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According to the plan, new crop varieties developed by bio-technological techniques will account for between 70 per cent of cultivated areas across the nation, of which genetically modified plants will account for between 30 and 50 per cent. In addition, 70 per cent of all breeds will be resistant to diseases while bio-fertilisers will be used for at least 80 per cent of the agricultural industry.
By applying bio-technology, the production value of key fisheries products such as prawns, tra catfish, tilapias, garrupas and sea crabs will be increased by 30 per cent. Toan said that means bio-technology will play a key role in national agricultural growth.
Achievements
Viet Nam has made initial steps in the field and bio-technology development and application in agricultural production has achieved positive results over two years of implementation, said Toan.
The country succeeded in creating genetically modified soybeans resistant to insects and long droughts. The research was made on two domestic breeds and two imported strains.
In regards to forestry, two to four short-term keo and eucalyptus breeds which have high production value, rapid growth and high resistance to insects were successfully cultivated.
Micro-organism and plant protection products were produced to control 10 dangerous epidemics.
According to Associate Professor Le Huy Ham, director of the Agricultural Genetics Institute under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the institute has implemented a National Flower Breeds Programme aimed at creating high quality flowers.
Three new daisy breeds have been planted in Sa Pa. Flowers for export have been in trial production in Ha Noi’s south west district of Tu Liem and in the northern province of Hung Yen’s Van Giang District on areas of 1,000 to 2,000sq.m in each location.
Ham said that the application of bio-technology in agriculture will help reduce production costs by two to three times.
Farmers such as Le Dinh Quang, head of the Thuong Nong Agricultural Collective Farm in Tam Nong District in the northern province of Phu Tho are already seeing the benefits.
Quang said his farm grows almost 300ha of khang dan rice variety, developed by bio-tech that has resulted in an extra tonne of harvested rice per hectare. The variety’s resistance to insects and high quality also allows Quang to sell it for more than other rice varieties he had previously cultivated.
Difficulties ahead
Ham said bio-technology plays an important role in a range of fields around the world, but for a country like Viet Nam, which has lost large areas of agricultural land to industrialisation and urbanisation, it is especially vital.
As many as one-quarter of the national income comes from agriculture and two-thirds of the nation’s labour force works in the agro-forestry and fisheries sectors.
However, bio-technology in Viet Nam is still in its early stage of development. There are many challenges and difficulties ahead, according to Ham.
The country’s investment of VND150 billion (US$9 million) in bio-tech is modest compared to Thailand’s investment of $40 million a year, he said.
A lack of infrastructure, such as laboratories, equipment and workshops, has resulted in ineffective research and application.
"A common difficulty in training in the bio-technology sector is a lack of infrastructure and equipment for students to use," said Vu Dinh Hoa, Head of the Agriculture University No 1’s Bio-technology Faculty.
"It is difficult to buy expensive machines for training centres."
This lack of facilities can be seen at institutes around the nation.
"Each aquaculture institute has only one laboratory that is used for all the necessary research related to aquatic products," said Deputy Director of Aquaculture Breeding Institute No II Nguyen Tien Luc.
"This really slows down the development of bio-technology."
In addition, Viet Nam is short of scientists and staff in the field. Most scientists do not specialise in the latest technologies and techniques in bio-tech.
People who work in the bio-technology sector need to be provided with long-term training in well equipped and modern laboratories. Viet Nam has not met this demand yet.
Master plan
To overcome the current difficulties, the country has planned to invest in education and training as well as research centres.
The industry plans to train 20,000 university graduates and 2,500 post-graduates and to send 400 scientific workers abroad to the United States, Japan, Taiwan, France and mainland China, where they can study in advanced bio-technology sectors.
Under the programme to develop bio-technology in agriculture by 2020, approved by Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai in 2006, Viet Nam needs to train 60 to 80 PhD degree holders, 200 to 250 Masters of Science, 500 to 1,000 technicians as well as retraining 50 officers during the 2006-10 period.
From 2011 to 2015, the Government will build a number of scientific research centres for bio-technology development, which will be of regional standard.
To meet demand for equipment, MARD is rushing to finish building two laboratories specialising in animal and plant cells under the Breeding Institute and Agricultural Genetics Institute, said Deputy Minister Bui Ba Bong.
A new genetics technology laboratory will also be built in the south. A major objective is to set up a network of small and medium-sized bio-technology enterprises in all fields of agriculture.
In an effort to foster bio-technology development, the Vietnamese Government has encouraged all economic sectors to invest in the industry by offering incentives, which include preferential rates on taxes and land rentals and bank loans to help the industry to promote, transfer and import modern technology
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