EVALUATION OF IMPACT OF HYBRID RICE AND purebred RICE ON SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE IN BAC KAN PROVINCE – CASE STUDY IN CHU HUONG, THUONG GIAO COMMUNES BA BE DISTRICT AND TU TRI, TAN TIEN COMMUNES BACH THONG DISTRICT

Rice production plays a particularly important role to the agricultural production of the country. It plays an important role to food security, income generation, job creation and foreign currencies gains for Viet Nam (Bernabe 2008). In 2007, rice area accounts for 45% of the area of total agricultural land in the country (GSO 2008). Rice is the staple food crops and the main source of income of farmers. It is also a crop of the high export value. Hybrid rice has been planted experimentally in northern Vietnam since 1991, and soon its area was brought into cultivation on the large scale due to their advantages in productivity

Center for Sustainable Rural Development No 56, Lane 19/9, Kim Dong Str, Hanoi, Vietnam Tel: 84-4-3943-6676/78 Fax: 84-4-3943-6449 Email: info@srd.org.vn Website: www.srd.org.vn RESEARCH REPORT By Nguyen Minh Duc, Do Truong Lam and Hoang Thi Huong Tra EVALUATION OF IMPACT OF HYBRID RICE AND purebred RICE ON SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE IN BAC KAN PROVINCE – CASE STUDY IN CHU HUONG, THUONG GIAO COMMUNES- BA BE DISTRICT AND TU TRI, TAN TIEN COMMUNES- BACH THONG DISTRICT (Hanoi, October 2010) We inherit CIDSE Vietnam’s 28 year experience (CIDSE – Coopération Internationale pour le Development et la Solidarité) TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 10 RESEARCH FINDINGS 16 CONSLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 41 LIST OF TABLES Table - Volume, value and average price of export rice of Vietnam from 1998 to 2009 .5 Table - The structure of the area under rice varieties through the years .7 Table - The age of household, labor and the number of people of the surveyed households 13 Table - Education level of household surveys by the type of household 13 Table - The change in the area and investment for hybrid rice production .16 Table - The change in area, investment and income from purebred rice of surveyed households in last years .17 Table - Number/ rate of households having material for rice production 18 Table - The area and productivity of purebred rice and hybrid rice of surveyed households in 2009 19 Table - The number of households cultivating hybrid rice and purebred rice by crop in 2009 .20 Table 10 – Rice variety planted pattern in the harvest crop in 2009 (% surveyed household) 20 Table 11 – Pattern of planted rice varieties in the spring crop of 2009 (% surveyed household) 21 Table 12 - Sources of rice seeds of surveyed household by crop in 2009 22 Table 13 - The situation of rice consumption of surveyed household in 2009 23 Table 14 - Structure of household with non-agricultural production 24 Table 15 - The situation of revenue’s sources of surveyed households in 2009 (million) 24 Table 16 - Comparison of some criteria between hybrid rice and purebred rice 25 Table 17 - Chemical medicines in the spring crop (Thousand/1000 m2) .28 Table 18 - Medical medicines in the harvest crop (thousand vnd/1000 m2) 29 Table 19 – Chemical fertilizers in the spring crop (kg/1000 m2) 30 Table 20 - Income from rice in the spring crop in 2009 (Average of 1000m2) 31 Table 21 - Income from rice in the harvest crop in 2009 (average of 1000m2) 32 Table 22 - Comparison of productivity between hybrid rice and purebred rice 33 Table 23 - Causes of stability of rice productivity 33 Table 24 - Comparison of resistant cold, resistant drought and ease sale between purebred rice and hybrid rice .34 Table 25 - The training situation of purebred rice of surveyed households 35 Table 26 - The situation of hybrid rice training of surveyed households .36 Table 27 - The number of surveyed household borrowing 37 Table 28 - Situation of borrowing of surveyed households 38 Table 29 - Purposes of borrowing loan of households 39 Table 30 - SWOT analysis in the production of purebred rice and hybrid rice of households in 2009 39 1.1 INTRODUCTION Background The overview of rice production in Vietnam Rice production plays a particularly important role to the agricultural production of the country It plays an important role to food security, income generation, job creation and foreign currencies gains for Viet Nam (Bernabe 2008) In 2007, rice area accounts for 45% of the area of total agricultural land in the country (GSO 2008) Rice is the staple food crops and the main source of income of farmers It is also a crop of the high export value Hybrid rice has been planted experimentally in northern Vietnam since 1991, and soon its area was brought into cultivation on the large scale due to their advantages in productivity There are two largest rice production regions in Vietnam, which are Red River Delta and Mekong River Delta Rice yield of two deltas accounts for 70% of the country’s total Both