Controlling plant varieties for sustainable development of Việt Nam’s crop industry

Forum on Effective and Sustainable Development of Crop Production in Việt Nam organised by Nông Nghiệp Việt Nam (Việt Nam Agriculture) newspaper in Hà Nội on Tuesday. VNS Photo Tố Như

HÀ NỘI – In three years of implementing the Law on Crop Production, the agriculture sector has gained significant achievements, including the production of varieties adapted to climate change and suitable for each region, said Nguyễn Như Cường, director of Crop Production Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Particularly, many individuals and organisations have conducted self-declared circulation of plant varieties that do not belong to the main plant species under State management, Cường told the forum on Effective and Sustainable Development of Crop Production in Việt Nam, organised by Nông Nghiệp Việt Nam (Việt Nam Agriculture) newspaper in Hà Nội on Tuesday.

This was a very important change, but also a problem that many individuals, businesses and State management agencies have not had time to adapt to the transformation, Cường said.

“After three years of implementing the Law on Crop Production, there are still some issues, but the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Department of Crop Production have provided timely guidance and support,” Cường told the forum.

“There has never been a shortage of seeds, especially rice varieties,” he said.

“From the old management method, we switched to a new method and faced many challenges, but basically the Law on Crop Production has met the requirements of production,” he said.

The ministry and department have reviewed and amended inappropriate items in the law for submission to the Government in 2024.

“Policies consistent with real conditions have the effect of creating a favourable seed production and business environment, benefiting producers and farmers,” Cường said.

“Today’s forum is a venue to discuss difficulties and propose solutions to solve problems to better implement plant variety management in the spirit of harmony between businesses, farmers and State management agencies, supporting industry restructuring and increasing incomes for people directly producing in the fields,” he said.

Varieties have an important affect on crop yield and quality.

However, currently, a number of problems has arisen that affect the seed system in Việt Nam.

In the forum, participants proposed solutions for sustainable development of the crop industry.

Regarding legal and technical problems with the process of registration and recognition of improved plant varieties in Việt Nam, Đặng Ngọc Chi, representative of CropLife Việt Nam, said the current testing guidelines lack criteria and methods to evaluate and recognise improved traits such as insect, pesticide or disease resistance, leading to a lack of tools to determine differences between genetically modified varieties and base ones.

Besides, it is not possible to register base varieties and genetically modified varieties with improved traits at the same time, Chi said.

She proposed adding criteria and methods of evaluation and recognition for improved traits to the two standards of TCVN 13382-2:2021 and TCVN 13381-2:2021 for corn.

Vương Huy Minh, deputy director of the Corn Research Institute, assessed that the provisions of the Law on Crop Production recognising the circulation of varieties in general, corn varieties in particular, have simplified many procedures, thereby reducing time and procedure costs for research units.

Regarding regulations on testing scores and numbers, Minh said that regulating the number and testing scores by region is necessary.

Vietnamese standards currently have many very high criteria so very few varieties can pass those conditions, Minh said.

Regarding the regulations on reference varieties, many reference varieties from other corporations are currently being used.

“The appropriate solution is to change the reference regulations to overcome the shortcomings of the law,” he said.

Fruit tree production in Việt Nam has been an important pillar in agriculture, with a significant increase in area and output.

Despite having a diverse system including about 50 types of trees, the fruit tree industry faces many major challenges.

According to Head of Industrial and Fruit Tree Section of the Crop Production Department, Nguyễn Quốc Mạnh, the main variety structure is largely local plants, but only 32 varieties have been recognised from 2008-2019.

Although there has been an increase with 120 varieties from 2020-2022, the number of recognised varieties remains very small, said Mạnh.

Along with that, poor quality seedlings, lack of quality control, and research into fruit tree breeding without breakthrough technology are all big challenges, Mạnh said.

Faced with these difficulties, Mạnh suggested that subjects in the fruit industry chain need to co-operate closely, improve management capacity and invest strongly in research and development of fruit varieties to ensure food safety, improve quality and enhance production efficiency.

Faced with the trend of online plant seed trading, Trần Xuân Định, general secretary of the Việt Nam Plant Seed Trade Association, assessed that this is inevitable but brings many consequences.

Some individuals and fraudulent groups have organised introductions and advertisements on social networks such as Facebook, Zalo and TikTok for new plant varieties, purporting big, beautiful and attractively coloured fruits and delivery to farmers’ homes.

Best-selling rice varieties or good varieties favoured by farmers from big brands such as ThaiBinh Seed and Vinaseed are counterfeited and sold online or in a “pyramid” trading model.

Many farmers in remote and isolated areas where retail and distribution systems have not yet reached become victims, said Định.

Seed production and trading is a conditional business, strictly regulated in legal documents and legal guidelines.

However, online sales do not have specific regulations and sanctions, which is a loophole and difficulty in managing plant varieties and many other commercial activities, Định said.

According to Định, although there are many seed production systems, their capacity is limited and does not meet the actual requirements of commodity production and export.

The weakest point in the seed industry is vegetable and flower varieties, he said.

In addition, the legal provisions still have some inadequacies with cumbersome procedures while legal guiding documents are slow to be promulgated and some are contradictory.

Production and supply systems are uneven among different regions, and the number of businesses participating in the seed industry is quite large but of poor quality.

He proposed amending the Law on Crop Production and guiding decrees and circulars to make it more feasible and practical to avoid conflicts between laws.

Nguyễn Thị Mai Hiên, vice director of the ministry’s Legal Department, proposes recognition of plant variety testing organisations, supplementing instructions on gene sequencing methods, conditions for renewal of plant varieties, and completing the system of Vietnamese standards for major plant varieties. VNS