The journey of creating the best rice in the world by engineer Ho Quang Cua

Nearly 25 years of breeding rice, engineer Ho Quang Cua and his two colleagues have made Vietnam's agricultural sector proud when ST25 is recognized as the best rice in the world.

On November 15, Labor Hero Ho Quang Cua ran a motorbike from My Xuyen district to Soc Trang city to report to the leader of Soc Trang province to report the award of the World's Good Rice Prize.

In the backpack is a glass trophy called "World's Best Rice" carefully wrapped with soft cloth that Mr. Crab has just brought from the 11th International Conference on Rice Trade held in Manila (Philippines).

Accidental discovery

Mr. Crab said the ST aromatic rice project started by accident when he visited the field on a winter morning in 1996. At that time, Mr. Crab discovered strange rice plants, with purple roots and long slender grains, which were very beautiful. closely similar to VD20.

At this time, Thailand announced the creation of two non-photosensitive fragrant rice varieties, which they called golden seeds, so he thought why they could do it and Vietnam did not. So the agricultural engineer thought about fragrant rice and from the first VD20 mutants, a hybrid breeding and multiplication project with a series of fragrant rice varieties called ST was born.

Mr. Ho Quang Cua (left) and two associates received World's World's Best Rice Cup in the Philippines.(Photo provided by character).

"This discovery is accidental but very significant for the breeding and breeding of fragrant rice of Soc Trang. About 1,050 mutants were first collected by us and then tested. For crossbreeding in different ways to choose the most outstanding individuals , " Cua recalls.

The initial breeding is not simple because there is a lack of support equipment. The standard of Vietnamese aromatic rice was not available at that time, so Mr. Crab "borrowed temporarily" Thailand's fragrant rice BE.2541 to implement.

In 2003, the former Deputy Director of Soc Trang Department of Agriculture and Rural Development had two more associates: Dr. Tran Tan Phuong and engineer Nguyen Thi Thu Huong. Mr. Phuong later devised a method to assess the aroma very quickly and effectively. Through the aroma criteria, the team of scientists eliminated the substandard rice varieties.

The labor hero is very proud of the ST25 rice.(Photo: Viet Tuong).

Two years ago, Soc Trang's ST24 rice was ranked in the top 3 "World's best rice" at the 9th International Conference on Rice Trade held in Macau (China).

At this 11th meeting, Mr. Crab and his colleagues brought ST24 and ST25 rice . Both types of rice entered the top of the world but the judges selected ST25 to award the first prize.

"Coming to this contest, we submitted 2 bags of rice, 2kg each with a 200-word description board, including the ratio of water and how much rice is suitable for cooking delicious rice. The judges are professional chefs. In addition to the quality factor, the judges also gave a formal score, " said Mr. Crab.

The father of "World's Best Rice" is proud of the results brought from the Philippines. According to Mr. Crab, this is a collective achievement like "army of army officers of the country" in the traditional medicine scale, not just anyone. In particular, the roles of Dr. Phuong and Huong engineer are very important, combined with the experience of Crab engineer.

Production of fragrant rice from probiotics

Exhausted after days in the Philippines, Mr. Crab could not talk much. He said that Go Cong (Tien Giang) and Bai Xao rice (My Xuyen, Soc Trang) were famous in Hong Kong's European market and Hong Kong's Huong Cang over a hundred years ago. Eighty years later, the KDM rice variety grown in brackish coastal waters attracted many traders to Soc Trang.

Therefore, after collecting comparatively enough breeds at the end of 2002, Mr. Cua and his colleagues both selected and learned from experience to build new hybrid combinations. Parent breeds were collected by scientists from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Bangladesh, Thailand, Taiwan, and Northern Vietnam.

"Mixed hybrids to produce a stable line take longer than a single hybrid, usually 11-12 rice crops. The size of the breeding area is also very wide because the crosses dissociate very strongly and last long. many lines reach the quality according to the set goals. ST24 and ST25 rice is a hybrid of many varieties, choosing delicious parents to let their crossbred children enjoy good characteristics, " the Labor Hero said.

ST25 rice and ST25 rice.(Photo provided by character).

The rice of these two rice varieties has a short production cycle of 95 days. Two rice varieties like twins, same aromatic, white, beautiful but ST25 rice chestnut than ST24. Currently, the price of ST24 rice in the market fluctuates from VND 18,500-25,000 per kilogram, while Mr. Crab's ST25 rice with scientists has just tested, is in the exploration phase, so it has not appeared in the market.

Not only researching breeding, propagating and promoting the brand, engineer Ho Quang Cua also pioneered the introduction of probiotics into the ST aromatic rice production process so that the product is not only delicious but also safe for people. Consumable and environmentally friendly. Mr. Crab has revived the model of 'shrimp hugging rice' on the inefficient shrimp farming areas in Soc Trang.

Talking to PV, Dr. Phuong said that it will continue to maintain the current status of ST rice and this is a top priority. His team will continue to breed and develop new varieties to diversify the market.

Mr. Tran Van Chuyen, Chairman of the provincial People's Committee, assessed that the world's best rice award is a result of the enthusiastic research process of Mr. Cua and his colleagues. This achievement has contributed greatly to the branding of Soc Trang rice and Vietnamese rice in the international market.