these plains are accreted by the alluvium of the Red river and Mekong river, land in these two areas are very fertile so that rice productivity is very high One reason is that in two areas has tradition of rice cultivation, so intensive farming level of people is very high that lead to high productivity compared to national productivity and higher than other areas Yield of The Red river delta is 54.4 quintals per hectare, yield of The Mekong is 50.3 quintals per hectare while the average of national yield is 48.9 quintals per hectare (AGROINFO 2009)1 Since 1988, after the policy “renewal’’ through Resolution 10, the rice production in Vietnam increased clearly In later years, the country gained the amount of rice export yield significantly of about 1.4 million tons, worth $ 290 million In the year after that, the quantity of rice annually was about 2-3 million tons per year In 1998 it exported 3.7 million tons, and nearly million tons in 2009 In 2009, Vietnamese rice exports went to 20 major markets, but mainly to the Philippines, Malaysia, Cuba and Singapore Exporting to the Philippines reached the largest with over 1.7 million tons, worth 917.13 million USD, accounting for 28.7% of rice export and 34.4% of export turnover; followed by export turnover to Malaysia reached 272.19 million, accounting for 10.22%; then to Cuba reached 191 million USD, accounting for 7.17%; to Singapore reached 133.6 million USD, accounting for 5.02% (see graph 1)2 AGROINFO (Information Center for Agriculture and Rural Development) 2009 Vietnam Rice Yearbook 2008 and Outlook for 2009 2009, Asia market plays a important role in rice export of Vietnam http://www.bsc.com.vn/News/2010/2/26/82959.aspx and The rice export market of Vietnam 2009 http://www.infotv.vn/xuat-nhap-khau/tin-tuc/41660-thi-truong-xuat-khau-gao-vietnam-nam-2009 Table - Volume, value and average price of export rice of Vietnam from 1998 to 2009 Year 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Volume (million tons) 3.8 4.5 3.5 3.5 3.2 3.8 4.1 5.3 4.6 4.6 4.7 6.0 Value (million USD) 1024 1025 667 586 726 721 950 1407 1276 1490 2894 2664 Average prices (USD/ton) 273.2 227.4 191.9 166.2 223.9 189.0 234.1 268.0 274.8 326.9 610.4 447.1 Source : Vinanet 20093 Graph 1: Market Structure of Vietnam's rice exports in 2009 (% yield) other countries 38.3 Philippines, 28.7 Malaysia, 10.3 Ukrainian, 0.6 Africa, 0.6 Hongkong, 0.7 Russia 1.4 Cu ba, 7.6 Iraq, 2.9 Taiwan, 3.4 S ingapore, 5.5 Source: http://www.infotv.vn/xuat-nhap-khau/tin-tuc/41660-thi-truong-xuat-khau-gao-viet-nam-nam2009 Hybrid rice production Hybrid rice and its development in Asia Exported-imported rice data from 1998 to 2010 http://www.vinanet.com.vn/xnk10.aspx and http://www.vinanet.com.vn/tin-thi-truong-hang-hoa-vietnam.gplist.302.gpopen.178789.gpside.1.gpnewtitle.so-lieu-thong-ke-xuat-nhap-khau-nam-2009.asmx Hybrids are produced by crossing two inbred – genetically fixed – varieties of a particular crop Hybrids are special because they express what is called "heterosis" or hybrid vigour or the tendency of off springs to perform better than either of the parents in one or more physical or agronomic traits, particularly in terms of yield Since its discovery, heterosis has been exploited to produce crops with traits that have high commercial value, especially in terms of higher yields According to Elenita C Daño (2006) the demonstration of heterosis in rice has been observed as early as 1926 However, hybrid rice research began in China only in 1964 and began to bear fruit in the 70s The first commercial hybrid rice was developed and was made available to Chinese farmers in 1976 At the same period of time, East Asian countries were dazed with excitement over the breakthroughs in rice breeding coming out from the newly established IRRI under the optimistic banner Green Revolution IRRI developed and released the first “miracle rice”, code-named IR-8 in 1966 It brought significant yield increases in rice production with an average yield of around 10 tons/hectare IR-8’s genetic potential has been so dramatic that it has never been surpassed by subsequent modern varieties developed by IRRI The developments in hybrid rice in China encouraged IRRI to explore the potentials and challenges of the technology outside China The first commercial hybrid rice developed by IRRI was released in Vietnam in 1993 This has been subsequently followed by limited releases in India and the Philippines Because of the need to develop their own hybrid lines, many countries have initiated their own hybrid rice research activities By 1998, the Asian countries that carried hybrid rice research in their agricultural programs include Korea, Philippines, India, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan Most of the countries in Asia that adopted hybrid rice cited the need to provide food for the expanding population as their main reason for adopting the technology More than two decades after the