Economy

Lesson 2: Exciting biotechnology model to create agricultural products for export

Economic Reporter Group • DNUM_AFZBCZCACE 13:49

In Nghe An, there have been many models applying biotechnology, being environmentally friendly, creating export goods. These are South American bananas exported to Korea and China; spirulina exported to Japan and Europe; milk, dairy products, animal feed exported to Japan and China; Vinh oranges meeting global standards exported to Germany... These products are produced with gratitude for natural resources, cherishing natural values, protecting the land, preventing erosion, entirely using safe biotechnology.

Bananas are one of the most consumed fruits in the world. According to FAO, world banana exports reach 4.7 billion USD/year, bringing great profits to many countries.

Tissue culture bananas were initially unfamiliar, but have now become familiar in Tan Ky and Do Luong districts, where there are vast expanses of South American bananas that are propagated by tissue culture. From the seed source provided by enterprises and cooperatives, cooperatives in Tan Ky district have leased land to grow bananas for export for many years. The South American banana variety has large, sweet fruits, can be preserved for a long time, has commercial advantages, and is favored by the Chinese and Korean markets.

Mr. Le Van Chien, who has been growing South American bananas since 2020 in Tan Ky district, has been harvesting for 3 years. His family's 6 hectares of bananas are invested in a methodical way with a careful soil preparation process, treating the soil to remove pathogens, and watering with drip technology. When the bananas have fruit, they are wrapped in nylon. Banana trees are harvested after 9 months of planting, with the current selling price being 5,000 VND/kg (each bunch of bananas weighs about 20kg). Each year, more than 20,000 banana trees bring in a revenue of over 2 billion VND for Mr. Chien, quickly covering the investment costs and profits. "It sounds easy, but with the dry land of Dong Van commune (Tan Ky), the summer temperature reaches 41-42 degrees Celsius, taking care of tissue culture bananas is not simple at first," Mr. Chien added.

From the effectiveness of the South American banana model in Tan Ky district, it has now been replicated in a number of communes in Tan Ky and Do Luong districts and has been granted a 3-star OCOP product certificate by Nghe An province. That is the result of dedication to the homeland and the process of researching and applying science and technology. The spread of the model is also convincing in that even the Tho ethnic people in Nghe An know how to apply drip irrigation technology, intensive banana cultivation for products that meet export standards...

The Director of My Thanh Clean Banana Cooperative (Tan Ky) said: Bananas are both poor at withstanding waterlogging and drought. After being cultured for a period of time in the laboratory, they are restored and treated for diseases, and then brought to the nursery to adapt to outside conditions. The members have learned how to plant, the density, dig holes according to standards, and regularly water the plants to keep them moist so that they can grow normally. Newly planted banana seedlings need to be watered immediately and then watered every 2-3 days. Mature plants need to be watered regularly in the summer. Adequate watering and fertilization are factors for bananas to grow well. When bananas bear fruit, they must be covered to protect them from mice and insects. Banana trees are currently a promising plant in Nghe An.

In 2021, Mr. Trinh Xuan Giao invested in planting the Xa Doai orange farm in Nghi Dien commune (Nghi Loc). With a scale of nearly 10 hectares and more than 1,000 orange trees, this Xa Doai orange conservation farm was selected by Mr. Giao from precious first-generation orange trees and has been strictly tested for diseases with the support of experts from the Vietnam Fruit Breeding Institute.

Mr. Giao also produces oranges with biotechnology in Con Cuong district with 60 hectares, near the Vietnam-Laos border, so that the oranges can "breathe" fresh air and the land has never been exploited and is "clean" of diseases. With excellent orange quality, Mr. Trinh Xuan Giao's Xa Doai oranges have achieved Global certification, are present on Vietnam Airlines flights to many places and are officially exported to Germany and Japan.

In Quynh Luu, Nghe An, a seaweed farm applies cell biotechnology to multiply algae cells into export products with quality not inferior to Japanese spirulina. The Spirulina production system applies microalgae biotechnology, including many stages from screening microalgae strains, breeding at all levels, then multiplying biomass on a large scale in closed systems, then in open tanks... These stages help algae gradually adapt to weather conditions and gradually increase their resistance. Spirulina algae products are currently a 4-star OCOP product of Nghe An, having won the First Prize of the Nghe An Provincial Science and Technology Innovation Award in 2020 with the project name "Completing the process of isolating, preserving strains, and technology for cultivating products from Spirulina algae in Nghe An". The product was jointly developed by German scientists, Professor Franz - Peter Montforts, to extract the essence and was supported in production by leading Vietnamese professors of algae. In 2024, Nghe An seaweed was in the top 10 most prestigious brands in Nghe An.

