Invest in variety to increase the value of crop production

​Seed granary in Phu Thanh Commune, Tan Phu District. Photo by Phan Anh

The Provincial People's Committee has also just issued Plan No. 11444/KH-UBND on implementing the program of research and development of seed production to serve the restructuring of the Agriculture sector in the period of 2021-2030 in the province with the goal of developing sustainable and high value-added agricultural production.

Adding value to plants

The quality of the plant variety is decisive for the yield and quality of the crop. The province's investment plan for the seed stage focuses on developing research and seed production to serve the restructuring of the Agriculture sector in the 2021-2030 period in the province. The objective is to improve the capacity of the system of research, selection, breeding, transfer, production and supply of plant varieties, livestock and aquatic products in the direction of industrialization and modernization in order to rapidly increase productivity and quality. competitiveness, production efficiency; contributing to the successful implementation of the restructuring orientation of the Agriculture sector towards increasing added value and sustainable development. Invest in and apply new varieties with high yield and quality, contributing to increasing farmers' incomes and profits in difficult production conditions due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic.

Talking about the problem of increasing profits for rice farmers, who have been heavily affected by the Covid-19 epidemic, causing rice prices to decrease while production costs are high, Mr. Le Thanh Tung, Deputy Director of the Department of Crop Production that, in the current difficult production situation, localities should pay more attention in directing the synchronous implementation of advanced technical solutions into production, especially in investment in seed production. Priority should be given to the use of short-term rice varieties, high-yield, high-quality rice varieties, fragrant rice varieties with high export value. Tung compared: “In the Summer-Autumn rice crop in 2021, the rate of using common rice varieties for breeding is only about 23% of the total area in the southern region and the Mekong Delta. The structure of rice varieties produced in each season is tending to gradually shift to fragrant and specialty rice varieties, especially fragrant rice varieties ST24, ST25 and high-quality rice varieties suitable to export market requirements, especially market of the European Union. High-quality rice varieties have increased the value of Vietnam's rice exports, reaching US$500 per ton in 2020, helping the brand and position of Vietnam's rice export grow continuously.

Sharing the same opinion, Mr. Tran Quang, Director of Xuan Tien Agricultural Service and Trade Cooperative (Xuan Phu Commune, Xuan Loc District) said that currently local rice farmers are converting from growing ordinary rice varieties to growing rice varieties. Specialty rice varieties such as: ST24, ST25. These are all specialty varieties that are popular in the market, so they can be sold at high prices, and supply cannot meet demand. As a result, farmers' profits also increased significantly. With many other short-term crops, the application of new varieties is also of special interest, such as the model of using new corn varieties to harvest the whole plant as fodder for cattle, which is also a good model being replicated in the locality because of shorter harvest time, higher profit.

Interested in new variety application

 

 

 Hi-technology applied in research and production of new varieties at Hung Loc Agricultural Research Center (Trang Bom District). Photo by Phan Anh

Breeding to create new sources of varieties with many outstanding advantages, improvement and change for old and poor-quality orchards has been a special interest of farmers. Mr. Duong Minh Giang, Director of An Vien Agricultural Service Cooperative, An Vien Commune, Trang Bom District said that the locality is an area specializing in perennial cashew cultivation with an area of ​​thousands of hectares. Many cashew orchards have been planted for more than 20 years, the trees are old, the varieties are old, so the yield has become lower. In recent years, local cashew farmers have been supported by the State to convert new varieties to increase the yield of cashew trees. In particular, the solution of grafting and improving varieties for old cashew orchards gives outstanding results, so local cashew farmers are interested in implementing.

Mr. Ngo Tan Tai, Vice Chairman of Dinh Quan District People's Committee, said that the locality has implemented many programs to support production households to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic such as: providing seeds for 3,732 households with a total number of over 3,732 households. 11 tons of seed corn, corresponding to a planted area of ​​about 559 hectares. In addition, the locality also cooperates with enterprises to build a model of joint production of seed corn and commercial corn in the district.

According to Mr. Tran Manh Bao, Chairman of the Vietnam Seed Association, good varieties have a great decisive influence on production efficiency. Although the Government has had many development programs on plants and seeds, in the current difficult period, policies for seed development need to change with a more drastic spirit, especially to quickly relieve the delay in the recognition of new varieties. In order to increase competitive advantages in agricultural production in the integration period, enterprises in the agricultural sector are increasingly interested in investing in high technology in research and seed production with the goal of continuing to develop and create new products. The best plant varieties, adapting to climate change, increase economic value and production efficiency.

Phan Anh