first discovery and development of hybrid rice in China, the technology has been widely tested and acknowledged in the region However, there are many remaining issues of hybrid rice production They include technological constraints such as labor-intensive; knowledge intensive, irrigation dependence, and yield plateau; economic concerns like location-specific performance (the value of these yield increases seems to vary depending on location), lower net returns, poor grain quality, high seed costs, and higher labor costs; and socio-cultural impacts, especially, impact on the traditional rights of farmers to save and reuse seed, which probably lead to the rice farmers’ total dependence on commercial seed companies for their seeds Hybrid rice production in Vietnam Adoption process Hybrid rice technology has been successfully developed in China for last decades This technology has helped to increase grain yield and farmers’ income and contributed to more rural job opportunities through hybrid rice seed production in China and in other countries This seem to proves hybrid rice as a key factor for food security, poverty alleviation which results in hybrid rice adoption in Vietnam Vietnam is considered the next success story in hybrid rice adoption, after China, but at present, it is experiencing a setback For Tran Duc Vien et al (2006) and Nguyen Tri Hoan (2003) hybrid rice, proven to have 20% yield advantage over inbred rice in China, was first introduced in Vietnam in 1991 with demonstrations in selected provinces in the North Hybrid rice was then planted on a wide scale in the following year with an area of 1200 However, Vietnam has failed to reach its target of rapidly expand hybrid rice production area (see table 1) The hybrid rice production area increased significantly at the beginning period and reached the peak in 2003 and then slowly declined Many farmers have stopped growing hybrid rice because of its limitation such as high production cost and susceptibility to pest In 2009, although hybrid rice was grown in 40/64 provinces, the total area of hybrid rice was only 700,000 hectares Table - The structure of the area under rice varieties through the years Unit: % Year s 1992 1993 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Whole year Hybrid Purebred rice rice 0.2 99.8 0.5 99.5 2.7 97.3 3.0 97.0 5.7 94.3 6.4 93.6 6.7 93.3 8.1 92.0 7.8 92.3 4.8 95.2 The Spring crop Hybrid Purebred rice rice 0.0 100.0 0.3 99.7 1.6 98.4 1.7 98.3 3.0 97.0 4.0 96.0 4.0 96.0 4.7 95.3 4.7 95.3 4.8 95.2 The summer crop Hybrid Purebred rice rice 0.2 99.9 0.3 99.7 1.1 98.9 1.4 98.6 2.7 97.3 2.4 97.6 2.7 97.3 3.4 96.7 3.0 97.0 0.0 100.0 Source: General Statistical Office 2007 Government’s roles in hybrid rice development The government has played a key roles in hybrid rice development In 1992, with full support from the government, the National Hybrid Rice Research Program was launched and the Hybrid Rice Research Center (HRRC) was established At the present, there are two more institutions engaging in hybrid research namely, Cuu Long Rice Research Institute and the Agricultural Genetic Institute The government covers all financial requirement to technical capacity building, R&D, training of researchers, and up to extension and transfer of the technology Consequently, hybrid rice adoption has since then increased (EARWG 2006, Elenita C Daño 2006, Tran Duc Vien et al 2006 ) Moreover, the government has given a massive subsidy on hybrid rice production to farmers that enable them to adopt the hybrid rice technology First national government offered seed subsidy in order to rapidly introduce hybrid rice to the farmers While seed subsidies from the national government to hybrid rice farmers were all removed in 2003, the agriculture ministry (MARD) continued to extend direct subsidies to farmers who commercially grow hybrid seeds Additionally, in the poorer mountainous regions in the north, 60 percent subsidy on the purchase of parental and restorer lines and 40 percent subsidy for the purchase of the required inputs such as gibberelic acid and fertilizers were extended (EARWG 2006, Elenita C Daño 2006) Aside from this, roles of government structures from provincial to communal level is very crucial in expanding hybrid rice production through the promotion and delivery of hybrid rice seeds to The local governments exercise control over state-owned seed enterprises which are registered and operate locally Local seed enterprises serve as the direct channel of national seed companies which are considered private entities while the government maintains substantial share in the distribution, promotion and selling of hybrid rice seeds to farmers The same local structure also has the discretion and power to offer incentives for farmers to grow hybrid rice seeds, thus benefiting the local seed enterprises in the process (EARWG 2006, Elenita C Daño 2006) Obviously, there were huge public investment in hybrid rice