Save rice for life

He brought me several kilos of rice of various colors, from white, red to purple. Purple rice is very special, the color is as beautiful as brown rice, originating from the SH53 variety; light red rice from the SH32 variety. Each bag is only about 1 - 2 kilos, but to him, they are more precious than gold, even if you have money, it is difficult to buy. It is not difficult because they are expensive, but because he has given away as much as he has bred. He kept holding on to the remaining batch, considering it over and over again. He loved and cherished everyone, and if he gave it to one person, he was afraid that the other would be sad... In the end, he gave it to me, his "adopted daughter" who had followed him around for many years, "digging" all sorts of stories about his farming life in the newspaper.

This time, he told me two funny stories. The first story is that the SH58 rice variety (his initials) is changing, becoming the inspiration for the restoration of the rice grain called "Chim Roi". In the past, this type of rice originated from a "strange" rice variety, dropped by birds in some remote areas of Ca Mau . Over time, our ancestors obtained long, fragrant, sweet, and chewy rice grains. The name Chim Roi rice was born from that, passed down to later generations. But unfortunately, the rice variety was lost, and the descendants now have no choice. By chance, a partner came to him and discovered that Mr. Hien's SH58 variety was also fragrant, also small and long grains, also milky white rice, extremely suitable for brackish water, rice-shrimp fields. He was willing to give them 40kg of rice seeds to try planting. Unexpectedly, decades later, that rice variety was widely propagated, reaching several hundred tons, and Chim Roi rice was also famous far and wide.

Mr. Hoa Si Hien (wearing glasses) introduces rice from the rice he crossbred.

SH63 rice variety also has an interesting journey like its brother SH58. He successfully crossbred it in 2019 - 2020, from the TC fragrant rice variety with SH31. The finished product is sticky, fragrant, long rice grains, not boring to eat. The partner found a new business opportunity. So, he "transferred" another "quality child" to them. Later, that "child" was given a very beautiful name: Gao Nang Tay. "My wish is to propagate all the rice varieties I research and crossbreed, to bring to life as much as possible, without demanding any copyright fees. But I told my partner to leave a small corner on the packaging, print my image, as a promise to consumers that this is rice from farmer Hoa Si Hien" - he humorously pointed to his face on the rice bag.

It is a black and white image of his haggard face, but handsome and proud in a vest. He is proud because it is a picture taken by his eldest daughter, which has appeared in many famous rice products of the TC brand (Tan Chau, from TC01 to TC30) over the past ten years. In the near future, his daughter will design a new stylized image for him, to be used for new products, proving his boundless passion for rice grains.

The second funny story is also related to rice. The An Giang agricultural sector contacted him to test the cultivation of some high-quality rice varieties to serve the project of building and developing the An Giang rice brand. He often jokingly said that his seed farm is "the poorest rice institute in the world". But this "poor" place can successfully produce hundreds of high-quality rice varieties, and many large and small research centers come to exchange and coordinate.

Each seed was planted on a pilot basis in many places in the province, and then “compared with chopsticks to choose a flagpole”. His “children” that are about to be introduced are “growing up”, demonstrating their mettle and outstanding characteristics through each crop season, waiting for the day when they will “make a name” in the Vietnamese rice market. Among them, SH63 has a strong plant, adapts to the high-yield seed production process, is resistant to pests and diseases, has a fairly average yield, and produces delicious, sticky rice… promising to be a “strong candidate” for this project.

Near noon, old farmer To Van Triet (living in Vinh Hoa commune) "conveniently" stopped by to visit, asking his old friend Hoa Si Hien for a cup of hot tea to warm his stomach. They talked enthusiastically about rice plants, fruit gardens, things that were familiar to them from the time they could walk, until their old age. Mr. Triet used to grow short-term rice, and liked the TC2 variety that Mr. Hien had hybridized. Later, he changed crops according to local encouragement, so he chose to grow jam as a new economic stage, only keeping a small amount of land to grow rice. "I like Mr. Hien's rice varieties, often listening to him tell stories about hybridizing one variety after another. One day, he gave me some purple rice, my wife and I ate sparingly by... occasionally cooking porridge. The rice was delicious, so porridge was also delicious, the more we ate, the more we appreciated the rice grains of our country" - Mr. Triet said.

After a few happy stories, when the hot tea gradually cooled down, Mr. Hien left me a few confidences. After decades of working in the fields, becoming a “barefoot scientist”, he realized that: “In addition to breeding rice varieties that adapt to climate change, we must also think about nurturing from the roots. The soil nourishes plants, plants nourish people, so people must know how to nurture the soil and plants in harmony. Chemical fertilizers are only good for plants, leaving the soil barren. The soil cannot speak, and can only show its helplessness when it is overexploited. In the new era of farming, we need to focus on cultivating and nurturing the soil well, then think about exploiting and enjoying the benefits of crops. I hope that farmers and scientists will pay more attention to this, more substantially.”

GIA KHANH

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/chat-chiu-hat-gao-cho-doi-a421060.html