Application of biotechnology in agriculture

(Baonghean) - In recent years, biotechnology has been widely applied in the production of plant and animal varieties by hybridization technology, tissue culture technology, and the production of microbial organic fertilizers in agriculture. Thanks to that, it contributes to improving the productivity and quality of crops and livestock and protecting the environment.

Increase productivity, reduce costs

One of the important policies to implement the restructuring project of the agricultural sector is to promote research, application and transfer of science and technology, including biotechnology in agricultural production. Recognizing that importance, in recent times, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has researched and built high-tech models in cultivation such as SRI improved rice cultivation in Nghi Loc, Quy Hop, with productivity reaching 15 - 20%, safe vegetable production models following VietGAP, increasing income from 20 - 60%, reaching 50 - 110 million VND/ha/crop such as the cucumber growing model in Xuan Lam commune (Nam Dan), green squash and tomatoes in Thuan Son commune (Do Luong), chrysanthemum production with disease-free varieties through tissue culture method in 4 communes of Vinh City...

Enterprises and units have carried out many projects applying biotechnology, enzyme technology, tissue culture technology, hybrid technology... in the fields of processing, agriculture, forestry, aquaculture, and seafood, to produce some varieties of seedlings such as rice, corn, peanuts, tea, sugarcane and dairy cows. Processed products such as tea, beer, milk, sugar and new products such as edible mushrooms have initially met market demand.

Tissue culture of pink banana varieties at the High-tech Plant Breeding Station - Nghe An Plant Breeding Center.

Some other effective biotechnology applications include research, adoption and mastery of Compost Maker biological product production technology to produce organic microbial fertilizers from agricultural by-products; IPM integrated pest control measures are being widely deployed with great efficiency, significantly reducing the amount of pesticides, towards clean agriculture. Research and completion of production technology and use of microbial products (Biogreen) to decompose pesticide residues in vegetables, production and application of Bioem biological products to treat livestock waste in the province.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Lien in Minh Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) said: After propagating the pink banana variety of Nghe An Plant Varieties Center, in 2013 my family tried planting it according to the model. After 1 year of planting, we found that this banana variety produced large fruits, grew well, was disease-free, and was 4-5 times more effective than rice cultivation. Currently, the pink banana variety is being produced in Dai Son commune (Do Luong), Minh Thanh (Yen Thanh), Ky Tan (Tan Ky)... Forestry tree varieties such as hybrid acacia and eucalyptus using the tissue culture method initially gave higher efficiency than other propagation methods, shortening the growing time. While the method of propagating cuttings and sowing seeds took 7-8 years to yield harvest, the new method only took about 5 years. Currently, the tissue culture method has been widely applied in all districts with forests. Biotechnology is also applied in the selection of plant varieties.

In recent years, the center has selected a number of new short-term, high-yield rice varieties suitable for Nghe An's climate conditions, which are favored by farmers, such as the Kinh So Uu 1558 hybrid rice variety, SL9 purebred rice varieties, TH 17... Typically, the improved Khang Dan rice variety has a short growing period of 85 - 87 days, and the summer-autumn crop is very suitable for flood-prone areas. Mr. Le Huu Bac, Deputy Director of the center, said: "Every year in Nghe An, about 20,000 hectares are in the flood-prone area, so research and production of short-term rice varieties is very necessary. This rice variety has the same characteristics as Khang Dan 18, with similar yields but the quality of the rice is delicious, fragrant and sticky due to low amylose content, from 19-20%. However, the center is continuing to evaluate its resistance to planthoppers."

In addition, the Plant Varieties Center is also testing and evaluating a number of drought-resistant tea varieties such as PH8, PH9, Thuy Ngoc, and waxy corn... During the recent drought, more than 1 hectare of experimental tea grown in Long Son (Anh Son) had a drought-related death rate of only 10%.

Raise awareness aboutapplication of biotechnology

Recently, aware of the role of biotechnology, a number of large-scale projects have begun to be implemented, such as growing and processing bananas using tissue culture technology in Vien Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) with a scale of 200 hectares, now 60 hectares of bananas have been planted and nearly 200 tons of bananas have been exported to Korea, a model of production, cultivation, processing and consumption of edible mushrooms and medicinal mushrooms in Tan Ky district, production of passion fruit and gac varieties using tissue culture by Nghe An Food Joint Stock Company in Que Phong, production of vegetables, tubers, fruits and flowers for export in greenhouses in Nghia Dan district invested by May Forestry Joint Stock Company...

Regarding this project, the enterprise has now completed 4 hectares of greenhouses and deployed the production of high-value crops that are vulnerable to risks in outdoor conditions such as cantaloupe, cumato tomatoes, sweet peppers and trial sowing of some other flowers and fruit trees. The company is growing 15 hectares of vegetables in the field, applying production processes according to VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards. Vinh University also has a Trichodecma project that is being transferred to Nghe An Agricultural Materials Company to produce biological products to prevent pests on peanuts. It will expand research on many other types of vegetables and tubers to help farmers effectively prevent pests without using pesticides. The project to exploit and develop the genetic resources of banana fish, black snakehead fish, and catfish in the North Central region is transferring commercial farming technology to exploit and develop the genetic resources of the above 3 native fish species to serve aquaculture development....

Mr. Hoang Nghia Nhac, Head of Science Management Department - Department of Science and Technology said: “After 10 years of implementing Directive 50 - CT/TW, the development and application of biotechnology in the fields of agriculture, forestry and fishery has received attention from Party committees and authorities at all levels, and has been increasingly widely and effectively applied in production, business and people's lives, making practical contributions to the socio-economic development of the province. However, the development and application of biotechnology in production and life is still not commensurate with the potential and strengths of the province. Some sectors, businesses and people are still not aware of the role and importance of biotechnology application”.

Mr. Nguyen Van Lap, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said: The application of biotechnology is mainly focused on "quantity", not paying attention to "quality", not close to the needs of consumers and the market. Therefore, the quality of some products is not high, not creating strong brands for major agricultural products such as tea, coffee, etc., so there is a lack of competitiveness. Some products such as super lean pork, biological chicken, etc. are not trusted and chosen by consumers. These are limitations that the industry will continue to research and propose solutions to overcome to promote agricultural development in the coming time.

Thu Huyen