Germany-based Bayer CropScience, a leading crop protection and sciencecompany, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Cuu Long RiceResearch Institute to create a research platform for sustainable cropsolutions for the Mekong Delta in the face of climate change.
The signing on April 5 coincided with the visit of Sandra E. Peterson,Bayer's chairwoman, who was in Long An province that day to inspect theresults of Bayer's Much More Rice programme in co-operation with localfarmers.
The programme, launched four years ago andexpanded two years later, seeks to improve rice yield and quality andfarmers' incomes through the integrated application of seed treatmentand insecticides.
Peterson told the media that the world would require a 30 percent increase in rice production to feed itself by 2020.
She pointed to the implications of climate change, population growth,and declining arable land to demonstrate the need to significantlyincrease agricultural productivity. "We need a second ‘Green Revolution'in agriculture that requires all the tools available, including cropprotection, better seeds, and advanced breeding technology," she said.
Rob Hulme, country head of Bayer CropScience Vietnam , said morethan 320 separate trials have testified to the efficiency of the MuchMore Rice programme both in terms of reduced inputs and increasedproductivity.
"Productivity and profit have increased by 10 percent and 20 percent respectively," he said.
The programme has also thrown up Arize, a hybrid rice variety developedby Bayer which is resistant to pests, diseases, and extreme climate andhas high yield potential, and provided training to farmers in newagricultural techniques. /.
The signing on April 5 coincided with the visit of Sandra E. Peterson,Bayer's chairwoman, who was in Long An province that day to inspect theresults of Bayer's Much More Rice programme in co-operation with localfarmers.
The programme, launched four years ago andexpanded two years later, seeks to improve rice yield and quality andfarmers' incomes through the integrated application of seed treatmentand insecticides.
Peterson told the media that the world would require a 30 percent increase in rice production to feed itself by 2020.
She pointed to the implications of climate change, population growth,and declining arable land to demonstrate the need to significantlyincrease agricultural productivity. "We need a second ‘Green Revolution'in agriculture that requires all the tools available, including cropprotection, better seeds, and advanced breeding technology," she said.
Rob Hulme, country head of Bayer CropScience Vietnam , said morethan 320 separate trials have testified to the efficiency of the MuchMore Rice programme both in terms of reduced inputs and increasedproductivity.
"Productivity and profit have increased by 10 percent and 20 percent respectively," he said.
The programme has also thrown up Arize, a hybrid rice variety developedby Bayer which is resistant to pests, diseases, and extreme climate andhas high yield potential, and provided training to farmers in newagricultural techniques. /.
