylarsonic acid (0.1 %). Inorganic arsenic level in raw rice was below the recommendation of World Health Organization. Using the benchmark dose recommended by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), all exposure doses were lower than BMDL05. However, as the doses ranged from 3.0 to 8.6 of Margin of Exposure (MOE), the health risk of iAs from rice consumption remains public health concern.

The study results report on the surveillance data of the presence of inorganic arsenic in raw rice products, which are available in the supermarkets and traditional markets, and its health risk to consumers in a metropolitan city in Vietnam.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate employers’ attitudes towards qualities and skills for the twenty-first century of Hanoi Open University (HOU) postgraduates. More specifically, it is to find out employers’ assessment and satisfaction on five sets of skills: foundation skills, professional competencies, personal attributes, organizational skills and technical knowledge and skills.

The study used a survey questionnaire as a tool to collect data. The survey was conducted on employers of HOU postgraduates who graduated during the academic years 2015–2016 from five faculties at HOU.

The findings of the study show that employers highly appreciated HOU postgraduates in numeracy skills, ICT literacy skills and information literacy within foundation skills; critical thinking and problem solving skills, collaboration skills and conceptual skills within professional competencies; responsible, integrity and interpersonal skills within organization skills; productivity, organization and planning and time management within organizational skills; knowledge-related regulations and policies at workplace, capacity to use knowledge and skills at workplace and lifelong learning within technical knowledge and skills.

The values of the study are that the employer attitudes identified can be used to evaluate educational programs and can be used as a quality assurance measure. The study helps to indicate the gap between the expectation and the satisfaction of employers on HOU postgraduates. Thereby, suggestions can be given to HOU’s management to improve the services at the university in general and the services to postgraduate students in particular to upgrade their qualities and skills to meet social demands.

Groundwater plays a critical part in both natural and human existence. When surface water is scarce in arid climates, groundwater becomes an immensely valuable resource. Dak Lak is an area that frequently lacks water resources for everyday living and production, and the scarcity of water resources is exacerbated during the dry season. As a result, it is critical to do study and understand about groundwater to meet the region's water demand. This study aims to extend the use of the MODFLOW model for groundwater simulation and assess the overall groundwater reserves and water demand in the highland province Dak Lak.

The MODFLOW model is used in this work to compute and analyze the flow, prospective reserves of groundwater from which to plan extraction and estimate groundwater variation in the future.

The application of the MODFLOW model to Dak Lak province demonstrates that, despite limited data, particularly drilling hole data for subterranean water research, the model's calculation results have demonstrated its reliability and great potential for use in other similar places. The use of the model in conjunction with other data extraction modules is a useful input for creating underground flow module maps for various time periods. The large impact of recharge and evaporation on groundwater supplies and water balance in the research area is demonstrated by simulations of climate change scenarios RCP4.5 and RCP8.5.

None of the studies has been done previously to analyze water resources of Dak Lak and the scarcity of water resources is exacerbated during the dry season. Therefore, this study will provide useful insights in the water resource management and the conservation of Dak Lak. The groundwater in Dak Lak can meet the area's water demand, according to the results obtained and water balance in the study area. However, the management of water resources and rigorous monitoring of groundwater extraction activities in the area should receive more attention.

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the impact of credit rationing on the amount of capital allocated to inputs used by rice farmers in the Mekong River Delta (MRD).

Based on the literature review, the authors propose nine hypotheses on the determinants of access of rice farmers to credit and four hypotheses on the impact of credit rationing on the amount of capital allocated to inputs used by rice farmers in the MRD. Data were collected from 1,168 farmer households randomly selected out of 10 provinces (city) in the MRD.

Step 1 of propensity score matching (PSM) with probit regression shows that land value, income, education, gender of household head and geographical distance to the nearest credit institution affect the degree of credit rationing facing rice farmers. Step 2 of PSM estimator identifies that the amount of capital allocated to inputs such as fertilizer and hired labour increases when credit rationing decreases while that allocated to seed and pesticide is not influenced by credit rationing because rice farmers use these inputs adamantly regardless of effectiveness.

This paper sheds light on the impact of credit rationing on the amount of capital allocated to inputs used by rice farmers, which is largely different from the main focus of the extant literature just on the determinants of credit rationing facing farmers in general and rice farmers in particular.