Rice production plays an important role in Vietnam. With a climate and natural endowments particularly suited for the growing of this crop, 82% of the country’s arable land area is corn land  and about 52% of Vietnam's rice is produced in the Mekong region. However, the number of farmers who can make a living from rice production is decreasing due to the many challenges, such as climate change, increasing quality requirements, as well as technological barriers.
 

Committed to supporting the sustainable development of Vietnamese agriculture and supporting farmers in growing rich from their fields, Bayer has implemented many practical programs, receiving positive responses from farmers. Returning for the Winter-Spring crop after a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic, Bayer Farmer Millionaire 2022 aims to bring effective farming knowledge to help farmers increase productivity and optimize costs for a bountiful harvest. The contest is expected to reach more than 20,000 farmers through the offline competition and social media engagement activities.

The preliminary round is taking place from December 2022 to the end of February 2023. It involves a multiple-choice knowledge test that can be taken at nearly 1,000 Bayer retailers across the Mekong River Delta provinces and Southeast Vietnam. The semi-final will test farmers on their farming skills and is expected to be held in eight key rice-producing provinces. The cream of the farmers remaining after the first two rounds will lock horns in a contest of business thinking at the Final in April 2023 which will be broadcast live on Can Tho TV. Many tempting prizes with a total value up to 1 billion VND will give players more motivation through each round of competition.
 

Mr. Chu Viet Ha, Director of the Crop Science Branch of Bayer, shared: "The success of each crop is determined by the soil condition, the variety of crops, the weather conditions, the farming methods and the rational use of plant protection solutions. With the vision of "Health for all, Hunger for none", we want to unite the Vietnamese farming community through the Bayer Farmer Millionaire contest, creating a space where people are happy to learn about modern agricultural methods and share their experiences to grow together into better and wealthier rice farmers, thereby enhancing Vietnam's competitive position in the world rice market."
 

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Ai - a farmer from Long An registered to participate in the contest, shared: "The Millionaire Bayer Farmer contest is drawing a lot of interest among farmers. By joining the competition, I hope to learn more about disease prevention to better protect my crops, reduce investment costs and increase rice yield. Hopefully, I will pass the first test and enter the semi-final to meet and learn from farmers from many other provinces."

Accompanying farmers for over 28 years now, in addition to advanced crop protection solutions, Bayer has staged many initiatives to promote modern and sustainable agriculture. The Group launched the initiative "Much More Rice" to help increase the yield, quality, and profit of rice with a series of integrated pest and weed management solutions. Along with that, the project "Better Farms, Better Lives" supported nearly 2 million small farmers during the COVID-19 pandemic by donating seeds, pesticides and technical training.