Vietnam to fund more research projects
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Area earmarked for hybrid seeds to be more than doubled in bid to reduce dependence on imports
Hybrid-rice production and cultivation in Viet Nam has been on the upswing in the last few decades, but farmers still must import at least 70 per cent of the hybrid seeds, mostly from China, according to agricultural experts.
To address the need, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has set up plans to expand areas devoted to hybrid F1 seeds from the current 2,000 hectares to 5,000 hectares by 2015.
The government will also offer funds to private and state-owned companies as well as research institutes in an aim to develop domestically produced seeds of better quality.
In 1991, the country began planting F1 hybrid-rice seeds, which have higher yields and are more resistant to disease than inbred varieties. The area under cultivation with such seeds increased to 700,000 hectares by 2009.
Not only did this help secure the country’s food security, it made Vietnam the world’s third-largest hybrid-rice producer, after China and India, according to the Plant Cultivation Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
Hybrid-rice varieties, which are used mostly in the central and northern regions, are favoured by many farmers over inbred-rice varieties because they are easier to grow.
Over the last year, however, the country’s hybrid-rice cultivation area has fallen to about 559,000 hectares, with an average yield of 6.19 tonnes per hectare a crop, accounting for 12-15 per cent of the country’s total rice-cultivation area.
Speaking at a seminar in northern Nam Dinh province on September 18 to discuss targets for the 2013-20 period, Pham Dong Quang, deputy head of the Plant Cultivation Department, said many domestic hybrid-rice varieties had been certified, but most of them were not key varieties and could not compete with imported varieties.
Vietnam needs between 15,000 tonnes and 18,000 tonnes of F1 seeds for cultivation a year, but domestically produced F1 seeds meet only 20-25 per cent of the demand.
Also speaking at the seminar, which was organised by MARD and the Nam Dinh People’s Committee, was Nguyen Thanh Lam, general secretary of the Viet Nam Seed Trade Association.
He said the government had invested more money to produce F1 seeds to meet demand, but fewer farmers were using them.
Only a few domestically produced hybrid-rice varieties were available in Vietnam, and these come from the same female parental line.
Thus, there are not enough different kinds of hybrid-rice seeds to suit a variety of soil and climate conditions in the country.
The director of the Hybrid Rice Research and Development Centre, Nguyen Tri Hoan, who is also head of the Institute of Food and Foodstuff Crops, said the shortage of researchers was a major cause behind the poor development of F1 seed production.
The lack of cooperation among research institutes and seed companies was another obstacle, he added.
Once the seed varieties are developed by research institutes, seed companies must take part in production activities. Research institutes would only be able to produce about 50-70 per cent of the seeds, Hoan said.
Mai Ba Luyen, deputy director of central Thanh Hoa province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, pointed out that the most significant problem was whether local researchers could create hybrid-rice varieties with quality as high as imported seeds.
“If they are competitive, then seed companies and farmers could earn profits from producing the domestic variety of F1 seeds, and we could expand cultivation areas,” he said, adding that Thanh Hoa province had developed areas where farmers specialise in producing F1 seeds.
Under MARD’s plan till 2015, the area under hybrid-rice cultivation would increase to 800,000 hectares. Domestic production of F1 seeds must meet 50-60 per cent of the country’s demand.
Duong Duc Huy, deputy director of northern Lao Cai province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said domestic seed companies could reach this target easily.
But the problem is the limited number of female parental lines to produce F1 seeds.
“If we choose domestic female parental lines and import female parental lines for cross-breeding, then we could have enough to meet demand,” he said.
