Investing in breeding technology to help Vietnam's flower industry develop like the Netherlands

According to the chairman of the Vietnam Plant Breeding Association, the Netherlands basically only has tulip varieties but they have developed a flower industry. Vietnam has many flower varieties but they have not developed them yet. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on breeding technology for development.

Vietnam Academy of Agriculture and Pan Group signed a memorandum of cooperation at the workshop - Photo: C. TUE

On May 9, the Vietnam Academy of Agriculture in collaboration with Pan Group organized an international scientific conference on innovation in plant breeding technology in enterprises and research organizations.

Must move towards gene editing technology

Professor Tran Dinh Long - Chairman of the Vietnam Plant Breeding Association - said that the plant breeding industry aims to preserve and effectively exploit 20,000 - 25,000 genetic resources by 2035.

At the same time, focus on research and selection of new crop varieties with high productivity, high quality, resistance to pests and diseases, meeting market demand, adapting to climate change and being environmentally friendly.

For rice varieties, focus on research and selection of high-yield, commercial rice varieties, drought- and salinity-resistant rice varieties, rice varieties resistant to pests and diseases, medicinal rice varieties, and cancer prevention rice varieties.

"Regarding flower varieties, we must invest more in research and selection of varieties for development. The Netherlands has developed a flower industry with only tulip varieties, while Vietnam has a very rich variety of flowers but we have not developed them yet," said Mr. Long.

According to Mr. Long, to select and create high-quality varieties, in addition to mastering plant cell technology and hybridization and crossbreeding technology, it is necessary to aim for high technology such as gene editing.

"There are fruit tree varieties that take decades to create. If we use gene editing technology, we will greatly shorten the time for creating varieties," said Mr. Long, who proposed that the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment consider including this technology in the Law on Cultivation to promote the seed production industry.

Rice varieties displayed on the sidelines of the workshop - Photo: C. TUE

Plant varieties are the starting point of every value chain.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Tra My - General Director of Pan Group - believes that plant breeding is the foundation of agriculture, this is the starting point of every value chain.

"Connecting and sharing knowledge among researchers and businesses in areas such as management, exploitation of genetic resources, development of new breeding technologies in research and breeding of plant varieties. Thereby solving the challenges facing the field of breeding" - Ms. My said.

According to Mr. Nguyen Dinh Trung - Deputy General Director of Vietnam Seed Group, the enterprise has many advantages in terms of finance, modern facilities, and the ability to flexibly orient research according to market needs.

However, businesses also face many challenges such as lack of valuable genetic resources, limited highly qualified human resources, long research time, and high costs.

"On that basis, we propose that the State should build a policy system such as supporting human resource training, promoting public-private partnership (PPP), and strengthening international cooperation to transfer technology and advanced genetic resources to support businesses in innovating plant variety technology.

These policies not only help shorten the time for researching new varieties but also contribute to increasing productivity, quality and competitiveness of Vietnamese agriculture," said Mr. Trung.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/dau-tu-cong-nghe-chon-tao-giong-de-nganh-hoa-viet-nam-phat-trien-nhu-ha-lan-20250509184756135.htm