development During the period 1998-2006, the average import quantity of seed was recorded at 11,172 tons yearly, valued at 14.5 million USD Total budget spent for the extension program and R&D in hybrid rice production from 1993-2005 is recorded at 82.4 billion VND (approximately 5.5 million USD) (Tran Duc Vien et al 2006, Elenita C Daño 2006) Existing issues Dependence of imported seed Over the past decade, considerable progress was made in several national hybrid rice programs, especially in breeding research, F1 seed production, and technology transfer However, domestic supply of F1 seed has not been able to meet the demand On average, total domestically produced seeds meet 18.54% demand Depended on imported seed which mostly came from China (Tran Duc Vien et al 2006, Tran Van Dat 2003, Elenita C Daño 2006) Risks Many farmers in Vietnam encounter serious problems both economically and technically They experienced difficulty in marketing their produce especially in the north and in the central regions due to the inferior quality of hybrid rice seeds, particularly in terms of taste Furthermore, imported Chinese rice hybrids are generally susceptible to ragged stunt virus and brown plant hopper especially in the south and bacterial leaf blight in the north Although the Vietnamese government has encouraged local seed production activities, however, many small farmers are generally reluctant to produce hybrid rice seeds locally because of high risks involved, very high financial requirement, lack of proper warehouses and storage space for unsold seeds, and the unavailability of pure CMS lines (EARWG 2006, Tran Duc Vien et al 2006, Elenita C Daño 2006) Unsustainable development caused by the government subsidy on hybrid rice production The high cost of hybrid seed production at present is resolved by the subsidies provided by the government, specifically from the provincial and district levels in terms of direct subsidies in addition to the indirect subsidies from the central government in the form of research, development and extension support If the government withdrew the subsidies, many farmers would stop producing hybrid rice because of financial limitation as well as economic inefficient (EARWG 2006, Elenita C Daño 2006) 1.2 Rationale As mentioned above, rice production plays critical roles in national economy and farmer household economy as well In order to meet the country’s target of increase in rice productivity to reach food security and poverty reduction, Vietnamese government had invested much in the National Hybrid Rice Research Program leading to the rapid expansion of hybrid rice production in the country However, there are very limited researches on sustainability of hybrid rice production, especially at farmer level Therefore, it is reasonable to question that will it bring risks to sustainable livelihoods of people, especially the poor when the hybrid rice replaces purebred rice without thorough consideration Therefore, this research aims to synthesize the experience of hybrid rice as well as purebred rice production at household level With a case study in Bac Kan, a mountainous province of Vietnam, it hopes to analyze and discuss the strategies to maintain the purebred rice seeds to contribute poverty reduction and sustainable community development 1.3 Research objectives The specific objectives of the study consist of: - Survey on the production of purebred rice and hybrid rice varieties in Bac Kan - Analyze the impact of hybrid rice on sustainable agricultural ( including impact on environment, economic and social) - Analyze the role and status of domesticated rice in the community and the system of local rice today - Survey on conditions and opportunities for farmers, especially farmers who grow hybrid rice - Provide strategies to conserve and maintain the purebred rice seeds in the next time development RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 2.1 Research site Ba Be are Bach and and Bach Thong districts chosen In Ba Be, we selected Chu Huong and Thuong Giao commune; In thong, we selected Tu Tri Tan Tien commune Ba Be is a mountainous district located in the Northwest of Bac Kan province Its capital lies at Cho Ra being on highway 279 It is 50 km far from Ba Be to Bac Kan capital Northwest way It Son is situated to the West of Ngan district, the East of Tuyen Quang province, North of Cho Don and Bach Thong district, and South of Pac Nam and Cao Graph Mapdistrict of the research site Bang province4 At the end of 2008, the district had a population of about 47,000 There are main ethnic groups as: Tay, Kinh, Dao, Mong and Nung The population density is 69 persons per km Ba Be’s terrain is almost mountain area The district covers an area of 68,412 hectares where http://giamngheo.molisa.gov.vn/index.php/thong-tin-chung/130-ba-be.html 10 Total 43 100.0 21 100.0 Source: 2010 household survey Table 24 - Comparison of resistant cold, resistant drought and