The journey of "revival" of Sa Dec fire rose

Many new rose varieties crossbred from Sa Dec Flower Village's fire roses were introduced by the Southern Fruit Institute at the workshop "Introducing new rose varieties and technical processes".

"Keeping the soul" of the flower village

The Fire Rose variety used to be the “soul” that made the difference of Sa Dec Flower Village (the flower capital of the Southwest). Over a long period of traditional propagation, the plant gradually revealed many weaknesses, reduced growth, susceptible to disease, thin petals and poor color fastness. This degeneration not only threatens the livelihood of farmers but also reduces the brand value of the entire flower region.

To preserve and improve the quality of native varieties, the Department of Science and Technology of Dong Thap province has proactively coordinated with the Southern Fruit Institute (SOFRI) and Tan Quy Dong Ornamental Flower Cooperative to implement the key project "Improving the fire rose and tiger chrysanthemum varieties suitable for Sa Dec Flower Village, period 2023-2025".

Dr. Le Nguyen Lan Thanh, Head of the project "Improving the fire rose and tiger chrysanthemum varieties suitable for Sa Dec Flower Village, period 2023-2025" said: The goal of the research is to restore and improve the native fire rose varieties, helping the plants adapt better to the climate and soil conditions of Sa Dec, while meeting the needs of the domestic and export markets.

The project was carried out using many advanced scientific methods, such as: Natural selection, sexual hybridization and gamma irradiation. After the selection process, the research team obtained a number of potential new rose lines with many outstanding characteristics: Strong stems, thick petals, beautiful flower forms, diverse colors from dark red, orange red, pink to traditional bright red with the unique features of Sa Dec fire roses.

Previously, rose farmers mainly relied on traditional grafting methods to propagate roses, resulting in uneven plants that are susceptible to disease. Through research, scientists have applied tissue culture technology. This technique helps to create a large number of disease-free, uniformly growing seedlings, meeting the needs of large-scale production.

Roses grown in greenhouse environments help reduce pests and diseases due to weather influences.

Dr. Le Nguyen Lan Thanh said: “After selecting and creating flower varieties with many outstanding characteristics, we propagated them using tissue culture in the laboratory, then transferred them to farmers for trial planting in greenhouses.

When the trees grow stably, farmers continue to propagate by grafting, this is a familiar method of Sa Dec Flower Village. Thus, there is a natural harmony between modern technology and traditional experience.”

Sa Dec farmers are highly skilled, so they quickly adopt new techniques. They just need to get used to controlling the temperature and light in the greenhouse to be able to operate effectively.
Master Nguyen Van Son

On an area of 250m² of greenhouse, a model of 1,000 demonstration rose pots was built with 5 different flower varieties including: 4 newly bred fire rose varieties and 1 traditional fire rose variety as a control. Initial results showed that the rate of commercial flowers reached 83-86%, much higher than the control variety. The roses developed evenly, had brighter colors and bloomed longer.

Master Nguyen Van Son, secretary of the project "Improving the Fire Rose and Tiger Chrysanthemum varieties suitable for Sa Dec Flower Village, period 2023-2025" said: "The good news is that the process of caring for improved roses is not too different from the old varieties. Sa Dec farmers are highly skilled, so they quickly accept new techniques. They just need to get used to controlling the temperature and light in the greenhouse to be able to operate effectively."

Mr. Tran Thanh Khang, one of the households who has been with the research team since the early days of implementing the project "Improving the Fire Rose variety in Sa Dec Flower Village", shared: "The new flower variety has beautiful colors, large flowers, thick petals, and few pests and diseases. Importantly, this variety is copyrighted domestically, so we can grow it with peace of mind, without having to worry about copyright issues with imported varieties."

Opening a new direction for the flower industry

The close cooperation between the Southern Fruit Research Institute, the Center for Applied Research and Science and Technology Services, local authorities and farmers has created a model of cooperation, demonstrating the spirit of "four houses" in agricultural innovation. Scientists do not stand outside of practice, but directly accompany, transfer techniques, and guide standard processes to farmers.

Fire rose is the symbol of Sa Dec, the pride of the people of the flower village. After a long time of cultivation, this precious flower variety has degenerated, so improvement, selection and restoration are very necessary. This is a concrete step for Dong Thap to affirm the direction of agricultural development based on science and technology.
Mr. Tran Van Nhan

According to Mr. Tran Van Nhan, Deputy Director of the Center for Applied Research and Science-Technology Services, Department of Science and Technology of Dong Thap province, this topic not only has scientific value but also has special cultural and economic significance.

“The fire rose is the symbol of Sa Dec, the pride of the people of the flower village. After a long time of cultivation, this precious flower variety has degenerated, so improvement, selection and restoration are very necessary. This is a concrete step for Dong Thap to affirm the direction of agricultural development based on science and technology,” Mr. Nhan affirmed.

Currently, the Center for Applied Research and Science-Technology Services is also continuing to support the expansion of the scale of propagation using tissue culture technology, ensuring a source of disease-free seeds for Sa Dec farmers in the coming time. In addition, the province is oriented to encourage the construction of flower growing areas in the direction of high technology, associated with green transformation and sustainable development.

Successfully crossbred new rose varieties propagated by tissue culture method, this method propagates large quantities, with uniform quality and disease-free seeds.

The successfully bred improved fire rose variety not only contributes to preserving the identity of the flower village, but also opens up a new direction for the value chain of the ornamental flower industry in Dong Thap. From the breeding stage to the care techniques, from the greenhouse model to the brand building, all are synchronously linked, creating a solid foundation for large-scale production and export orientation.

In particular, the project has contributed to improving farmers' access to technology, helping farmers change their production mindset from "doing it by experience" to "doing it by technical processes". Along with that, cooperatives and local authorities also benefit from having more scientific data sources to plan policies for the development of the ornamental flower industry in a more systematic way.

Not only bringing economic efficiency, the topic "Improving the fire rose and tiger chrysanthemum varieties suitable for Sa Dec Flower Village, period 2023-2025" also affirms a clear message, science and technology are becoming the "golden key" to help Dong Thap remove bottlenecks in agriculture, especially in specific industries such as ornamental flowers.

HUU NGHIA - H.NAM

Source: https://nhandan.vn/hanh-trinh-hoi-sinh-giong-hoa-hong-lua-sa-dec-post921822.html