In the 2023 summer-autumn rice crop, in Xop Xang and Pung villages of Muong Ai commune (Ky Son), the joy of a bumper crop made dozens of households excited to go to the fields and harvest rice. Mr. Vi Van Luu in Xop Xang village said that this summer-autumn crop is the first year that people in Xop Xang village have planted a new rice variety called VNR20, guided by the District Agricultural Service Center. Rice seeds, micronutrient fertilizers, and pesticides are 100% supported.

People contributed labor and organic manure. The entire Xop Xang village planted 8.4 hectares of the new rice variety VNR20. Previously, people planted local varieties and left their own seeds, with a yield of about 35 quintals/ha. This is the first season of planting the new variety, but people are very excited because the yield is estimated at 70 quintals/ha.

Mr. Vo Duy An, an officer of the Ky Son Agricultural Service Center, said that the district has 815 hectares of winter-spring rice, with an average annual yield of about 35 - 38 quintals/ha. The reason is partly due to the backward cultivation level of rice farmers, and the lack of application of new technical advances in production.

In addition, the weather is becoming more and more extreme, pests and diseases are appearing more and more, difficult to prevent, local varieties are increasingly degenerating, low productivity, while many new varieties are selected that are both adaptable to weather changes and resistant to pests and diseases, etc.

Therefore, to improve the productivity and output of rice production in the district, it is necessary to first provide technical training, build demonstration models, and introduce new varieties into production to improve crop productivity. Ky Son Agricultural Service Center has built a model of intensive cultivation of VNR20 rice variety with a scale of 20 hectares in Muong Ai commune, of which 11.6 hectares are in Pung village and 8.4 hectares are in Xop Xang village.

VNR20 rice variety is a purebred rice variety with high quality, high yield potential, short growth period, slightly large flag leaves, strong tillering, concentrated, compact clumps and good lodging resistance. VNR20 rice has long, slender grains, clear white, soft, rich flavor, delicious rice.

In the 2023 crop season, although the weather conditions are complicated, with alternating sunshine and rain, and high humidity, it creates favorable conditions for pests to arise and cause damage such as brown planthoppers, white-backed planthoppers, leaf rollers, rats, stem borers, etc. However, with the advantage of the new rice variety being resistant to pests and diseases and quite resistant to lodging, the fields were harvested at the end of October 2023.

Directly participating with the people of the villages in Muong Ai commune to harvest VNR20 rice, Ky Son District Agricultural Service Center organized an evaluation of the results of the "High-quality rice variety VNR 20 intensive farming model". The scale of the area is 20 hectares, tested in 2 villages with 30 households participating, the total implementation cost is nearly 500 million VND. Of which, the district supported 370 million VND, the people contributed organic fertilizer and care costs of more than 100 million VND.

Mr. Vi Oanh - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ky Son district said that through the practical testing of this new rice variety, the locality as well as the people have drawn valuable experiences, helping to successfully and effectively replicate the new rice variety in the area. For example, when planting rice, households should organize labor exchanges, or hire households that have been trained to plant properly and staff should regularly follow the fields. It is necessary to follow the crop calendar and production plan of the commune and district. From the effectiveness of the model, it is recommended that all levels, sectors and localities promote it so that people can recognize it and replicate it in the following years.