Crop failure due to planting BC15 rice variety?
(Baonghean) -While many places have begun the harvest, hundreds of households in Hoa Thanh - Yen Thanh commune witnessed the rice fields using BC15 variety with empty grains, resulting in a total crop loss.
Mr. Le Thanh Binh - Chairman of Hoa Thanh Commune People's Committee said: "This spring crop, Hoa Thanh has structured over 200 hectares of rice, of which over 150 hectares are BC15 rice variety (supplied by Thai Binh Seed Company). The commune has planted in accordance with the district's crop calendar, and has implemented the rice care process well. The rice plants have grown normally since the beginning of the crop, are disease-free, and have large flowers, but the surprising thing is that the rice flowers have bloomed but have not produced grains, only empty grains from the beginning to the end of the flower. According to the initial survey, this variety used to yield nearly 7 tons/ha, but now it has only reached less than 2 tons/ha. This means that 150 hectares of rice have lost about 750 tons of rice. If the price of seed rice is 7,800 VND/kg, the whole Hoa Thanh commune has lost about 5,850 million VND. Who will pay such a large amount of money for the farmers? But the important thing is that Hoa Thanh is a purely agricultural commune, the people's lives are very difficult, if the crop fails, they will also face risk of hunger
Up to this point, the cause of the crop failure has not been determined. On May 7, the Provincial and District Plant Protection Departments came to inspect but determined that the cause of the crop failure was not due to pests or diseases. We hope that the relevant sectors will investigate and clarify the cause of the crop failure. If the loss was due to the seeds, Thai Binh Seed Company must take responsibility for the farmers.
Mr. Nguyen Si Hung - Vice Chairman of Yen Thanh District People's Committee, said: Yen Thanh planted BC15 rice variety about 250 hectares, mainly Hoa Thanh and Van Thanh communes, initially determined the area lost due to grain failure is about 200 hectares, Hoa Thanh 150 hectares, the remaining area belongs to Van Thanh commune. Yen Thanh District People's Committee has directed the Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Extension Station, plant protection officers and commune officials to inspect. Initially, only grain failure and yield loss were identified, the cause of crop failure has not been determined. The district is in the process of establishing a team, inviting the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, along with representatives of the district, damaged communes and Thai Binh Seed Company to inspect and determine the cause of crop failure, from which we will know who is responsible. Meanwhile, the representative of Thai Binh Seed Company explained simply: After the grain shrinkage phenomenon occurred, the company sent technical staff to check and determined that the reason for the grain shrinkage of BC15 variety was due to acid rain which affected the yield.
Mr. Tu Trong Kim - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development's Crop Production Department, said: The whole province has structured over 1,000 hectares of BC15 variety (about over 400 tons of rice seeds), planted in Yen Thanh, Quynh Luu, Dien Chau districts... First, the phenomenon of empty grains was discovered in Yen Thanh district. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development will coordinate with localities to specifically investigate the phenomenon of empty grains, determine the cause of crop failure due to weather or variety. If the crop failure is due to variety, the seed supplier must be responsible for supporting the people.
According to the explanation of the representative of Thai Binh Seed Company, it was the acid rain that caused the rice to have empty grains, but according to the people's reflection, why did the rice varieties that were next to the BC15 rice field and had the same time to flower but did not have a bad harvest? Is this just a way for Thai Binh Seed Company to shirk its responsibility? It is recommended that relevant agencies quickly investigate the cause of the bad harvest of BC15 rice variety in Hoa Thanh.
Van Truong
