Rice variety testing - "Everybody does it themselves"?
(Baonghean) - Testing new rice varieties plays a particularly important role in evaluating and selecting varieties with high yield, quality, value and suitability to natural conditions of each crop season. However, in the past, too many units have conducted testing but have not been strictly managed, which may affect agricultural production...
Mastering rice varieties
In recent years, agricultural production in Nghe An has been shifting strongly towards market mechanisms, gradually focusing on the value of agricultural products. From testing work, Hung Nguyen district has selected a number of rice varieties with good rice quality such as XT28 and X33, Nang Xuan, providing an open direction for the restructuring of commodity rice varieties. Mr. Hoang Duc An, Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture of Hung Nguyen district, said: The district has a policy of expanding the planting area of pure rice varieties with high quality and good yield, in order to replace long-term varieties with low yield, heavily infected with pests and diseases such as IR1820 and short-term varieties with poor rice quality such as Khang Dan 18...
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| Rice variety testing activities in Hung Nguyen district. |
Yen Thanh district is one of the "rice granaries" of the province, so the interest of enterprises in testing new rice varieties is a regular practice here. Every year, through the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the District Agriculture Office, about 7-8 rice varieties are tested in Yen Thanh, mainly from enterprises such as Nghe An Plant Seed Center, Thai Binh Plant Seed Joint Stock Company, Central Seed Company 1... In addition, there are a number of enterprises working directly with the people. From the seed testing work, through monitoring the growth process, there can be assessments of yield and quality potential, thereby creating a premise for expanding the area, replacing varieties that have had a long production time, low yield, poor resistance to adverse weather and pests. Through testing, some high-yield, high-quality rice varieties have been put into mass production and trusted by people such as AC5, VTNA2, D423, Gia Loc 2...
Anh Son district currently has about 2,850 hectares of intensive rice cultivation, with an annual yield of more than 13,500 tons of rice. Every year, Anh Son district puts into trial production 5-7 new rice varieties. At the beginning of the crop season, the district coordinates with seed production units to test rice varieties that have been recognized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and have been evaluated successfully in other localities. This is a premise to replace rice varieties with low productivity, low disease resistance and no longer suitable for production conditions on the district's land. Mr. Nguyen Van Minh, Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture of Anh Son district, said: After the testing process, if the rice variety is effective, it will be widely replicated. In addition, the district also gradually reduces the structure of hybrid rice varieties, although the yield is high, the rice quality is not high, and the market price is low.
From a place where we could not be self-sufficient in rice, in 2008, our province achieved the target of 1 million tons of food, in which, we cannot fail to mention the extremely important role of a group of 8-12 high-yield hybrid rice varieties such as Khai Phong, Khang Dan 18... However, since 2010 until now, when food has been sufficient and approaching surplus, the shift to producing high-quality pure rice varieties has been an inevitable trend. By the spring crop of 2013, the area of quality rice varieties such as AC5, BC15, VTNA2... had reached nearly 20 thousand hectares. Many high-yield, high-quality rice varieties have been put into structure and widely used such as AC5, BC15, RVT, Huong Thom No. 1, Bac Thom No. 7, DT52, Nep 97, Nep 87.... Thanks to testing work, the source of seeds supplied to people is very abundant. According to Mr. Nguyen Van Lap - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nghe An annually puts 30 - 40 varieties of various crops into testing. Based on evaluation and selection from practice, the department has incorporated new rice varieties suitable for production conditions and farming practices of the people to increase production value and income...
Messy test
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 is a policy aimed at socializing rice variety testing. However, in practice, it has caused many shortcomings and problems. In addition to units in the province such as Nghe An Seed Joint Stock Company, Nghe An Agricultural Materials Joint Stock Company, Nghe An Seed Center, Provincial Agricultural Extension Center... there are also dozens of enterprises and individuals outside the province who come to test new rice varieties.
According to the above regulations, all unrecognized rice varieties, when being put into testing in the province, enterprises must report to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development about the location, scale, time, sign a contract with the testing facility, and conduct trial production before proceeding. If there is a crop failure or damage caused by the variety, the seed production unit must compensate the people for the output. For varieties recognized as national rice varieties but not yet produced in the province, a model must be built for trial production; after having an assessment report through the crops, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development will include them in the rice variety structure for districts to refer to and choose.
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| BC15 rice variety is flat leading to low yield in spring-summer-autumn crop production in 2013 |
However, in reality, not all enterprises do so. Mr. Nguyen Van Duong, Head of the Department of Agriculture of Yen Thanh district, said that there was once an enterprise that put the model into operation without going through the Department of Agriculture. When productivity was lost due to seed quality, the Department could not intervene so that the enterprise could compensate the people for the productivity. In addition, some varieties were not closely monitored for accurate assessment, so when put into large-scale production, the guidance and recommendations to people on technical processes as well as specific characteristics were not complete, thereby putting them into production in crops with unsuitable weather conditions or planting in areas susceptible to pests and diseases, such as the BC15 rice variety, for example... Ms. Phan Thi Lien, in Gia My hamlet, Do Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) said: "Every year, I see enterprises come to test rice varieties, but when the testing ends, I don't see them anymore, and after that, I also don't see them continue to produce the varieties that were previously tested."
Mr. Nguyen Van Minh, Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture of Anh Son District, said that in recent years, there have been a number of businesses in the district that have conducted testing of new varieties without reporting to the local authorities. These companies have come down to work with the people, given them a few kilograms of seeds, and then asked them to conduct trial production, but without a contract or reporting to the authorities. When they lose, they compensate with the average yield of the district and quietly withdraw. But when they win, they go to the district to ask for permission to organize a workshop.
Mr. Doan Tri Tue - former technical officer of Nghe An Agriculture Department said that having too many companies, units and organizations testing varieties in the province will cause many negative consequences. After testing, any enterprise will claim that their rice varieties are good, have high yield and good disease resistance, but in reality, it is not so. The new rice varieties today are all similar to each other and do not have outstanding features. There are varieties that have never been produced in Nghe An, so their quality and disease resistance have not been proven in practice. Testing too many varieties will create opportunities for pests and diseases to develop, making it difficult to organize production, organize water collection and care. According to Mr. Tue, unrecognized varieties should only be produced on a trial basis in experimental farms at units and organizations with adequate facilities, area and scientific staff.
In recent years, there have been many cases of some rice varieties when put into production, such as low germination rate, poor quality, unknown origin... In the summer-autumn crop of 2009, some areas planted with Q.uu 1 rice variety in Dien Chau district had poor germination. In the spring crop of 2010, people in Yen Thanh, Thanh Chuong, and Nam Dan districts "called for help" about the hybrid rice variety "Khai Phong No. 1" not growing roots and rotting on the seedlings. Most recently, more than 3,000/10,000 hectares of BC15 rice in the whole province had a rate of empty grains from 40 - 70%, not allowing for harvest. From that reality, it can be seen that the work of testing varieties needs to be managed more closely by the Department of Agriculture and localities. For unrecognized varieties, testing should be limited and must be carried out in accordance with the process, with a commitment contract with farmers. The evaluation and selection for recognition and inclusion in the breed structure for large-scale production must be done strictly and objectively, and must always put the interests of farmers first.
Pham Bang - Phu Huong