The world's best rice variety has been grown in Nghe An.

The world's best rice variety, called ST25, was successfully bred and selected by a group of authors led by Engineer Ho Quang Cua - former Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Soc Trang province. It was recognized as a new rice variety by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and ranked by the World Food Organization (FAO) as the world's best rice variety in 2019. This variety has been successfully tested by the General Corporation of Production Materials in Nghe An.

The world's best rice variety is being tested in Dien Chau and Quynh Luu. Photo: PV

In order for Nghe An people to soon have the world's best rice variety to be planted and enjoy this product. At the same time, hoping that the ST25 rice variety will bring a large source of income to farmers in the near future, with the encouragement of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Department of Science and Technology of Nghe An province, Nghe An Agricultural Materials Joint Stock Corporation went to Soc Trang to meet the authors of the ST25 rice variety to learn about the origin of the variety, sowing and cultivation techniques, and buy seeds to bring back to Nghe An for trial production from the spring crop to the summer-autumn crop of 2020 on a scale of 5 hectares per crop.

In both trial production seasons at 7 agricultural cooperatives in 5 districts: Dien Chau, Yen Thanh, Quynh Luu, Nam Dan and Thanh Chuong in the spring crop, the yield of ST25 rice variety reached an average of 37 quintals/ha, and in the summer-autumn crop it was 36.6 quintals/ha.

The most outstanding advantage of ST25 rice variety, besides having delicious, fragrant, and sticky rice, this rice variety has a short growing period, equivalent to KD18, Huong Thom 1, VT-NA2, VT-NA6, Thien Uu 8 rice varieties... and is very resistant to lodging.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh and staff of the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences look at the ST25 rice variety at Dien Quang Agricultural Cooperative (Dien Chau). Photo: PV

According to Mr. Tang Ngoc Anh - Director of Dien Quang Agricultural Cooperative, Dien Chau District, said: Through television channels and newspapers, we learned that Vietnam has the ST25 rice variety with the best quality rice in the world. Fortunately, we were provided with enough ST25 rice variety by Nghe An Agricultural Materials Joint Stock Corporation to produce on a trial area of ​​0.5 hectares in both spring and summer-autumn crops. The results of the two production seasons of ST25 rice variety gave an average yield of 40.4 tons/ha. Farmers harvested and sold fresh rice, both firm and empty, to Nghe An Agricultural Materials Joint Stock Corporation at a price of 10,000 VND/kg of rice, which means that 1kg of dry Khen rice costs approximately 14,000 VND, the actual income per hectare of rice is 56.5 million VND. Meanwhile, other rice varieties, even with high yields of up to 7 tons/ha, sold at 7,000 VND/kg of rice, only bring in an income of 49 million VND/ha.

Cong Thanh Agricultural Cooperative in Yen Thanh district also produces this rice, right at the time when farmers are harvesting ST25 rice variety in this year's summer-autumn crop.

Mr. Bui Van Ho - Director of Cong Thanh Agricultural Cooperative is present in a field of about 0.60 hectares planted with ST25 rice variety to observe the harvesting by combine harvester and the purchase of fresh rice products right at the field between farmers and Nghe An Agricultural Materials Joint Stock Corporation according to the contract signed before the production season.

ST25 rice is being tested in Nghe An by Nghe An Agricultural Materials Corporation. Photo: Tran Chau

According to the signed contract, Nghe An Agricultural Materials Corporation will invest in advance rice seeds, fertilizers and training on intensive cultivation techniques of ST25 rice variety for farmers and at the end of the harvest season, buy all products with fresh rice in the field at the price of 10,000 VND/kg of rice.

According to Mr. Bui Van Ho - Director of Cong Thanh Agricultural Cooperative, at the end of this harvest, preliminary calculations show that the ST25 rice variety will yield an average fresh rice yield of 58.8 quintals/ha, sold in the field at a price of 10,000 VND/kg of rice, which will bring in an income of about 58 million VND/ha, 20 million VND/ha higher than all other varieties in this summer-autumn crop.

Currently, Nghe An Agricultural Materials Corporation is still in trial production and not mass production.