The reason why thousands of hectares of rice in Nghe An have empty grains

The use of non-standard rice varieties has been confirmed by the agricultural sector as the cause of thousands of hectares of rice in Nghe An being empty. According to the Department of Agriculture and Environment, there are 102 existing rice varieties in Nghe An fields while only 74 varieties have been included in the production structure.

Spontaneous selection of breeds despite recommendations

This spring crop, Nghe An has more than 2,800 hectares of rice with degenerated panicles, high rates of empty grains or no grain formation. Of the 34 rice varieties affected by this phenomenon, 10 varieties outside the production structure are still put into production by people in this spring crop, affected, leading to degenerated panicles, high rates of empty grains or no grain formation.

This spring crop, Nghe An has nearly 2,800 hectares of rice with empty grains and lost productivity. Photo: Phu Huong

Although the rice variety D uu 725 (Ha Xuyen 1425) is not included in the production structure of Yen Thanh district, it is used by many farmers in this locality. In Dong Yen hamlet (Dong Thanh commune), this spring crop, many households competed to plant D uu 725 rice variety.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hai - a farmer here said: Last year, some households planted very high yields, the pests were also clean and the rice was delicious, so this year most people bought this rice variety to plant, without paying attention to whether the district or commune included it in the production recommendation structure or not. This year, many families lost everything.

Yen Thanh farmers harvest young rice on the D uu 725 rice field. Photo: Phu Huong

This situation occurs in many other localities in the province. Although the rice variety has been recognized and some households have put it into production since last spring crop, the D uu 725 rice variety has not been put into the spring crop production structure by Dien Dong commune (Dien Chau).

"The district's production plan does not include this rice variety, and its stable effectiveness and suitability to specific local conditions have not been proven, so we do not include it in the structure," said an agricultural officer of Dien Nguyen commune.

However, as in Yen Thanh, Dien Dong farmers rushed to use it. And in fact, the entire area suffered heavy productivity losses. “In harsh and unusual weather conditions, some varieties were more severely affected due to their short growth period, and the larval differentiation stage coincided with the deep cold. New rice varieties have not been fully evaluated for their ability to adapt to climate conditions, especially their ability to withstand cold, so they are susceptible,” said Mr. Le The Hieu - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Environment.

Many rice fields were harvested prematurely because they were completely unproductive in Dien Chau. Photo: Phu Huong

The benefits do not outweigh the disadvantages.

Currently, in some localities, the situation of farmers arbitrarily planting rice varieties outside the structure is becoming more and more common. Notably, not only are there rice varieties that are not included in the structure of each district and commune, but according to the investigation of the Department of Agriculture, in the last spring crop, up to 28 rice varieties outside the structure of the province were put into production by people, despite the recommendations of the Department of Agriculture and localities.

According to Mr. Nguyen Tien Duc - Head of the Provincial Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection: This situation has been going on for many years, not only posing many risks regarding pests, productivity and economic efficiency, but also causing difficulties in managing varieties and building high-quality, linked rice production areas.

Provincial leaders and the Department of Agriculture and Environment inspected and discussed with Dien Chau district leaders about the situation of spring rice not blooming in the area. Photo: Phu Huong

People can produce based on experience, "word of mouth", seeing this person doing well, high productivity, then they also do it, however, using rice varieties outside the structure of the specialized industry is a risky action. Rice varieties that have not been evaluated to be suitable for local climate and soil conditions are very susceptible to the risk of pests and diseases, low productivity or poor rice quality, can even bloom in the wrong season, reduce productivity, especially if the weather is unfavorable, the damage can be very large.

Mr. Le Van Hong - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Yen Thanh district said: There are some new rice varieties that have been recognized, allowed to circulate and even included in the production structure by the province, but the locality does not recommend their use.

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We only include rice varieties that have proven to be stable and suitable for local climate and soil conditions for at least 3 years.

Mr. Le Van Hong - Head of Agriculture and Environment Department of Yen Thanh district

The rice varieties selected for inclusion in the structure are all based on research, calculations and actual effectiveness in the locality. Photo: Phu Huong

This spring crop, according to the results of the investigation and synthesis of the Agriculture sector, there are 102 rice varieties produced by people (including 33 hybrid rice varieties and 69 pure rice varieties). While the sector only included 74 rice varieties in the production project (27 hybrid rice varieties and 47 pure rice varieties). Thus, there are up to 28 varieties produced outside the structured varieties. The arbitrary use of rice varieties that are not recommended is posing many risks regarding pests and diseases, productivity and causing many difficulties for production management and pest control.

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Source: https://baonghean.vn/nguyen-nhan-khien-hang-ngan-hec-ta-lua-o-nghe-an-bi-lep-hat-10298333.html