Correcting violations and lax management in rice seed production and trading

(Baonghean) - Through discussion, Nghe An Plant Varieties Center confirmed that the improved Khang Dan rice variety (DCG72) is in the "trial production" stage. However, in the 2016 Summer-Autumn Crop Production Project of Thanh Chuong district, this rice variety has been put into "mass production"; and the Project of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development orienting the variety structure for the whole province is similar...

Why did Thanh Chuong Agricultural Materials Joint Stock Company inform producers that the improved Khang Dan rice variety is a "mass-produced" rice variety?

Responding to this content, Mr. Vo Huu Hoan - Director of Thanh Chuong District VTNN JSC explained that, "because the business unit is located in Thanh Chuong area, the company strictly follows the direction of the District People's Committee".

Specifically, this direction is stated in Conclusion No. 04 dated April 1, 2016 of the Standing Committee of Thanh Chuong District Party Committee on the 2016 Summer-Autumn Crop Production Project (in the project, the improved Khang Dan rice variety is included in the production structure with an area of ​​800 hectares).

Mr. Hoan also said that when he received information that the improved Khang Dan rice variety was in the "trial production" stage, he discussed with Mr. Le Dinh Thanh - Vice Chairman of Thanh Chuong District People's Committee, and Mr. Thanh replied "The Standing Committee of the District Party Committee has already concluded!...".

According to Vice Chairman of the District People's Committee - Mr. Le Dinh Thanh, the district has about 1,600 hectares of low-lying fields that are prone to flooding at the end of the summer-autumn crop, so finding a short-term and high-quality variety is an urgent requirement.

When the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development organized a workshop to prepare for the 2016 summer-autumn crop, Thanh Chuong district was invited to attend. At this workshop, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development proposed a draft of the variety structure for the 2016 summer-autumn crop, in which the improved Khang Dan rice variety was included in the mass production variety structure for flood-prone areas.

Because the nature of Khang Dan improved is a purebred rice variety improved from Khang Dan 18 rice variety; moreover, in 2015, the district also put it into production testing with an area of ​​5 sao and had good results. Therefore, Thanh Chuong District People's Committee has included it in the project submitted to the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee to decide to put this rice variety into production. And in fact, it has been produced with an area of ​​about 550 hectares.

Improved Khang Dan rice production field in Thanh Ha commune, Thanh Chuong.

Upon investigation, Mr. Le Dinh Thanh's explanation has a basis. Because in the Project on organizing crop production in the summer-autumn crop - winter-spring crop in 2016 issued by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development on April 14, 2016, the improved Khang Dan rice variety (DCG72) is one of the four varieties that are oriented and structured.

And according to Mr. Phan Duy Thieu - Deputy Head of the Financial Planning Department of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, once the department has included the "varieties structure orientation", it must of course be "recognized varieties". Mr. Thieu also said that the consultation on the project development is done by the Department of Cultivation (now under the Plant Protection Department).

However, at the working session with the Department of Cultivation - Plant Protection Sub-Department, when we requested to clarify the basis for including the improved Khang Dan rice variety in the orientation of the 2016 Summer-Autumn crop structure, there was only the Report on the results of production testing in the 2015 Summer-Autumn crop (sent by Nghe An Plant Seed Center via email).

Asked Mr. Cao Dang Tam - Head of Cultivation Department that the improved Khang Dan rice variety has not yet undergone a trial production process and has not been recognized as a national variety by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, why is it being advised by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to include it in the orientation of the variety structure?

Mr. Cao Dang Tam could not explain this question because "at the time of implementing the project consultation, the Department of Crop Production was under the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development". As for Mr. Tam himself, at that time he was a member of the Department... When asked who in the Plant Protection Department could answer this question, Mr. Tam said: "Currently, the leader is not at the Department. I will report this issue so that the leader of the Department can answer on another occasion...".

Looking for the answer to the question: What are the real advantages of the improved Khang Dan rice variety?

