ThaiBinh Seed and the breakthrough rice variety named TBR97
Few rice varieties have achieved such widespread recognition in the North, with their cultivated area exceeding 30,000 hectares in just over a year since official recognition. That variety is TBR97.
The rice crop remained standing after the storm.
After Super Typhoon Yagi (Typhoon No. 3) swept through, the sturdy brick wall, hundreds of meters long, of the Crop Research Institute (ThaiBinh Seed Group Joint Stock Company) in Thai Binh was blown away by the wind. Hearing the report from his colleagues at the institute, Mr. Tran Manh Bao, Chairman of the Board and General Director of ThaiBinh Seed, who is deeply committed to rice cultivation, was burning with anxiety, eagerly awaiting the storm to pass and the wind to subside so he could go to the fields to check on his rice crop.
The experimental rice field in Dong Cuong commune, Dong Hung district (Thai Binh province), with over 4,000 rice varieties, looked quite devastated, but it had never seen such a powerful storm in many years. When leaders visited the TBR97 rice paddy, Mr. Tran Manh Bao was delighted to see that all the rice plants had retained their flag leaves and had not been flattened. Even more remarkable was that this rice crop bloomed after Typhoon No. 3, so the yield was guaranteed.
Mr. Tran Manh Bao - Chairman of ThaiBinh Seed Group - the "father" of a series of famous pure rice varieties such as BC15 and TBR225, shared that the yield of a rice plant after flowering is largely determined by the three uppermost flag leaves. The more upright and narrower the flag leaves are, the stronger the photosynthetic capacity, helping the plant grow healthily, absorb more nutrients, and have a high percentage of plump grains.
When the rice ripens, the TBR97 rice field is mostly covered with leaves, but Mr. Bao confidently asserts that the yield of TBR97 rice must reach at least 6.5 tons/ha. He believes that a bountiful harvest is only possible when the rice plants hide their panicles and show off their leaves. Even in such a fierce storm, the TBR97 rice plants remain standing, demonstrating their excellent resistance to lodging and bacterial blight. For varieties and cultivars developed to adapt to climate change, the "test" of nature is always the harshest and fairest.
Immediately afterwards, the Chairman of ThaiBinh Seed instructed the company's staff to set off, spreading out to all the TBR97 rice-growing regions in localities from the northern mountainous areas to the North Central region to visit the fields and organize conferences to assess the rice crop after the storm. Good news poured in from Ha Giang, Tuyen Quang, Phu Tho, Bac Giang to the Red River Delta provinces such as Thai Binh, Hai Duong, Nam Dinh, Hai Phong, Hanoi, Vinh Phuc… these were the "eyes of the storm" that swept through, causing heavy damage to many rice fields.
In fact, farmers in Lien Giang commune, Dong Hung district, Thai Binh province even jokingly say, "The power poles fall, but the rice doesn't fall," when talking about the TBR97 rice variety. The image of golden-yellow TBR97 rice fields next to broken power poles shows the rice variety's strong vitality.
Courage in the face of extreme weather
Although it has only been officially recognized for production in Northern Vietnam for just over a year, ThaiBinh Seed has already supplied 2,000 tons of certified rice seeds to the market annually, equivalent to 30,000 hectares of commercial rice production in the fields. However, this is only a very modest figure, as many localities still have the habit of keeping pure commercial rice to use as seeds for the next season. Therefore, the actual coverage of this rice variety is much larger.
In October, I followed Mr. Tran Manh Bao to assess the rice crop after the storms and floods. From the fields to the product receiving area of the Binh Dinh Agricultural Service Cooperative (Kien Xuong district, Thai Binh province), I heard lively laughter and chatter, and the sound of engines echoed throughout the area, from the village gate to the rice drying house. Golden rice grains lay drying in the sun, and company vehicles were unloading the rice. This atmosphere is rarely seen in many localities during this year's harvest season.
The average yield of TBR97 rice here this season is 5 tons/ha. If calculated according to statistics, the yield could reach 5.5 - 6 tons/ha, with some households achieving 6.5 - 7 tons/ha.
The Party Secretary of Ai Quoc village, Binh Dinh commune, also confirmed: “After typhoon No. 3, we thought we would lose everything. Unexpectedly, the yield is now very high, possibly reaching over 5 tons/ha. I've planted the new TBR97 rice variety several times, and each time it's been a good harvest. Last spring, the yield was 7-8 tons/ha. This TBR97 rice variety is very resistant to pests and diseases and withstands adverse weather conditions very well. Even with the typhoon this season, the yield is still high, the rice is free of pests and diseases, and the grains are bright yellow as if nothing happened.”
