The man who 'went against the tide' in rice breeding.

Coming from diverse fields, these young scientists and educators share a common desire to do their jobs better and contribute to the country's development as it enters a new era.

From a university researcher, Master's degree holder Le Thanh Phong was honored as "Scientist for Farmers in 2025" with a collection of over 500 distinctive rice varieties and strains serving the country's agricultural production.

SCIENTISTS FROM FARMER BACKGROUNDS

Le Thanh Phong (46 years old), Deputy Director of the Institute of Climate Change at An Giang University (Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City), was born in Phong Hoa commune, Lai Vung district, Dong Thap province (now Phong Hoa commune, Dong Thap province). In 1997, he chose to study agronomy and later earned a Master of Science in Crop Science from the Faculty of Agriculture and Applied Biology, Can Tho University. "Coming from a farming family, studying agriculture provided a practical foundation that helped me approach knowledge in a more systematic and solid way," Master Thanh Phong said about his initial choice.

Master's degree holder Le Thanh Phong was honored by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Farmers' Association with the title "Scientist for Farmers in 2025".

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From his early days at university, Le Thanh Phong participated in numerous research projects on various plant species. From his second year, he followed his professor in research on soybeans and soybean germplasm collections, and his graduation thesis was also on this topic. "Those initial experiences nurtured in me a desire to conduct in-depth research on germplasm and germplasm collections," he shared.

Mr. Le Thanh Phong, M.Sc., is the Deputy Director of the Institute of Climate Change at An Giang University (Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City).

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After graduating from university, he continued his work in the Genetics and Breeding department of the Faculty of Agriculture and Applied Biology at Can Tho University, supporting faculty members in research programs on plant breeding, livelihood development on sandy soil, and projects related to mitigating canal bank erosion. In 2004, although he transferred to An Giang University, he continued his master's studies at Can Tho University. During the process of completing his master's thesis on peanut cultivation in the arid Bay Nui region (An Giang), directly witnessing the difficulties faced by the local people, he became even more deeply aware of his responsibility as a scientist.

The work of a scientist is closely linked to fields, rice plants, and farmers.

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In 2011, Master's student Le Thanh Phong began to explore the field of rice cultivation and participated in FAO-IPM training courses at the Southern Plant Protection Center. In 2012, while participating in a program to conserve floating rice varieties, he recognized the importance of this rice variety for climate change adaptation, especially in its flood retention function. Building on his accumulated knowledge from his student days and practical experience, he began developing rice gene pools, with floating rice playing a central role. "From then on, research on rice became my long-term direction," the scientist said.

The work of a scientist is closely linked to fields, rice plants, and farmers.

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This master's research journey in rice cultivation began with a background in legume research and from scratch, without any rice varieties at hand. However, after years of diligently collecting native varieties, learning local knowledge from farmers, and gaining experience from colleagues, he continuously conducted trials, selected, and created pure lines. In 2018, he transferred the "Nang Tay Dum" rice variety, the result of his research on selecting floating rice varieties since 2014. 2022 marked a significant turning point when he was fortunate enough to receive a Category C research project from the Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City, and subsequently received funding from the Dragon Capital Foundation and Galaxy Cinema for breeding a new, higher-quality floating rice variety.

The work of a scientist is closely linked to fields, rice plants, and farmers.

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Sharing his journey in pursuing this research, Master Phong reflected: "Despite facing many difficulties, we persevered in pursuing research that many consider 'going against the grain' in the field of rice breeding. Thanks to that persistent effort, the collection of varieties has been completed with more than 500 rice varieties and lines, and new generations of fragrant and high-quality rice are gradually being perfected as they are today."

PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS FOR FARMING COMMUNITIES

Speaking about his research, Master's student Le Thanh Phong said that the Mekong Delta is currently facing a series of impacts from climate change such as floods, droughts, freshwater shortages during the dry season, land subsidence, saltwater intrusion, and riverbank erosion. The common thread in all these problems is water: there is an excess during the rainy season, while there is a severe shortage during the dry season. Therefore, rice breeding research needs to aim at contributing to more effective water regulation.

The work of a scientist is closely linked to fields, rice plants, and farmers.

PHOTO: PROVIDED BY THE SUBJECT

Based on that, the rice varieties collected by this scientist prioritize characteristics that tolerate medium to deep flooding, with the aim of serving flood storage capacity, an important function in the context of the rapidly changing Mekong Delta. "I don't refuse any indigenous rice varieties donated by farmers or colleagues from all over the country, because they are all valuable genetic assets, formed and maintained in nature for hundreds of years. However, to fully exploit the potential of this valuable gene pool, more time and funding are needed for in-depth research at the molecular biology level to identify related genes and the inheritance mechanisms of important traits," said Master Phong.

Among his collection of over 500 rice varieties, the young scientist stated that Nang Tay Dum is a traditional rice variety that he selected from nearly 10,000 rice plants collected for research since 2014 and officially transferred to farmers in the floating rice conservation area in Vinh Phuoc commune (now Vinh Gia commune, An Giang province) in 2018. To date, this rice variety has been expanded to Vinh Chau commune, Tay Ninh province to serve farmers in flood-prone areas. Nang Tay Dum's flood tolerance can reach 200 cm during the 2025 flood season. This rice variety has now been commercialized, purchased, and exported abroad by businesses, and is preparing for distribution to Europe.

Regarding future research directions, the young scientist from An Giang University stated that he will continue to build and create genetic diversity in rice breeding materials related to climate change tolerance traits and develop rice varieties that are characteristic and specific to each ecological region. This will create environmental value, economic value, and specialty rice products linked to the natural conditions of each locality. This will be the foundation for building and developing regional rice brands, contributing to enhancing the value chain and promoting sustainable livelihoods for farmers. "I hope that each of my research results will soon be applied in practice, bringing practical benefits to farmers in difficult and deeply flooded areas, and at the same time contributing to creating distinctive rice products with regional characteristics to support business development," the scientist expressed his concern.

The collection includes over 500 native rice varieties and strains from various localities.

The year 2025 marked many successes after a long research journey for scientist Le Thanh Phong. First, he received the Community Award – a supplementary award for his idea of ​​commercializing floating rice, presented by the Ai Viet Foundation. Also in that year, he was honored by the Union of Science and Technology Associations of An Giang province as "Outstanding Intellectual of An Giang Province in 2025". But the title "Scientist for Farmers in 2025" from the Central Committee of the Vietnam Farmers' Association is the greatest recognition for the creator of the idea of ​​"improving the centuries-old traditional floating rice variety" and his collection of over 500 indigenous rice varieties and lines from many localities. This is the result of more than a decade of diligent research, evaluation, and improvement of the agronomic characteristics and quality of floating rice varieties.

thanhnien.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nguoi-loi-nguoc-dong-trong-chon-tao-giong-lua-18526013018082417.htm