Rice variety trials - "Everyone for themselves"?

(Baonghean) - Testing new rice varieties plays a particularly important role in evaluating and selecting high-yielding, high-quality, valuable varieties that are suitable for the natural conditions of each season. However, in recent times, too many units have conducted trials without strict management, which could affect agricultural production...

Mastering rice varieties

Over the years, agricultural production in Nghe An province has been strongly shifting towards a market-oriented mechanism, gradually focusing on the value of agricultural commodities. Through trials, Hung Nguyen district has selected several rice varieties with good rice quality, such as XT28 and X33, and Nang Xuan, opening up opportunities for restructuring them into commercial rice varieties. Mr. Hoang Duc An, Deputy Head of the Agriculture Department of Hung Nguyen district, said: The district aims to expand the area planted with high-quality, high-yield pure rice varieties to replace long-duration, low-yield, and heavily pest-prone varieties like IR1820 and short-duration varieties with poor rice quality like Khang Dan 18...

Rice variety testing activities are taking place in Hung Nguyen district.

Yen Thanh District is one of the province's "rice granaries," so it's common for businesses to introduce new rice varieties for testing. Each year, through the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the District Agricultural Office, about 7-8 rice varieties are tested in Yen Thanh, mainly from businesses such as the Nghe An Plant Seed Center, Thai Binh Plant Seed Joint Stock Company, and Central Seed Company No. 1… In addition, some businesses work directly with farmers. Through variety testing and monitoring of growth, assessments of yield potential and quality can be made, providing a basis for expanding cultivation areas and replacing older varieties with low yields and poor resistance to adverse weather and pests. Through testing, several high-yielding, high-quality rice varieties have been introduced into mass production and gained the trust of farmers, such as AC5, VTNA2, D423, and Gia Loc 2…

Anh Son district currently has approximately 2,850 hectares of intensive rice cultivation, yielding over 13,500 tons of rice annually. Each year, Anh Son district introduces 5-7 new rice varieties for trial production. At the beginning of the planting season, the district collaborates with seed production units to conduct trials of rice varieties that have been recognized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and have been successfully evaluated in other localities. This serves as a foundation for replacing low-yielding, disease-resistant varieties that are no longer suitable for the district's farming conditions. Mr. Nguyen Van Minh, Deputy Head of the Agriculture Department of Anh Son district, stated: "After the trial process, if the rice variety proves effective, it will be widely cultivated. In addition, the district is also gradually reducing the cultivation of hybrid rice varieties, which, despite their high yield, have lower rice quality and lower market prices."

From a situation where we were not self-sufficient in rice, in 2008, our province achieved the target of 1 million tons of food, in which the crucial role of a group of 8-12 high-yield hybrid rice varieties such as Khai Phong, Khang Dan 18, etc., cannot be overlooked. However, from 2010 to the present, when food is sufficient and even surplus, the shift towards producing high-quality pure rice varieties is an inevitable trend. By the spring crop of 2013, the area of ​​high-quality rice varieties such as AC5, BC15, VTNA2, etc., had reached nearly 20,000 hectares. Many high-yield, high-quality rice varieties have been introduced into the crop structure and used on a large scale, such as AC5, BC15, RVT, Huong Thom No. 1, Bac Thom No. 7, DT52, Nep 97, Nep 87, etc. Thanks to the testing work, the supply of seeds for farmers is very abundant. According to Mr. Nguyen Van Lap, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nghe An province annually tests 30-40 different crop varieties. Based on evaluation and selection from practical experience, the department has incorporated new rice varieties into its structure, suitable for the production conditions and farming practices of the people, in order to increase production value and income...

Chaos testing

According to the regulations on rice variety testing under Decision 95/QD-BNN/2007 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, all organizations and individuals are allowed to participate in testing if they follow the correct procedures. This policy aims to socialize the rice variety testing process. However, in practice, it has caused many shortcomings and problems. Besides units within the province such as Nghe An Seed Company, Nghe An Agricultural Materials Corporation, Nghe An Seed Center, and the Provincial Agricultural Extension Center, there are also dozens of businesses and individuals from outside the province conducting trials of new rice varieties.

According to the regulations, all uncertified rice varieties, when introduced for testing in the province, must be reported to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development regarding the location, scale, and duration. A contract must be signed with the testing facility for trial production before proceeding. If crop failure or damage is caused by the variety, the seed producer must compensate farmers for the lost yield. For varieties recognized as national rice varieties but not yet produced in the province, a trial production model must be developed. After evaluation reports are received over several seasons, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development will then include these varieties in the rice variety structure for districts to refer to and select.

The BC15 rice variety suffered from empty grains, leading to poor yields in the spring-summer-autumn crop season of 2013.

However, in reality, not all businesses operate in this manner. Mr. Nguyen Van Duong, Head of the Agriculture Department of Yen Thanh district, said that one business once introduced a model crop without going through the Department of Agriculture. When productivity was lost due to poor seed quality, the Department could not intervene to have the business compensate the farmers for the lost yield. In addition, some varieties were not closely monitored for accurate evaluation, so when introduced into large-scale production, the guidance and recommendations to farmers regarding technical procedures and specific characteristics were incomplete. This led to the crop being planted in seasons with unsuitable weather conditions or in areas prone to pests and diseases, such as the BC15 rice variety, for example. Ms. Phan Thi Lien, from Gia My hamlet, Do Thanh commune (Yen Thanh), said: “Every year, we see businesses coming to test rice varieties, but after the trials are over, they disappear, and I don't see them continuing to produce the varieties they previously tested.”

Mr. Nguyen Van Minh, Deputy Head of the Agriculture Department of Anh Son District, said that in recent years, several businesses in the district have conducted trials of new crop varieties without reporting to the local authorities. These companies approach farmers, provide a few kilograms of seeds, and ask for trial production without a contract or reporting to the authorities. When losses occur, they compensate with the average yield of the district and quietly withdraw. However, when they succeed, they approach the district to request permission to hold workshops.

Mr. Doan Tri Tue, a former agricultural technical officer in Nghe An province, believes that the excessive number of companies, units, and organizations conducting seed trials in the province will lead to many negative consequences. After completing trials, each enterprise claims their rice variety is superior, high-yielding, and disease-resistant, but this is not always the case. Many new rice varieties currently exist, lacking outstanding characteristics. Some varieties have never been cultivated in Nghe An, and therefore their quality and disease resistance have not been proven in practice. Too many seed trials create opportunities for pests and diseases to develop, making production, water management, and crop care difficult. According to Mr. Tue, unapproved varieties should only be tested in experimental farms at units and organizations with adequate facilities, land, and scientific staff.

In recent years, several rice varieties have encountered problems during production, such as low germination rates, poor quality, and unclear origins. During the 2009 summer-autumn crop season, some areas planted with the Q.ưu 1 rice variety in Dien Chau district experienced poor germination. In the spring of 2010, farmers in Yen Thanh, Thanh Chuong, and Nam Dan districts again reported problems with the "Khải phong số 1" hybrid rice variety, which failed to root and rotted in the fields. Most recently, over 3,000 out of 10,000 hectares of BC15 rice across the province had a 40-70% empty grain rate, rendering the crop unharvestable. This reality highlights the need for stricter management of rice variety testing by the agricultural sector and local authorities. For unapproved varieties, testing should be limited and must be conducted according to proper procedures, with contractual agreements with farmers. The evaluation and selection process for recognizing and incorporating new varieties into the crop structure for large-scale production must be rigorous, objective, and always prioritize the interests of farmers.

Pham Bang - Phu Huong