"A shower of praise"
Following Typhoon No. 3, ThaiBinh Seed organized a series of field workshops to evaluate the effectiveness of TBR97 rice production in dozens of localities such as: Ha Giang, Tuyen Quang, Bac Kan, Bac Giang, Phu Tho, Thai Binh, Hai Duong, Nam Dinh, Hai Phong, Hanoi, Vinh Phuc, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Tra Vinh, Tay Ninh… and received "a shower of praise" from farmers as well as experts and managers.
In Bac Giang, the TBR97 rice production model of 34 households in Bao Loc 2 village, Bao Son commune (Luc Nam district), covering an area of 2 hectares, bloomed right at the time of Typhoon No. 3 accompanied by heavy rain. However, according to the assessment of the Bac Giang Provincial Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, the rice in the model still achieved a yield of over 61 quintals/hectare, higher than the control rice variety (Khang Dan 18, which yielded 5.5 quintals/hectare).
According to the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection of Bac Giang province, the TBR97 variety has a short growing season of 96-100 days for the main crop (calculated from transplanting), making it suitable for planting warm-weather winter crops. In particular, TBR97 is a high-quality pure rice variety with high yield, medium plant height, good lodging resistance, and good resistance to black kernel disease, blast, and brown spot, and is tolerant to intensive cultivation.
Following trial production, the Bac Giang Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has decided to include the high-quality TBR97 rice variety in the province's crop structure for the 2024-2025 spring-summer season.
In Ha Giang, the TBR97 rice variety demonstration model, implemented in Quang Minh commune, Bac Quang district during the 2024 crop season, also demonstrated outstanding advantages, including good lodging resistance. Commenting on the results of the TBR97 rice variety model, Ms. Mai Thi Giang - Director of the Center for Agricultural and Forestry Science and Technology Transfer and Services in Bac Quang district, said that through practical monitoring in the fields, it was observed that, despite the same cultivation and care conditions, the purebred TBR97 rice variety showed good resistance to pests, diseases, and adverse environmental conditions, and high uniformity.
"In particular, the TBR97 rice variety has a shorter growing season by 5 days compared to the Khang Dan 18 rice variety, making it very suitable for the local crop structure and planting season. This rice variety also has a short plant height, so it has much better lodging resistance than other rice varieties."
In addition, the TBR97 rice variety possesses the elements that contribute to high yield, such as an average density of 49 clumps/m².2The number of effective panicles is 8 panicles/clump, and the percentage of filled grains per panicle reaches 80.28%; the estimated yield is 247 kg/sao, which is 47 kg/sao higher than the control rice variety Khang Dan 18.
The "soul" of OCOP products in Ia Pa
According to reporters' observations, in Khanh Hoa province at the beginning of September this year, TBR97 rice was purchased by traders at 9,300 VND/kg (dry rice), while other varieties averaged around 8,700 VND/kg. Mr. Nguyen Tan Khanh (My Trach residential area, Ninh Ha ward, Ninh Hoa town) said that he had previously grown many rice varieties and learned about TBR97 three years ago. This year's Summer-Autumn crop saw him planting 6 sao (500m² per sao).2) this rice variety.
Older varieties yielded an average of only 3.5 quintals/sao (1 sao = 360 square meters), but this variety averaged 4 quintals/sao, while having the same growing time. Especially in the third cropping season, this rice variety achieved yields of over 4.2 quintals/sao. Thus, it achieved both high yields and good prices.
Mr. Khanh added that this rice variety produces white, translucent grains, and the cooked rice is soft, flavorful, and very delicious. Therefore, in the future, his family will expand the cultivation of the TBR97 rice variety to the entire area.
In particular, with the advantage of possessing two genes resistant to brown planthopper and blast disease, this rice variety has good pest and disease resistance. This confirms the superior advantage of the TBR97 rice variety, especially in unfavorable weather conditions.
Mr. Tran Manh Bao shared that the TBR97 rice variety meets all five requirements of an ideal variety that any breeder would want: wide adaptability, high yield, short growing season, good rice quality, and good lodging resistance.
In particular, with its delicious rice quality – white, glossy, soft, and flavorful cooked rice – the TBR97 rice variety from ThaiBinh Seed has been selected to build a rice brand for the Ia Pa region and has been awarded a 3-star OCOP rating in Gia Lai province. This explains why the TBR97 rice variety has been able to surpass many other rice varieties and gain a foothold in many regions across the country.
"Furthermore, the TBR97 rice variety was even brought to Ca Mau to assess its salt tolerance and achieved very positive results. Many control rice varieties did not yield a harvest, but the TBR97 variety still achieved high productivity," Mr. Tran Manh Bao shared.
With the aforementioned superior characteristics, it won't be long before the TBR97 rice variety follows in the footsteps of its famous predecessors like BC15 and TBR225 to become the main rice variety in many localities across the country, bringing bountiful harvests to farmers.