ease sale between purebred rice and hybrid rice Criteria Level T test value level of Resistant drought between hybrid rice and purebred ricea 3.8 13.3*** level of Resistance of cold and frost between hybrid rice and purebred ricea 3.6 8.8*** Level of saling rice between hybrid rice and purebred riceb 2.4 3.0*** Note: *** 1% of statistically significance a the level of assessment: 1- very better, 2- better, 3- same as, 4- worse and 5-very worse b the level of sale: , 1- easy to sell, –same as and 3- difficult to sell Source: 2010 household survey 3.6 Support Services Agricultural Extension Services Agricultural promotion plays an important role in rice cultivation nowadays, especially for new rice varieties and for farmers in the northern mountainous provinces Through the above analysis shows that many farmers lack knowledge of investment and care of rice paddy and anticipation of epidemics Results showed that there are many training courses that have been opened, such as seeding creation, costumes for seeds, preventing rice epidemics (IPM) and rice care However and number of courses and participants has not been much The training classes on purebred rice Results showed that approximately two thirds of the surveyed households participate in training courses on purebred rice In particular, group of the wealthy, the middle and the neatly poor reached about 60%, 69% and 71% respectively The poor reached the lowest rate of participating training, with the rate is about one third of all households in the group Households participating in the classes of preventing pests and recovery of seeds are major The classes of seeding creation and rice care reach participators lowly Thus, it can be concluded that households participating in training courses on purebred rice remain low and 32 uneven In the next time, it is necessary to have more training courses to develop purebred rice Table 25 - The training situation of purebred rice of surveyed households Classification of households by income Target The wealthy No % The middle No % The nearly poor The poor No % No % Total No % I The number of households participating in training courses of agriculture promotion (household) I Participating 60.0 33 68.8 15 71.4 33.3 53 66.3 No participating 40.0 15 31.3 28.6 66.7 27 33.8 Total 100.0 48 100.0 21 100.0 100.0 80 100.0 II The number of households participating in activities of agriculture promotion (farmer) Seeding creation 0.0 25.0 11.8 0.0 11 18.6 Recovery of seeds 50.0 10 27.8 23.5 0.0 16 27.1 IPM 25.0 13 36.1 47.1 100.0 24 40.7 Rice care 25.0 11.1 17.7 0.0 13.6 Total 100.0 36 100.0 17 100.0 100.0 59 100.0 Source: 2010 household survey Training on hybrid rice: hybrid rice is a new rice variety in production, people still not have much knowledge on hybrid rice production Therefore, training on hybrid rice farmers is necessary nowadays However, among the surveyed households, only about 35% of households participate in the training of hybrid rice The training classes focus on integrated pest control (IPM) techniques and rice care techniques Surveyed data showed that the number of households trained on IPM and technical care account for 72% and 28% respectively 33 Table 26 - The situation of hybrid rice training of surveyed households Classification of households by income Property The wealthy The middle The nearly poor The poor No % No % No % No % Total No % I The number of households participating in training courses of agriculture promotion (household) Participating 40.0 19 39.6 33.3 0.0 28 35.0 2.No participating 60.0 29 60.4 14 66.7 100.0 52 65.0 Total 100.0 48 100.0 21 100.0 100.0 80 100.0 II The number of households participating in (farmer) activities of agriculture promotion IPM 100.0 12 70.6 66.7 0.0 18 72.0 2.Rice care 0.0 29.4 33.3 0.0 28.0 Total 100.0 17 100.0 100.0 0.0 25 100.0 Source: 2010 household survey Information sources in purebred rice production Characteristic of agriculture promotion is spread Households not participating in training can learn and following the participating households According to survey results, households learned from the community accounted for 86% of purebred rice and 35% of hybrid rice This shows that agriculture promotion in purebred rice is better for the spread than in hybrid rice The main reasons are given by hybrid rice farming is more difficult than purebred rice farming, so households are not bold to earn from other households in hybrid rice cultivation Credit Services Results showed that the number of households loans reaches the high ratio Approximately two thirds of surveyed households have loans Loan of surveyed of households are mainly: Bank policy and the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development and VNPT The rate of household loans differs across households The number of households in the wealthy group has borrowed at least and in the poor group have borrowed the most Table 27 - The number of surveyed household borrowing