Farmers wait for new rice varieties

Mr. Nguyen Duy Vien, Director of Thong Nhat Cooperative (An Ninh commune, Quang Ninh district, Quang Binh province), said: "The average yield of QC03 seed is 70-75 quintals per hectares. It is a very high result for fragrant, high-quality rice varieties, and the highlight is that the rice is delicious and fragrant. However, it is not possible to get many seeds to put into mass production because there are no varieties.

Joy in the fields

Quang Binh Seed Company Limited ('Quang Binh Seed Company') has researched many new rice varieties. In which three types of QC03, PN99, and KH336... are being welcomed by farmers.

According to Dr. Nguyen Xuan Ky, Director of Quang Binh Seed Company, the company has created many new rice varieties with high yield and quality through many years of research. These new rice varieties will increase production efficiency for farmers in Quang Binh province and other provinces in the coming seasons.

The new rice variety that Dr. Nguyen Xuan Ky mentioned is QC03, which has been researched and hybridized since 2014 and was put into national testing from 2017 to 2019.

From the summer-autumn crop of 2019, Quang Binh Seed Company and farmers have deployed a trial model of new rice varieties in Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien - Hue, Quang Nam, Ha Tinh provinces, etc. evaluated as a good variety with high yield, good quality, resistance to pests and diseases, and increased economic efficiency in production.

In Quang Binh province, the rice variety QC03 through the winter-spring crop of 2019 - 2020 and summer-autumn 2020 implemented a pilot model to evaluate new types in Phuc Tu Tay village (Dai Trach commune, Bo Trach district, Quang Binh province), which was grown and received with promising results.

The QC03 variety grew and developed well. The seed production process was not affected by pests and diseases, so no pesticides were used. The average yield is 60 quintals per hectare.

At Thong Nhat Cooperative (An Ninh Commune), in addition to some key varieties, the cooperative also introduced the new variety QC03 into the organization of a trial model to evaluate new varieties. In the winter-spring crop, due to high humidity, blast disease often occurs. However, the rice variety QC03 is considered resistant to blast disease, hardy, resistant to falling, and easy to produce.

Mr. Nguyen Duy Vien, Director of Thong Nhat Cooperative, said: “The average yield of QC03 variety is 65 quintals per ha. “This is an outstanding result for high-quality, fragrant rice varieties. Therefore, people want to have this variety to produce on a large scale. However, the Quang Binh Seed Company said that it has not been able to meet the requirements because it has to wait for the procedure for variety recognition.

Quang Binh Seed Company has directly researched and cooperated in research to select, create, and produce over ten new rice and peanut varieties in the past ten years. In 2018 and 2019, hybrid rice varieties 3 KH336 lines were organized by the company to conduct production testing in Hoa Binh, Yen Bai, Thai Binh, Hung Yen, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An provinces... As a result, the actual yield in the spring crop production averaged from 85 to 90 quintals per hectares.

Many localities in Quang Binh province have also conducted production trials and trial models of the KH336 rice variety. The evaluation of rice yield at the sites reached over 85 quintals per hectare. Typically in the two winter-spring crops 2018 - 2019 and 2019 - 2020, in some cooperatives such as Thach Ban Ha (An Thuy commune, Le Thuy district), Chau Xa cooperative, and Le Xa cooperative (Mai Thuy commune, Le Thuy district), Van Phuc Cooperative (Van Ninh Commune, Quang Ninh District) rice variety KH336 with a yield of up to 100 quintals per hectare.

Businesses and farmers wait and wait

Currently, many units and enterprises producing rice seeds are waiting for a decision on circulation for their products to serve farmers.

According to Dr. Nguyen Xuan Ky, the rice varieties selected by the Company through testing and very effective test models such as QC03, PN99, KH336, QS447... have qualified to be granted a "license" from the management agency.

The reason is that the Department of Crop Production is implementing some new regulations in managing plant varieties according to the Law on Cultivation, which took effect from January 1, 2020, replacing the previous Ordinance on Plant Varieties.

According to Mr. Dang Van Chung, Thua Thien - Hue Plant Seeds and Animal Seeds JSC, the Company supplies about 6,000 tons of rice seeds to the market. Currently, the Company has two rice varieties, HG244 and HG212, which are eligible to apply for a "license" but have to wait from the beginning of 2020 until now.

Master Nguyen Van Tinh, Deputy Director of ADI Agricultural Development and Trade Investment Joint Stock Company, also said that before the Law on Crop Production was promulgated, maize varieties recognized for trial production did not need to undergo controlled testing. There were no guiding documents on controlled trials when the Law was promulgated. Therefore, corn varieties recognized for trial production since 2020 have not yet been granted circulation decisions.

"For rice and maize varieties that have completed VCU testing before 2021, but by the time the TCVN promulgates, these varieties have not been recognized for trial production, how are the procedures for recognition of circulation applied?" - Mr. Tinh added.

Mr. Phan Van Le, Director of Thach Ban Ha Cooperative, is also very eager to get high-quality, productive varieties like KH336 to serve farmers to increase production efficiency and income. However, he also sighed and said: "I heard from the Quang Binh Seed Company that it is impossible to bring this variety to people in the next crop."

Dr. Nguyen Xuan Ky said that the rice varieties QC03, PN99, KH336 have all been carried out enough basic tests, tested for 3-crop production (as prescribed), and implemented trial models from the end of 2019 at different locations ecological regions of the Central Coast and Northern provinces. Currently, this unit is also waiting for a decision on the circulation of the above varieties to produce and supply widely, serve farmers, and have bountiful crops.