Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
June 27, 2008
Source:
Ag Biotech Vietnam
A 66-year-old retired Vietnamese scientist has sold the rights
to a high yielding hybrid-rice variety she developed in the late
1990s to a private company for 10 billion VND (500,000 USD).
Associate professor Nguyen Thi Tram, Ph.D. a former lecturer at
the Hanoi-based Agricultural University No. 1, transferred the
rights to rice strain TH3-3 to Doan Van Sau, director of Cuong
Tan Company Ltd, in Nam Dinh province.
In 2005, the long-grained, fragrant variety was recognised as a
national rice variety and given a licence two years later.
The rice has a growth period of only 105-125 days, is able to
survive harsh weather, resists common pests and diseases, and
yields 6-8 tonnes per hectare, one to two tonnes more than other
local rice strains.
Since 2003, farmers in the northern provinces of Hanoi, Thanh
Hoa, Ha Tay, Ha Nam and Hung Yen have used Tram’s new strain on
a trial basis.
”For several years, the TH3-3 strain has proved its stable
quality and productivity,” said Dr Tram, who was also former
deputy director of the Agricultural Biotechnology Institute.
The new hybrid rice variety is now grown on 30,000 ha in 26
provinces in the north, Tram said.
According to an official from the Ministry of Agriculture and
Rural Development, TH3-3’s productivity is higher than other
strains, which yielded 6.5 tonnes per ha for the recent
winter-spring crop in northern Vietnam.
“The development of the hybrid rice strain was an encouraging
move in Vietnam ’s agricultural science,” said Nguyen Tri Ngoc,
head of the Agricultural Ministry’s cultivation department.
He said the ministry would expand cultivation area for it in
coming years.
Doan Van Sau from Cuong Tan Co said the 10 billion VND deal
would bring great success to his business given that buyers of
the new rice strains were increasing rapidly.
Dr Tram said she allowed the buyers to produce that it would
sell seed at a reasonable price.
Tram began her career in 1968 at the Institute for Cash Crops
and Foodstuff where she worked under the guidance of world-known
agronomist Professor Luong Dinh Cua. During this period she
developed new hybrid rice strains such as NN-9, NN-10, NN-23,
NN75-6
From 1985, she worked as a lecturer at Agriculture University
No.1 after returning from the former Soviet Union where she
studied at the Rice Research Institute.
From 1994, Tram produced new hybrid rice strains including
TH3-4, TH3-5, TH3-11, TH5-1, TH6-3 and TH2-3.
In 2005, she was given the Kovalevskaya Award and, in 2005, a
State award for science and technology for significant
contributions to agricultural development.
A retiree, Tram keeps travels to many localities to study and
find new rice strains for local farmers.
“I have made several field trips to Son La and will establish a
specific area for rice research and production there to help
local farmers,” the 66-year-old scientist said. |
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