Borrowing Classification of households by income The wealthy The middle The nearly poor Average The poor 34 Borrowing 60.0 64.6 71.4 83.3 67.5 No borrowing 40.0 35.4 28.6 16.7 32.5 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Total Because households borrow from formal sources, the amount of loans is large The average loan per household is about 22 million Time of borrowing is long investigation The average loan per household is about years Because farmers is lent preferential loan so interest rate is not high around 0.62% per month In particular, the poor and the near poor are borrowed from the policy bank so interest rate is the lowest Table 28 - Situation of borrowing of surveyed households Amount of Time has Time of Interest Classification of household by loan (000' been loan loan rate (% income VND) (month) (month) month) The wealthy 21666.7 20.0 52.0 0.6 The middle 26181.8 20.4 48.0 0.7 The nearly poor 14000.0 19.5 46.5 0.6 The poor 21000.0 22.0 48.0 0.6 Average 22076.9 20.3 47.8 0.6 Source: 2010 Households survey However, the notable point is that loan is not used to invest in rice production Investment in rice production is not much compared to other economic activities Meanwhile, the amount of loan invested in rice is not much but necessary over many months Thus, with the large loans, households often used to purposes such as livestock and other purposes are major The farmers often borrow money to buy cattle for plowing or pigs Approximately 47% of households borrow loans to make home, purchase of machinery, business or for their children to school Total of households borrowing for rice cultivation is litter The main cause is that the large amount of investment loans for rice is low, so households tend to sell or buy with debt There are many farmers who have not got added sources or not buy with debt invested in rice lower than the demand of rice This often lead to many pests and lower yields 35 Table 29 - Purposes of borrowing loan of households Classification Purposes The wealthy The nearly The middle poor The poor Average For rice cultivation 0.0 2.9 0.0 0.0 1.7 For raising livestock 33.3 45.7 62.5 60.0 50.9 Others 66.7 51.4 37.5 40.0 47.5 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Source: 2010 households survey 3.7 SWOT analysis of purebred rice and hybrid rice production Because Bao Thai is a rice variety which reach priority in the structure of rice seeds of farmers in this study are, so we choose Bao thai represent for purebred rice varieties to analyze strengths and weaknesses compared to hybrid rice Table 30 - SWOT analysis in the production of purebred rice and hybrid rice of households in 2009 Target Strengths Purebred rice - High productivity stability Hybrid and - High selling price - Farmers can change or reproduce seeds to each other - Low investment of fertilizer - Using less plant protection - High productivity - Time of growing is short, it can grow the third crop - Care is not difficult - Flexible rice - Costing less seeds (2-3 kg/1000 m2) 36 medicines Weakness - High resistant disease, especially with hoppers - Care is not difficult, less care and making grass - Resisting drought and bad soil - Delicious, dry rice, eating dark - Processing into many products such as: noodle, bread - Time of sowing plant is long - Unstable productivity - Time of growing is long - - Planting in some crops Rate of rice is low (6065%) - Unable to reproduce seeds (maximum is 2-3 times/crop at the local) - The expensive price of seeds (59.000 – 78.000 VND/kg) - The investment of fertilizer is high - Having much pests such as : hoppers - Medicines of plant protection are costly - Quality of rice is poor, not tasty, not fit for most people’s taste - Mostly, selling price is lower than pure price - No processing other products such as bread, noodle - Root is deep – after harvesting it is difficult to reap 37 Opportunities Challenges - Suitable for soil and local climate - Mass planting - - - Having the policy of the state (subsidizing price, subsidizing cost of transport) Because of planting for a long time, so farmers have had much experience - Food security is the hot issue nowadays There is no subsidizing price subsidizing cost of transport - Not active seed - The quality of seed is poor and the supply for seed is unstable - Depend completely on Bac Kan agriculture material company Farmers not have ability and condition to self-produce suitable seeds - Weather often changes, so cause delay of crop - Epidemics occur much in the recent years - Epidemics happen much in the recent years - Not active irrigation water - Not mass planting - Not active irrigation water Source: Bac Kan 2010 PRA CONSLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 4.1 Conclusions From results of research, we withdraw the main following conclusions: - Rice production is a very important source of income of the local farmers - Hybrid rice seed supply has been dominated by the