LVN14 corn in Thanh Chuong has poor germination: What is the cause?

(Baonghean) -In recent days, farmers in Xuan Tuong commune (Thanh Chuong) are very worried because the LVN14 corn sown by Nghe An Agricultural Materials Joint Stock Corporation has a low germination rate and poor corn growth. So what is the cause and what is the responsibility of the parties in this incident?

Mr. Nguyen Duy Truat's family (Hamlet 6, Xuan Tuong Commune) sowed 1 sao of corn with 2 kg of LVN 14 seeds from April 5. After a week of sowing, the germination rate was only 60%. On April 12, when we were present at the corn field, Mr. Truat said: Among the corn plants that had risen from the ground, there were still about 10% that were growing very poorly, only about 10 cm tall, while if it were another corn variety, it would have been twice as tall at this point. He is currently incubating C919 corn seeds to replant them because he regrets the effort of tilling the soil and fertilizing. Not far away is the corn field of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Ky's family. According to her, in previous years, she often planted 3Q and C919 varieties, but this year, following the commune's instructions, she proceeded to sow LVN14 corn seeds. Before planting, she incubated the seeds according to the instructions, but after ten days of sowing, only about 70% of the plants had broken through the soil, the leaves were silvery white and underdeveloped, the rest still sprouted but lay curled under the soil.

This spring crop, Xuan Tuong commune was selected to pilot the construction of two model corn fields, with a scale of 60 hectares, with the main variety LVN 14, supplied by Nghe An Agricultural Materials Joint Stock Corporation. In addition to organizing training for agricultural extension officers, the commune's agricultural committee and people participating in the construction of the model fields on technical processes, the Corporation has supplied 1.2 tons of LVN 14 seeds and 30 tons of NPK fertilizer until the end of the crop. According to Mr. Doan Tri Tue - Technical Officer of the Agricultural Materials Corporation, and Mr. Nguyen Phung Lam - Chairman of Xuan Tuong Cooperative, the LVN 14 corn variety was tested before being put into mass sowing and the germination rate reached 90-96%. However, when put into mass sowing on a large scale, the germination rate was not as expected. Mr. Nguyen Phung Lam said: Not only Mr. Truat's family's area but also over 17 hectares of 500 households in the commune are in the same situation.

According to the technical process, after 4 days the corn plants germinated, but after a week of sowing, most of the areas sown with LVN14 corn had only about 60% of good soil growth and the corn plants grew very poorly, the remaining 40% germinated very slowly or lay flat on the ground. Therefore, after planting 17 hectares, people stopped sowing. Currently, about 10% of the sown area that did not germinate has been dug up, the rest are being replanted with other varieties such as C919, NK66.

According to Mr. Doan Tri Tue, people did not strictly follow the technical process, many areas were not plowed before sowing, corn seeds were sown on manure, so when sprouting, the young plants were poisoned by manure, and growth was poor. Along with that, the land planned for building model fields was not contiguous, the sowing season was uneven, one plot before another, some households even brought corn seeds back to sow in their gardens, etc.

Obviously, leading to the progress of building the model corn field with high quality LVN 14 variety in Xuan Tuong commune - Thanh Chuong not meeting the requirements, in addition to the people not being fully aware of the process of building the model field, the Xuan Tuong commune government also lacked a sense of responsibility in supervising and urging farmers. Immediately after the phenomenon of poor corn germination, the seed supply company sent technical staff to inspect and evaluate the field to discuss timely handling measures, but the locality lacked cooperation in coordinating statistics on the actual area planted with LVN14 corn variety as well as assessing the level and rate of plants that had grown...

Mr. Truong Van Hien - General Director of Nghe An Agricultural Materials Corporation said: After more than 10 days of the incident, the total area of ​​corn planted through counting is only 14 hectares, and we will continue to monitor how much of that area is planted with LVN14 corn variety. In fact, this variety after sowing seedlings will be weaker than other corn varieties, but when reaching 5-6 leaves or more, the plants will grow quickly and healthily. Therefore, we have asked the commune to direct people to continue to take good care of them. If the yield at harvest is not as high as the yield of C919 corn variety, the corporation will ensure compensation for the difference.

Although the seed supplier has made a written commitment to ensure compensation for productivity, this failure also means that the pilot project to build a model field on corn in Xuan Tuong commune, Thanh Chuong district has not been successful. Therefore, clearly identifying the cause of poor germination of LVN14 corn is necessary to help farmers feel secure in production, creating a premise for directing the construction of large model fields in the near future.

Phu Huong