ThaiBinh Seed and the breakthrough rice variety called TBR97
Few rice varieties have created such a buzz when, after just over a year of being officially recognized in the North, the production area in the fields has exceeded 30,000 hectares. That is the TBR97 rice variety.
After the storm, the rice still stands firm.
After super typhoon Yagi (typhoon No. 3) swept through, the hundreds of meters long solid brick wall of the Crop Research Institute (ThaiBinh Seed Group Joint Stock Company) in Thai Binh was "blown away" by the wind. Hearing the report from the institute, people who "live and die" with rice like Mr. Tran Manh Bao - Chairman of the Board of Directors, General Director of ThaiBinh Seed were anxious as fire, waiting for the storm to pass, the wind to stop so he could go to the fields to check on the rice.
The experimental area in Dong Cuong commune, Dong Hung district (Thai Binh) with more than 4,000 rice varieties has a rather desolate landscape, but has never seen such a big storm in many years. When visiting the TBR97 rice field, Mr. Tran Manh Bao was delighted because all the rice plants still retained their flag leaves and were not knocked down. It is even more special because this is the rice crop after storm No. 3, so the yield is guaranteed.
Mr. Tran Manh Bao - Chairman of ThaiBinh Seed Group - the "father" of a series of famous purebred rice varieties such as BC15, TBR225 shared that the yield of rice after flowering is largely determined by the top 3 flag leaves. The more upright and narrow the angle of the flag leaves, the stronger the ability to photosynthesize, helping the plant grow healthily, absorb more nutrients, and have a high percentage of solid grains.
When the rice is ripe, looking at the TBR97 field, all you can see are leaves, but Mr. Bao firmly asserts that the yield of TBR97 rice must reach at least 6.5 tons/ha, rice hiding its flowers and showing its leaves is a bumper crop. Despite such storms, the TBR97 rice plants still stand firm, proving their ability to resist lodging and their ability to resist leaf blight very well. For lines and varieties that are researched and bred to adapt to climate change, the natural "test" is always the harshest and fairest.
Immediately after that, the Chairman of ThaiBinh Seed directed the company's employees to immediately set out and spread out to all TBR97 rice growing areas in localities from the Northern mountainous region to the North Central region to visit the fields and organize conferences to evaluate rice after the storm. Good news continuously 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... which were the "eye of the storm" localities that swept through, causing heavy damage to many rice areas.
Farmers in Lien Giang commune, Dong Hung district, Thai Binh province even used the phrase “the electric pole falls but the rice does not fall” when talking about TBR97 rice. The image of TBR97 rice fields with golden ginger leaves next to rows of broken electric poles shows the strong vitality of the rice variety.
Brave in the face of extreme weather
Although it has only been recognized for production in the North for more than a year, the amount of TBR97 variety supplied to the market by ThaiBinh Seed has reached 2,000 tons of certified rice per year, equivalent to 30,000 hectares of commercial rice production in the fields. However, that is only a very modest announced number, because in many localities, people still have the habit of keeping pure commercial rice for seed in the next crop. Therefore, the actual coverage of this rice variety is much larger.
In October, following Mr. Tran Manh Bao to evaluate the rice crop after storms and floods. From the fields to the product import area of Binh Dinh Agricultural Service Cooperative (Kien Xuong district, Thai Binh), we could hear the sound of laughter and engines echoing throughout the area from the village gate to the rice drying house. On the yard, the rice was drying golden and the company's vehicles were importing rice. This is an atmosphere that is hard to see in many localities during this year's crop season.
The average yield of TBR97 rice here this crop is 5 tons/ha. If we calculate the yield according to statistics, it can reach 5.5 - 6 tons/ha, some households reach 6.5 - 7 tons/ha.
The Party Secretary of Ai Quoc village, Binh Dinh commune also confirmed: “After storm No. 3, we thought everything would be lost. Unexpectedly, the yield is now very high, it can reach over 5 tons/ha. I have planted the new rice variety TBR97 several times, and each crop has had a good harvest. The last spring crop yielded 7-8 tons/ha. This TBR97 rice variety has very few pests and is very resistant to adverse weather conditions. This crop was hit by a storm, but the yield is still high, the rice is free of pests and diseases, and the grains are bright yellow as if nothing had happened.”