Businessman Nguyen Van Hung - Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of Hidumi Pharma Green Science Joint Stock Company said: The application of successful research and cultivation technology for Spirulina algae has created for Nghe An an excellent local product that has brought glory to the homeland when it has been certified for quality by the Ministry of Health and trusted by consumers. After more than 4 years of experiencing many difficulties, the production area has now become an address that continuously welcomes scientists, domestic and foreign delegations to visit, research, hold seminars and experience, and travel. All stages from algae seed production, farming process, production expansion, biomass collection, biomass processing, product collection, drying, grinding... to the final stage of producing products are always supported and controlled by the FIRST Project Management Board - Ministry of Science and Technology and domestic and foreign scientists. In particular, there is Prof. TX Franz - Peter Monforts (Germany) supporting scientific advice. With a large-scale farm invested with tens of billions of VND, Vastcom Company currently produces 5 tons of dry Spirulina biomass and 2 tons of fresh biomass/year, in addition to 1 ton of dry fermented soybean biomass.

With the desire to bring Vietnamese consumers fresh, clean, delicious and nutritious milk products, TH Group (Nghe An) has researched and produced TH fresh milk and dairy products to help change the nature of fresh milk in Vietnam, and has now become the most favorite milk brand in Vietnam, accounting for 40% of the milk market share in Vietnam.

To achieve that success, TH Group has used the world's most advanced technology, with the world's best dairy experts, taking care of imported dairy cows with the freshest and safest food on Nghe An's fields when TH owns the largest concentrated, high-tech dairy farm in Asia.

TH Group has produced milk with a closed production process from raw materials through preliminary processing, processing, production and quality control to the final product. The Group's products always ensure the criteria of freshness and cleanliness, preserving the essence of nature, meeting international quality standards, bringing consumers the best experiences with high-end products that are not only delicious but also nutritious, bringing outstanding health benefits.

TH has also applied Afimilk's (Israel) Afifarm herd management technology - a world-leading modern dairy farm management system. Cows are fed grass and sunflowers safely, with tags and Afitag electronic chips attached to their legs to monitor their health, nutrition and milk production. All information of each individual cow is analyzed and used by farm managers to make management decisions for the entire farming cycle at the farm. Fresh, clean cow's milk is transferred through a cold pipe system to the main tank at the farm and then transferred to a refrigerated tanker to the factory, where the cold temperature is always maintained at 2°C - 4°C. The fully automatic milking system is strictly controlled to ensure top hygiene and safety conditions.

TH fresh milk products have achieved world-class standards when applying perfect biotechnology to production from growing food, monitoring air temperature for irrigation to applying biotechnology to monitor the health of cows, fermenting and processing corn, sorghum, grass, sunflower, molasses, etc. TH has applied important research results of the world's leading nutrition experts, from 15 types of feed ingredients, to build suitable formulas, so that cows can produce milk full of nutrients and precious micronutrients for human health. With the superior quality of TH milk, it has officially exported clean fresh milk to China - a large market, and invested in modern factories and farms in Australia and Russia to produce milk.

In recent years, in order to develop sustainable agricultural production, adapt to climate change to improve productivity, output and quality of agricultural products, from the central to local levels, projects, policies and strategies have been developed to encourage the development of production to adapt to climate change, and the application of biotechnology in agricultural production. Through hybridization technology, tissue culture technology, production of microbial organic fertilizers in agriculture, gene and cell technology, Nghe An has quickly introduced genetically modified varieties resistant to pests and diseases to improve crop productivity.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hoi - Head of Technical Management and Science and Technology Department - Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said: Every year, Nghe An has over 19,000 hectares of genetically modified corn varieties resistant to stem borers and fall armyworms on annual corn crops; about 260 hectares of genetically modified rice resistant to annual leaf blight; or technology using tissue cultured crop varieties in production such as tissue cultured banana varieties, mushroom production, hydroponic vegetables in Do Luong, Quynh Luu, Hung Nguyen districts... Up to now, the whole province has 76.67 hectares of production area for crops such as oranges, guavas, tea, vegetables of all kinds, medicinal herbs certified to organic standards...

Then, there is the mushroom production model in Tan Ky with a scale of 6,725m², producing 360,000-400,000 bags of embryos per year, bringing in annual revenue of 1.2-1.5 billion VND, hydroponic vegetables on a scale of 3,000m²In Do Luong district, the income is over 1 billion VND, organic oranges in Thanh Duc commune, Thanh Chuong district with a scale of 5 hectares, total income is 490 million VND/ha and profit reaches over 350 million VND/ha/year; organic tea production model in Anh Son district gives income of 210-240 million VND/ha...

The application of biotechnology has brought about outstanding results. Specifically: The use of genetically modified plant varieties resistant to pests and diseases in production has reduced damage caused by pests and diseases, increased rice and corn productivity and increased production value, reduced pest control costs by 1-2 times, contributed to reducing pesticide residues, and reduced water pollution. Using tissue culture varieties in production will reduce the cost of purchasing seeds, thanks to the production of tissue culture varieties, large quantities can be produced, helping to reduce costs, create disease-free varieties, ensure quality, thereby improving production efficiency...

Not only does biotechnology bring higher profits than conventional production, it also helps reduce water pollution, pesticide residues, and makes the soil porous and diverse in soil microorganisms. Nghe An is also a pioneer in environmental treatment with biological products...

Economic Reporter Group