company of rice seeds This resulted in lack of seed variety options as well as high price Meanwhile purebred rice varieties have been mainly reproduced, and can remain after two to three crops - In the harvest crop: Bao Thai has been the rice variety that is the most suitable and gains the highest economic efficiency for many years In the spring crop, since hybrid rice varieties has been introduced, they have shown higher economic efficiency than purebred rice ones - The cultivation of hybrid rice has created more negative effects on the environment of water, soil and air than purebred rice varieties Thus, purebred rice production especially Bao Thai has higher environmental sustainability than other hybrid rice varieties 38 - On average, productivity of purebred rice was lower but more stable than those of hybrid rice - The main reason for deducing yields of purebred rice, which rarely occurs, was shortage of irrigation water, pests and diseases, which were translated from hybrid rice fields - The percentage of farmers participating in training courses was not high In the classes of IPM, recovery of purebred rice and rice care reached the majority - The farmers also used chemical arbitrarily They did not follow four right principles: "the right time, right pesticide, right dose and right way." - The percentage of households using credit to rice cultivation was very limited Overall, it is reasonable to think that rice production play a very important role in sustainable agricultural development and poor alleviation in this area The introduction of hybrid rice failed to achieve the purposes of enhancing agricultural development, rice production in particular Although the introduction of hybrid varieties of rice to local farmers helped to increase rice productivity in the spring crop, it brought diseases and pest and negative effects on the environment Unless there were efficiently available measures to solve these problems, hybrid rice would not be the sustainable replacement for purebred rice Moreover, purebred rice varieties, especially ones which were long lasting used by the local farmers like Bao Thai show the best suitable in the current situation 4.2 Recommendations Based on these above conclusions, to meet the objectives of sustainable livelihoods for local farmers in this study, we offer some suggestions: - There is a policy research and technical transfer conservation of local rice varieties which have high yield and good quality (Bao Thai rice variety) - Specially, to need study deeply of the value of Bao Thai That is need to study various aspects involved in the production and consumption of Bao Thai rice : Government at all levels and specialized agencies (agricultural promotion, plant protection agencies ), agencies providing seeds and fertilizers, the producers, consumers, processors to promote the strengths of Bao Thai - There is the policy which research and develop local rice varieties that is for high yield and good quality in the spring crop 39 - There is the policy that supports for supply sources and information on purebred rice and hybrid rice varieties - Provide more training courses on knowledge of pest control and rice care for farmers (IPM, SRI) To ensure that farmers use chemical fertilizers and medicines safely and effectively - Building a model of micro credit to farmers can borrow money to invest in rice, as needed - Supporting building and management of small irrigation systems involve the community to actively irrigation water in rice cultivation 40 REFERENCES EARWG (East Asia Rice Working Group) 2006 Rice Seed Trade in East Asia:A Study on Trends and Development in Hybrid Rice in Selected Countries Elenita C Daño 2006 From Rice Is Life To Life Is Profit: Trends in Rice Seed Trade in East Asia East Asia Rice Working Group: Philippines GSO Statistical Year Book 2007 and 2008 Hanoi: General Statistics Publishing House Nguyen Tri Hoan and Nguyen Huu Nghia 2003 Hybrid rice development and use in Vietnam In Virmani SS, Mao CX, Hardy B, editors: Hybrid rice for food security, poverty alleviation, and environmental protection Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Hybrid Rice, Hanoi, Vietnam, 14-17 May 2002 Los Baños (Philippines): International Rice Research Institute 407 p Ma Dolores Bernabe.2008 Potential Impact of Designating Rice as a Special Product In Selected Countries in Asia Rice Watch and Action Network Tran Duc Vien and Nguyen Thi Duong Nga 2006 Economic Impact of Hybrid Rice in Vietnam: An Initial Assessment Hanoi University of Agriculture Report of Department of Plan and Investment Bac Kan Report on economic and social situation of Bac Kan province from 2007 to 2009 Bac Kan province Report of Ba Be People Committee 2009 Report of Economic and Social Situation of Ba Be District from 2007 to 2009 Ba Be district Report of Bach Thong People Committee 2009 Report of Economic and Social Situation of Bach Thong District from 2007 to 