Actively prevent emerging diseases

Director of the Institute of Plant Protection, Nguyen Van Liem, told the delegation from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development who visited and worked on May 6, saying that the institute always goes proactive early on to catch diseases on crops, especially the tasks of rice research.

New rice nodule nematodes are emerging in some provinces, the Institute of Plant Protection has urgently collected samples, evaluated and researched to effectively combat this object.

At the same time, the Institute of Plant Protection has identified two species of natural enemies that play a major role in controlling and controlling the fall armyworm, namely the pine beetles of the order Dermaptera and the parasitic fungus Nomuraea riley (Hypocreales). : Clavicipitaceae).

In citrus fruit trees, a strong research area of ​​the Institute of Plant Protection, the Institute has been conducting in-depth studies on preventing greening, tristera, scab, orange stigma and restoring grapefruit, orange and tangerine through orange varieties for many years Precious local treasures such as: Cam Trung Vuong, Ha Tri Tangerine, Phuc Trach Pomelo, …

Deputy director Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc said that the institute’s research results on the causes of yellow leaf disease, orange root rot caused by a complex of pathogens by fungi, nematodes and mealybugs, have contributed to the successful replanting of oranges in a small area like Hoa Binh, Hung Yen, implement in Bac Giang and many other provinces.

In particular, the Plant Protection Institute has perfected diagnostic procedures for greening using iodine and DTBIA. The accuracy of these two techniques is 75.6 and 90%, respectively, which helps to quickly identify diseased plants within minutes.

Currently, the Institute of Plant Protection has built a 5-hectare model to cope with yellowing of leaves on orange trees with a reinfection rate of less than 3% compared to mass production. The efficiency of disease reduction in the model averaged between 75 and 86%. The proportion of shoots, leaves and fruits damaged by thrips, spider mites, anthracnose and canker sores was lower, the level of damage was reduced by 72-87% compared to the control.

As one of 19 member units of Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the Institute of Plant Protection will be charged with 5-8 scientific and technological tasks at national and ministerial level annually in 2018-2022; 15-18 provincial scientific tasks, with total research funding of 25-28 billion VND/year.

The institute has international cooperation projects with organizations: World Vegetable Center, Australian Center for International Agriculture (ACIAR), Korea Center for International Agriculture (KOPIA), CIAT, IAEA. Average cost of international cooperation: 2-3 billion VND/year.

In addition to difficulties in marketing biological products, the Institute for Plant Protection also has problems with the infrastructure. The institute’s system of greenhouses, net houses and research equipment was degraded and did not meet the needs of research and experiments. The funds allocated for salaries and administrative activities are not sufficient for the Institute’s activities.

Based on this, Director Nguyen Van Liem proposed 8 thematic groups to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, including creating conditions for the direct transfer of tasks of basic research and applied research on new and emerging pests so that the institute serves disease prevention and export . In addition, there is a specific mechanism for registering probiotics for organic agricultural production.

Many suggestions for scientific research

Deputy Director of the Plant Protection Department, Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, speaking at the meeting, highly appreciated the Plant Protection Institute’s efforts in the past period. However, for many objective and subjective reasons, the information about the institute’s research is not known to farmers.

From the point of view of the managing authority, the deputy director suggested that Parliament focus on forecasts, since the local plant protection force is still relatively thin and mainly uses “human force”, instead of the main task of applying science and technology.

On this basis, the institute can set up a database on harmful organisms, research resistance of pests and diseases, or treat harmful organisms after harvest. Since then, the institute has recommended that the department issue local guidelines

As an adult official at the Institute of Plant Protection, director of the Department of Plant Production Nguyen Nhu Cuong said that most people only seek information about the Institute of Plant Protection when there is an epidemic. He agreed with Deputy Director-General Nguyen Thi Thu Huong that in order for the institute’s research work to be widely known, the institute needs to strengthen communication with news agencies and newspapers.

In addition to the regular responsibilities of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Director of the Department of Crop Production “contributes” to the Institute of Plant Protection to comprehensively study the situation of pests and diseases across the country, especially in the context of climate change and epidemics, disease as she is today. He said that this was an activity that happened many times in the 1970s and 1980s and it was possible to conduct regular and continuous surveys on key crops or major pests.

Vietnam Institute of Agricultural Sciences director Nguyen Hong Son told the institute that the central highlands will soon become an important agricultural area, particularly for fruit trees and industrial plants. Therefore, the Institute of Plant Protection needs to build a specialized force for this area and even move the center from the Mekong Delta region to ensure the forecasting and forecasting work.

In addition, agriculture is strongly shifting towards organic, organic and circular. That is why Prof. Dr. Nguyen Hong Son suggested that the heads of the Institute of Plant Protection should organize the research closely to the market and ensure the spirit of “open mind – quick action – real results” proposed by Minister Le Minh Hoan.

Focus on researching products with applicability

At the end of the meeting, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien emphasized the importance of scientific research in the field of crop protection. These efforts help the entire agricultural industry to maintain its development momentum in the past while minimizing worries for many years about diseases such as leaf blight, armyworm…

Through many working sessions with the government as well as bilateral meetings with international partners, the Deputy Minister pointed out that the current period is very difficult as most countries have reduced overall demand. Therefore, the agricultural industry must pursue new development directions, such as Such as improving the quality of export products, promoting domestic consumption, and gradually switching production from brown to green.

‘From the start, scientists must focus on researching products that are highly applicable, even painful. We must think in the direction of standing on our own two feet with scientific products,’ the deputy minister said.

The deputy minister urged the staff and researchers of the Institute of Plant Protection to face the 4.0 era with an open mind, and also set a number of tasks. With the Vietnam Institute of Agricultural Sciences, he suggested that the institute soon plans to review all 19 member institutes and allocate adequate resources to each unit, suitable for each stage of development.

Referring to the memories of the field trips, the deputy minister said that the scientists need to “get closer” to the farmers, give them initial inspiration and transfer the next advances to the actual situation. “Farmers are both beneficiaries and central targets of all plans and strategies,” he stressed.

Speaking to representatives of agencies of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the deputy minister suggested that all parties should join forces to create an ecosystem, even build a pilot mechanism. At the same time, provide resources for sending personnel for training to countries with conditions similar to Vietnam.