Thanh Hoa is a locality with great potential for agricultural development, with many strengths in the field of cultivation. Localities and units in the province have promoted the process of researching and testing plant varieties, more and more new varieties with high productivity and quality have been transferred into practice, contributing to increasing farmers' income and the efficiency of the agricultural sector.

Testing model of purple taro variety of the Center for Research, Testing and Plant Services of Thanh Hoa Agricultural Institute.

According to the assessment of many professional agencies, although many results have been achieved in production, the current crop varieties being widely used in localities have not developed commensurate with the development of the province's agricultural sector. Many crop varieties are being used by people but are hybridized, degraded, and have poor resistance to pests and diseases, so the productivity and quality of the products are not high. Faced with this situation, the Thanh Hoa Agricultural Institute has made efforts to research and test to select varieties with high yield, good quality, suitable for the natural conditions and soil of the province. In 2023, the Institute coordinated with the National Testing Center to conduct small-scale testing to evaluate 45/98 promising rice varieties, and large-scale testing of 30/64 promising rice varieties. In addition, the Institute also tested 100 corn varieties in the national testing network in the Northern region. Of these, 66 varieties were tested on a small scale and 34 varieties were tested on a large scale, becoming one of the prestigious testing sites in the national testing system.

Along with that, Thanh Hoa Agricultural Institute has selected and created hybrid rice varieties, pure rice varieties, promoted the selection and creation of some new rice varieties, such as: Sao Vang, Viet Thanh 30 rice variety; researched, selected and maintained some vegetable varieties, such as: pumpkin, cucumber, peanut, tomato, purple taro; selected and created flower varieties, collected, preserved and propagated Luan Van grapefruit...

As a unit under the Thanh Hoa Agricultural Institute located in Nam Giang commune (Tho Xuan), in 2023, the Center for Research, Testing and Crop Services has selected and maintained dozens of quality and effective crop varieties. In particular, in the autumn-winter crop of 2023, the center has been selecting and domesticating the source of starting materials for tomato varieties, an area of ​​0.35ha; selecting and domesticating the source of starting materials for pumpkin varieties, an area of ​​0.3ha; preliminary propagation of purebred elite tomato lines, an area of ​​0.1ha; propagation of BD sticky cucumber lines, 0.1ha; propagation of DH peanut lines, 0.1ha. Initial testing and selection results show that the selected crop varieties always have outstanding characteristics, such as: Disease-free seed sources, resistant to climate change; Some varieties have higher productivity and superior characteristics than the control varieties, are adaptable and suitable for the production conditions of the province. It is expected to be widely applied in 2024, contributing to improving the effectiveness of crop restructuring in localities.

Dr. Nguyen Dinh Hai, Director of Thanh Hoa Agricultural Institute, emphasized: "Each year, localities in the province need about 11,000 tons of rice seeds, 1,000 tons of corn seeds, 2,000 tons of peanut seeds, 300 tons of soybean seeds... of high quality. Therefore, the work of researching, selecting and testing plant varieties plays a very important role. Through these tasks, superior plant varieties will be selected, added to the plant variety collection of the province, contributing to increasing the competitiveness of agricultural products, enhancing the production value of the agricultural sector".

In 2024, the provincial agricultural sector aims for a growth rate of 2.4% or more in the crop cultivation sector. Therefore, from the beginning of the year, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has assigned tasks to localities and units for implementation. In particular, the task of researching, selecting and testing crop varieties is focused on. The agricultural sector has requested relevant units to focus on researching and creating new rice varieties with good yield and good rice quality; selecting, restoring and selecting fruit tree varieties, towards high yield and quality, resistant to pests and adverse weather conditions, suitable for the ecological conditions of each region; Select vegetable and flower varieties suitable for the production conditions of each region... At the same time, promote the application and transfer of scientific and technical advances in rice production, advanced technology in fruit tree seed production to create disease-free tree varieties, advanced technology to restore some specialty fruit trees of the province, such as: Luan Van grapefruit, oranges, tangerines...

Article and photos: Le Thanh