In connection with the country’s continuous desire to improve its rice brand both for local demand and export, Dinh Thanh Agricultural Research Centre, the most modern agricultural research centre in the Mekong Delta area, was officially put into operation on December 12 in Thoai Son District’s Dinh Thanh Commune of the southern An Giang province.
Funded by An Giang Plant Protection Joint Stock Company in partnership with Syngenta, a multinational plant science company, the center includes facilities for six fields of research, from genetics to plant protection and agricultural mechanics focusing largely on transferring comprehensive plant solutions on paddies. This includes research and development of paddy varieties that have strong resistance against pests and diseases and with high yield. The same effort will try to come up with clean and high quality rice that meets the criteria of high-class foreign import markets and safety standards for local demand. The centre was built with an investment capital of over VND80 billion (US$3.8 million).
With over 100hectares in area, the center will also be an exchange venue between scientists and farmers in introducing and transferring solutions to increase output and reduce costs of rice farming at home. It will be the first centre in the country to train specialists in rice cultivation and providing local rice farmers with expert support and techniques.
In 2012, the Mekong Delta turned 4.1 million hectares of land into rice cultivating areas. Because of the expansion of rice cultivation, rice yields in the Mekong Delta are expected to reach 24.6 million tons this year, an estimated increase of 1.1 million tons compared to the previous.