Bac Thinh rice variety has high yield and few pests and diseases.

(Baonghean) - For more than 2 years now, the purebred Bac Thinh rice variety transferred for research and production by the North Central Seed Company in collaboration with the Thanh Hoa Center for Research and Application of Agricultural Seed Science and Technology has affirmed its superiority in Nghe An.

The rice plant is hardy, has few pests and diseases, limits the use of pesticides for farmers, has high yield, beautiful rice grains, and delicious, fragrant rice.

These days of May, Nghe An farmers share the joy of a bumper spring rice harvest. That success is also due to the appearance of many new rice varieties. Among them, the purebred Bac Thinh rice variety has been applied by many farmers in key rice districts in the area, bringing high economic efficiency.

Leaders of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development visited the Bac Thinh rice variety production model in Dien Phuc commune, Dien Chau district. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Present at the rice fields of Phuc Thiem hamlet, Dien Phuc commune, Dien Chau district when farmers were gathering to prepare for the seminar on the Bac Thinh rice variety model. Old farmer Nguyen Thanh Ly excitedly said that on this dry land, for a long time, people have only sown any rice variety that has achieved a maximum yield of 2.8 quintals/sao. Together with 40 households in the hamlet implementing the model, his family has devoted 2.6 sao of land to sow the Bac Thinh rice variety.

Investing in fertilizer and care processes like previous rice varieties, but during the growth of the rice plants, it shows that the rice plants bloom and develop quickly, have moderate height, are not affected by blast disease, have few other pests, and the family only sprays pesticides once for the entire rice crop. The outstanding advantage is that the plants are strong, do not fall over, have large flowers with many grains, and are bright yellow. Previously, when planting other rice varieties, each crop had to buy pesticides 3-4 times and took a lot of care. It is estimated that Mr. Ly's family harvested 3 quintals of rice from 1 sao of Bac Thinh rice, the highest ever. According to people implementing the model, families that invest in fertilizers properly and take care of the techniques as trained by the seed company, the rice blooms on time with favorable weather conditions, and the rice yield can reach 3.5 quintals/sao.

Mr. Le The Hieu - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dien Chau district commented: Through the production model of Bac Thinh rice variety in Dien Phuc commune, it shows that the rice yield is guaranteed and the rice grains are delicious. That confirms that Bac Thinh rice variety is suitable for the production soil of Dien Chau district. This is a rice variety that has been recognized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, so the district has a plan to apply it for widespread planting right from this summer-autumn crop.

In Thanh Chuong district, many farmers have also planted Bac Thinh rice variety for high yield. Mr. Kieu Son - owner of an agricultural materials dealer in Hamlet 8, Xuan Tuong Commune (Thanh Chuong) said that he has been selling Bac Thinh rice variety to farmers for planting for 2 years now. Although it is a new rice variety, farmers in the area have planted it on a fairly large area.

Last spring, his agency sold more than 5 tons of Bac Thinh rice seeds. Through monitoring on some plots, it was found that the rice plants grew strongly, had few pests and diseases, did not fall over, and had a yield of about 7 tons/ha. This summer-autumn crop, his agency continues to sell Bac Thinh rice seeds to farmers for planting.

Through the field workshop, it was shown that Bac Thinh rice variety planted in Dien Chau district achieved a yield of nearly 7 tons/ha. Photo: Xuan Hoang

According to the assessment of the Department of Crop Production - Plant Protection, Bac Thinh rice variety has been planted in some localities in the province. Through the assessment of some models such as Dien Phuc commune (Dien Chau), it shows that: The average amount of seeds used is 1.2 kg/sao. Although the weather is complicated with cold rain and erratic sunshine, pests and diseases such as rice blast, leaf blight... are mildly infected, farmers only spray pesticides once.

Bac Thinh rice variety has a compact, hard plant, good lodging resistance, plant height of about 1m, strong tillering ability, withstands intensive cultivation, long panicles, long, slender rice grains, slightly close together, bright yellow color, 83% solid grain rate, growth period of 128 - 130 days. Economic efficiency in building and implementing adjacent models shows that limiting pests on Bac Thinh rice variety helps farmers reduce input costs: Seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, pest control care... has brought high economic efficiency, yield reached 66 quintals/ha, profit compared to investment reached nearly 22 million VND/ha.

Based on the success of the model, the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection hopes that localities will have plans and funds to replicate the model in production areas and intensive rice cultivation; propose that the North Central Seed Company continue to build Bac Thinh seed production models in other localities, different seasons and different soils in Nghe An.

According to information from Thanh Vinh Agricultural Seed Company (Hamlet 6, Hung Dao Commune, Hung Nguyen District - the supplier of Bac Thinh rice seeds), Bac Thinh rice seeds have been planted in Nghe An for 2 years. In the spring crop of 2017, this rice variety was planted by farmers in the districts of Dien Chau, Nam Dan, Thanh Chuong, Do Luong, Hung Nguyen, Tan Ky, Yen Thanh with a quantity of 15 tons of seeds, equivalent to about 400 hectares. Of which, some districts such as Nam Dan, Thanh Chuong... achieved a yield of 7 tons/ha. It is expected that this summer-autumn crop, the amount of seeds supplied by the company to districts in the province will be about 20 tons.

The Bac Thinh rice variety was tested for production and officially recognized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in 2015. Currently, the rice variety has been favored by farmers in Thanh Hoa province, the Northern and Central provinces and put into production because of its high and stable yield, good quality of sticky and delicious rice, high resistance to pests and adverse weather conditions. The Bac Thinh rice variety is a temperate rice variety, planted in both crops/year, the variety is widely adapted to many different types of land, suitable for flat fields, slightly sunken fields, and high fields. In Thanh Hoa province, the Bac Thinh rice variety is also sown by farmers in dry land on peanut fields, the results show that the yield is not inferior to that on double-rice land.

Xuan Hoang