"Rain of compliments"
After storm 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 compliments" 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) with an area of 2 hectares bloomed right at the time of storm No. 3 with heavy rain. However, according to the assessment of the Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection of Bac Giang province, the rice in the model still achieved a yield of more than 61 quintals/ha, higher than the control rice variety (Khang dan 18 achieved a yield of 5.5 quintals/ha).
According to the Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection of Bac Giang province, the TBR97 variety has a short growing period of 96 - 100 days for the summer crop (from the time of transplanting), which is favorable for arranging the planting of warm-loving winter crops. In particular, TBR97 is a purebred rice variety with high quality, high yield, average plant height, good lodging resistance, good resistance to black grain disease, blast, brown spot, and intensive cultivation.
Through trial production, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Bac Giang has decided to introduce the quality rice variety TBR97 into the province's planting structure in the 2024-2025 spring crop.
In Ha Giang, the demonstration model of TBR97 rice variety deployed in Quang Minh commune, Bac Quang district in the 2024 crop season also demonstrated its outstanding advantages and good lodging resistance. Commenting on the results of the TBR97 rice variety model, Ms. Mai Thi Giang - Director of the Center for Services and Transfer of Agricultural and Forestry Science and Technology of Bac Quang district said that through the actual monitoring period in the field, it showed that, although under the same cultivation and care conditions, the purebred rice variety TBR97 demonstrated good resistance to pests and external conditions, with high uniformity.
"In particular, the TBR97 rice variety has a growing period 5 days shorter than the Khang Dan 18 rice variety, which is very suitable for the local variety structure and crop season. This rice variety also has a low plant height, so its lodging resistance is much better than other rice varieties.
In addition, TBR97 rice variety converges high yielding factors such as average density of 49 clumps/m2; effective number of flowers is 8 flowers/clump and the rate of solid grains per flower reaches 80.28%; estimated yield is 247 kg/sao, higher than the control rice variety Khang Dan 18 which is 47 kg/sao.
The "soul" of OCOP products in Ia Pa land
According to the reporter's records, in Khanh Hoa in early September this year, TBR97 rice was purchased by traders at 9,300 VND/kg (dry rice), while other varieties averaged about 8,700 VND/kg. Mr. Nguyen Tan Khanh (My Trach residential group, Ninh Ha ward, Ninh Hoa town) said that he had grown many rice varieties in the past and had known about TBR97 rice variety 3 years ago. This summer-autumn crop, he planted 6 sao (500m sao)2) this rice variety.
The old varieties had an average yield of only 3.5 quintals/sao, but this variety averaged 4 quintals/sao, while the growth time was the same. Especially in the third crop, this rice variety yielded more than 4.2 quintals/sao. This means both high yield and good price.
Mr. Khanh added that this rice variety produces clear white rice grains, soft cooked rice, rich flavor, and delicious food, so in the near future, his family will expand the TBR97 rice variety to the entire area.
In particular, with the advantage of possessing 2 genes resistant to brown planthopper and rice blast disease, this rice variety is resistant to pests and diseases. This confirms the superiority of TBR97 rice variety, especially in unfavorable weather conditions.
Mr. Tran Manh Bao shared that the TBR97 rice variety meets all 5 requirements of an ideal variety that any breeder wants to have, which are wide adaptability, high yield, short growth time, good rice quality, and good lodging resistance.
In particular, with the quality of delicious rice, white, shiny, soft, rich flavor, rice products from ThaiBinh Seed's TBR97 rice variety have been chosen to build a rice brand for Ia Pa land and ranked 3-star OCOP of Gia Lai province. That explains why TBR97 rice variety can "overthrow" many rice varieties to stand in many regions and areas across the country.
“The TBR97 rice variety has even been introduced to Ca Mau to evaluate its salt tolerance and has achieved very positive results. Many control rice varieties do not yield, but the TBR97 rice variety still yields,” Mr. Tran Manh Bao shared.
With the above outstanding characteristics, it is not far away that TBR97 rice variety will follow in the footsteps of its famous "seniors" such as BC15 and TBR225 to become the main rice variety in many localities across the country, bringing bumper crops to farmers.
