The first cooperative in Ha Tinh applies high technology to seedling production

In March 2024, Xuyen Son Production, Trade, Service and Tourism Cooperative (abbreviated as Xuyen Son Cooperative) in Cam Thinh Commune, Cam Xuyen District was established with the goal of developing high-tech agriculture to create breakthroughs, change farming practices and improve production efficiency for farmers. After its establishment, Xuyen Son Cooperative built a tissue culture center to serve the source of seedlings in agricultural and forestry production.

Xuyen Son Cooperative staff inspect hybrid acacia seedlings produced using tissue culture technology.

Mr. Hoang Trung Thong - Director of Xuyen Son Cooperative said: "With capital investment from a local enterprise in Ho Chi Minh City, the Cooperative has equipped a system of modern equipment such as: biological incubators, breeding rooms, steaming and drying systems, specialized machinery and chemicals... to build a tissue culture center with a production capacity of more than 1 million seedlings/year. The center's goal is to produce varieties of forestry trees, fruit trees, orchids such as: hybrid acacia, eucalyptus, do bau, banana, Phalaenopsis orchid, Moncara orchid, Vanda orchid... To maintain sustainable operations, the Cooperative has currently connected with large orders of hybrid acacia seedlings in 3 provinces: Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri".

The tissue culture center of Xuyen Son Cooperative was built in the old Cam Thinh Primary School campus with an area of about 1.5 hectares, with a total investment of about 2 billion VND. In the initial stages of operation, the center is producing the first batch of hybrid acacia. It is expected that in phase 1, the unit will produce 1 million hybrid acacia trees to supply to farmers in the provinces of Ha Tinh , Quang Binh, and Quang Tri.

Ms. Phan Thi Tam - an officer of Xuyen Son Cooperative shared: "Tissue culture from plant cells is the most advanced technical method today and is increasingly popular, helping to quickly and uniformly produce plant varieties while still retaining all the characteristics of the original plant. The advantage of this technological method is to propagate in large quantities with good characteristics identical to the mother plant, meeting the year-round source of seeds with good quality, uniformity, disease-free, bringing high economic efficiency".

Seedlings produced by tissue culture method will give good quality, suitable for planting large timber forests.

To produce seedlings from tissue culture, Xuyen Son Cooperative must spend 1-2 years (depending on the variety) and go through many technical stages. The tissue culture process is strictly implemented by the Cooperative, from selecting the original variety, transferring in a sterile environment to preparing the optimal culture medium. Each technician is well-trained, working carefully and meticulously to ensure the quality of each batch of seedlings.

"The entire tissue culture method was transferred by Thanh Hoa Agricultural Institute. To meet the technological process, in addition to 2 agricultural engineers, we have recruited 8 technicians and hired experts from Thanh Hoa Agricultural Institute to train and educate for 3 months. Currently, the center is creating jobs for 10 workers. In the coming time, Xuyen Son Cooperative will recruit 10 more technicians for training, meeting the production scale", said Mr. Hoang Trung Thong - Director of Xuyen Son Cooperative.

Compared to cuttings, tissue cultured seedlings grow 20% faster, have a taproot system that is more resistant to storms, and are favorable for large-scale timber plantation models. Seedlings produced by tissue culture are less susceptible to pests and diseases, and the quality of wood used as raw materials for processing is also better.

Tissue culture and propagation are carried out in a sterile environment.

“In the first batch, the cooperative has successfully tissue-cultured more than 300,000 hybrid acacia trees. It is expected that in about 3 months, the cooperative will bring these seedlings to the market. Currently, the cooperative has signed a contract to supply forest growers in the provinces of Quang Binh and Quang Tri at a price of 2,400 VND/tree. Although the price of tissue-cultured seedlings is more expensive than cuttings, the quality of the seedlings is stronger and will produce larger wood after harvest,” said Mr. Hoang Trung Thong - Director of Xuyen Son Cooperative.

Not only investing in and applying tissue culture to produce plant varieties, in early 2025, Xuyen Son Cooperative also invested about 5 billion VND to build a deer breeding farm with a scale of 140 deer in Dong Thuan village, Cam Thinh commune, Cam Xuyen district with the aim of researching deer breeding using modern technology. Recently, Xuyen Son Cooperative has released its first herd of 40 deer.

Applying technology to the production of seedlings and livestock, Xuyen Son Cooperative is gradually building a high-tech agricultural production village in Son Tra area, Cam Thinh commune; thereby contributing to increasing the productivity of planted forests and livestock, improving people's income and promoting local agricultural development.

Deer breeding farm of Xuyen Son Cooperative.

Xuyen Son Cooperative is the first cooperative in Ha Tinh to apply high technology to plant and animal production for agricultural development, especially tissue culture technology to produce seedlings. From the main direction of the cooperative, the locality has now built 3 deer breeding models with a scale of 10 deer/batch. We also expect that from the tissue culture center, about 30 nurseries will be developed to provide seedlings for the North Central provinces.
With systematic investment, scale and application of high technology in agricultural production, we expect the Cooperative to create more jobs for workers, open up a new direction in developing key seedlings for the Son Tra area of Cam Thinh commune and promote local socio-economic development, improving people's lives.
Mr. Nguyen Huu Thinh - Party Secretary, Chairman of Cam Thinh Commune People's Committee.