According to the Report on the results of the trial production of improved Khang Dan rice variety (DCG72) in the summer-autumn crop of 2015 in Nghe An by the Nghe An Plant Varieties Center, this rice variety was improved from Khang Dan 18 variety in the direction of short-term cultivation; it was researched to meet the production requirements of farmers in low-lying areas flooded by storms at the end of the summer-autumn crop.

In the summer-autumn crop of 2015, the improved Khang Dan rice variety was tested on a scale of 16 hectares in 5 districts of the province: Hung Nguyen, Nam Dan, Thanh Chuong, Do Luong and Yen Thanh; the evaluation results were: "The variety grows well, tillers strongly and in concentrated clusters; emerges and flowers in concentrated clusters. The variety is of the large panicle type, with many grains (123.6 - 154.6 grains; the rate of empty grains ranges from 19.6 - 22.3%). The variety has high yield (in the summer-autumn crop of 2015, it reached 58.2 - 66.0 quintals/ha)".

However, in the summer-autumn crop of 2015, Do Luong district was the largest testing area for the improved Khang Dan rice variety in the province, with an area of ​​12 hectares, accounting for 75% (in the two communes of Xuan Son and My Son), and the testing results were very poor.

Specifically, according to the Report of the Agricultural Extension Station of Do Luong district: "In the summer-autumn crop of 2015, the Nghe An Plant Varieties Center introduced the extremely short-term rice variety DCG72 to be planted in Xuan Son and My Son communes with a total area of ​​12 hectares. Through the evaluation process at the model, the DCG72 variety has a growth period of 83 days (direct sowing) - 89 days (transplanting), has a wide adaptability, is short, has a narrow flag leaf angle, long flag leaves but short flowers and a high rate of empty grains, from 30 - 35%, so the yield is only 2.2 - 2.3 quintals/sao". Meanwhile, the Report of the Nghe An Plant Varieties Center recorded the results of testing the improved Khang Dan rice variety in Xuan Son commune with a rate of empty grains of 20.5%; the actual yield was 66 quintals/ha.

Improved Khang Dan rice has small grains, high rate of empty grains, and low number of grains.

And, because of the low production value, in the summer-autumn crop of 2016, Do Luong district only produced improved Khang Dan rice variety on an area of ​​2.2 hectares. This implementation aims to intensively cultivate improved Khang Dan rice variety by using improved fertilization methods to find ways to increase production value; help farmers grasp the technique, thereby replicating the model.

Up to now, the Do Luong Agricultural Extension Center has reported the results of building a model for intensive cultivation of the extremely short-term rice variety DCG72 using improved fertilization methods. According to the report, the production value achieved is higher than the 2015 trial results, but still far behind the report of the Nghe An Plant Varieties Center, the rate of empty grains decreased to 24.1%; the yield reached 54.1 quintals/ha...

As what was captured in Do Luong district shows, Nghe An Plant Seed Center had a wrong assessment of the production value of the improved Khang Dan rice variety during the 2015 testing process.

It can be said that this is one of the reasons why the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development ignored the regulations of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Decision No. 95/2007/QD-BNN to orient the structure of improved Khang Dan rice varieties in the summer-autumn crop of 2016.

Up to now, there has been no report on the production value of the improved Khang Dan rice variety implemented in the summer-autumn crop of 2016. However, through understanding the reality in some areas of Thanh Chuong and Hung Nguyen, farmers directly producing this variety said that the yield of the improved Khang Dan rice variety is not high, even lower than the Khang Dan 18 rice variety (only reaching about 1.8 - 2.2 quintals/ha).

In fact, no matter how successful the production of improved Khang Dan rice varieties in the summer-autumn crop of 2016 is, it cannot “erase” the violations of the Nghe An Plant Breeding Center; besides, there is the laxity in management of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

In the issue of ensuring food security, one of the basic solutions is to apply scientific and technical advances, improve and diversify varieties suitable for the conditions, climate and soil of regions, areas and areas to increase production value.

Therefore, the introduction of new varieties for testing is very welcome. However, the way of doing things like the Nghe An Plant Breeding Center and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is worth considering, the competent authorities need to clarify to have corrective measures. The last thing to say is the consequences of the above violations that farmers are having to bear.

PVDT Group