2009 Bach Thong district 41 ANNEXES Annex 1: A Brief Summary of Related Policies on Hybrid Rice Development in Vietnam The land policy is a key policy in agriculture production in general and rice production in particular The important land policies include: Directive No 100-CT/TU of the Secretary Land law in 1993 Decree No 58/1999/ND-CP dated 28-8/1999 by the Government amending and supplementing a number of articles in The Regulations on the allocation of agriculture land to households and individuals using long-term in purposes of agriculture production Decree No 68/2001/ND-CP on planning, using land to protect agriculture land, and limiting conversion of agriculture land especially paddy land into other purpose; Decision No 150/2005/QD-TTg dated 20/6/2005 approved the restricting plan for agriculture production, forestry, and fisheries structure throughout the country until 2010 and vision 2020 The policy of infrastructure development: These policies have a direct effect on increasing rice productivity and rice area in general and hybrid rice in particular The important policies of infrastructure are: Decision No 99/TTg dated 09-02-1996 by the Prime Minister on long term orientation and year plan 1996-2000 for the development of irrigation, transport and construction rural Mekong river delta; Decision No 184/2004/QD-TTg dated 22-10-2004 by the Prime Minister on using credit capital of development investment by The State to continue to implement programs in order to solidify the canals, develop rural roads in the 2001-2010 period Decision No 67/2007/QD-TTg dated 18-05-2007 by the Prime Minister approved the plan Decision 69/2007/QD-TTg on 18-5-2007 of the Prime Minister approves the project of developing processing industry of agriculture and forest products in industrialization, agriculture modernization and rural development to 2010 and orientation to 2020 42 The policy of the support for rice production: To help rice farmer deal with the difficulties in rice production, the State has given the support policies for them Their content include: supporting the production and the use of new varieties, hybrid rice varieties, rice varieties for difficult areas to increase productivity, especially in areas often lack of food, poor households, ethnic minority household; supporting to train farmers to improve professionalism in rice production, business development and services in rice areas; supporting the development of the sort of rice production based on cooperation associated with the production of consumption (especially associated with rice-exporting enterprise The state has priority for technology transfer and upgrading of infrastructure in the area of rice production cooperation, help and support to the formation of rice farmers; support seed and supplies to areas affected by natural disasters, epidemics to restore production; giving the price of purchased paddy in each period of time on the basis of ensuring a reasonable level of income for farmers (Decision No 218/WTO/VB of the ministerial conference, November 25th 2001) The policies and program are promulgated and implemented such as: Decision No 225/1999/QD-TTg dated 10-12-1999 of the Prime Minister on approving the program of plant varieties and livestock breeds and forest seed in the period of 2000-2005; Decree No 13/2001/ND-CP dated 20-4-2001 of the Government on protection of new plant varieties; Decree No 122/2003/ND-CP dated 22-10-2003 of the Government on establishment of the fund of the development of national science and technology ; Decision 17/2006/QD-TTg dated 20-01-2006 by the Prime Minister on the continued implementation of Decision No 225/1999/QD-TTg 10-12-1999 Program on plant varieties, livestock breeds and forest tree seed until 2010 Credit policy: To help rice farmers solve the difficulties in investment of rice production, the Government has the policies on credit to rice farmers such as: Decision 02/2001/QD-TTg on 02-01-2001 by the Prime Minister on policies to support investment from the fund of development projects in production, processing exported products and agricultural production Decision No 133/2001/QD-TTg dated 10-9-2001 by the Prime Minister promulgated the Regulation on export support credit and Decree No 151/2006/NDCP dated 20-12-2006 by Government's investment credit and export credit of the State; Decree No 129/2003/ND-CP dated 3-11-2003 by the Government detailed the implementation of Resolution No l5/2003/QH11 dated 17-6-2003 of Congress on tax reduction of using agriculture land; 43 The Government has issued Decree 154 amending and supplementing Decree 143 on the November 28, 2003 stipulated the terms of irrigation fee exemption 44 Annex 2: Pictures of PRA activities Brainstorming on best rice varieties selected 45 SWOT analysis on hybrid rice and purebred rice production Annex 2: Pictures of the feedback workshop of the study Mr Lam presented the research results Opened discussion 46