Engineer 'magically' makes seeds germinate super fast

Luong Van Truong's (34 years old) solution to produce pre-germinated seeds helps farmers avoid soaking and incubating seeds, winning the Third Prize of the 2023 Science Initiative Competition.

Born in Nam Dinh, a land associated with rice, engineer Luong Van Truong wants to bring people the most convenient seed production solution. His solution is to provide pre-germinated seeds to help farmers easily use the seeds, without worrying about broken sprouts or rotting like the traditional way of soaking and incubating seeds.

By developing a technical process, engineer Truong helps put germinated rice seeds into a dormant state to maintain life when encountering adverse conditions (such as drought). The seeds are stored until the appropriate time for planting. After purchasing the seeds, farmers do not need to soak them but sow them directly, the seeds will return to the germination state and develop as usual. Seeds treated with this solution will germinate very quickly, usually within 30 to 120 minutes when encountering suitable conditions. This technological process was completed by him in October 2020 and registered for patent protection in 2021.

Recalling his entrepreneurial journey, Luong Van Truong said that he was born into a farming family in Nghia Trung commune, Nghia Hung district, Nam Dinh province. When he was young, his family only had 6 sao of rice fields, divided into many plots very far apart. He aspired to grow up and eliminate the small plots to produce on the vast fields and use all machines. With a passion for agriculture, he chose to pursue post-harvest technology at Da Lat University. In 2011, after graduating, Truong participated in the national project of 600 young commune vice chairmen, becoming Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Lung Than commune, Si Ma Cai district, Lao Cai province, in charge of local agriculture and forestry from 2012-2016.

Luong Van Truong (far right) talks with farmers about rice varieties. Photo: NVCC

Having completed his mission, he chose to return to his hometown to start a business, renting 7 hectares of agricultural land to cultivate rice. Starting large-scale production right from the start caused him difficulties. It was the 2018 crop season, heavy rain for more than twenty consecutive days caused all the seeds to be thrown away after being sown because they could not be sown, the seeds germinated and were very difficult to preserve, and rotted after a few days. "I lost 4-5 tons of seeds, the whole crop lost more than a billion VND," he recalled.

Seeing many areas in the province in the same situation, Truong was determined to find a way to help farmers preserve seeds longer and take the initiative in planting. The idea of ​​putting germinated rice seeds into a dormant state also emerged from there.

According to Truong's calculations, the process has an industrial production cost of only about 2,000 VND/kg. Meanwhile, if farmers soak and incubate fresh seeds, the cost for 1 kg (including labor, materials, water, electricity...) must be at least 10,000 VND. Currently, Vietnam grows about 7 million hectares of rice, with about 700,000 tons of seeds each year. If this process is followed, it will save more than 3,000 billion VND for the domestic agricultural sector, helping to save millions of laborers each crop season.

The product has been widely used in Nam Dinh. He also tested it in some other provinces such as Thai Binh and Bac Lieu to evaluate the suitability of the technology for different production regions.

Ms. Tran Thi Tuan, Chairwoman of the Farmers' Association of Chi Lang Nam Commune, Thanh Mien District, Hai Duong Province, said that the pre-germinated seed bags are very useful and convenient, no need to worry about soaking and incubating the seeds, and can be proactive in sowing. This season, she ordered ST25, Bac Thom and Huong Com seeds from Thanh Nien Nam Dai Duong Cooperative owned by Truong, for more than 1 hectare of rice field. Currently, the rice is growing beautifully and evenly.

She said she had compared two pre-germinated varieties and traditional soaking. "At first I was a bit nervous because I was afraid that the seeds would not grow when sown, but then they sprouted very well, with a high germination rate," she said. Ms. Tuan said she also introduced and guided some groups of farmers in the commune to use it. She assessed Truong as a young man with a great affinity for agriculture and farmers, who is diligent in researching and innovating, and doing very useful research.

Luong Van Truong (in black shirt) and local people conduct an experiment in a rice field in Minh Tan commune, Vu Ban district, Nam Dinh province. Photo: NCVV

From a small farm, Truong and his colleagues established the Nam Dai Duong Youth Cooperative in early 2021, with a scale of nearly 40 hectares. With his efforts and contributions, Luong Van Truong received the Nam Dinh Province Scientific Innovation Award 2021, the Luong Dinh Cua Award for Outstanding Young Farmers... "I hope that the technology will soon be widely used in both Vietnam and the world, helping farmers minimize risks and damage when natural disasters occur and increase profits, making production more leisurely," Truong said.

Sharing with VnExpress , Mr. Tran Huy Quang, Deputy Director of Nam Dinh Department of Science and Technology, highly appreciated Luong Van Truong's initiative applied to production to help increase productivity and quality. His project was also supported by the Department in the process of research, testing, evaluating results and building a brand.

He added that Truong is one of the typical and dynamic young faces in many activities of exchanging experiences and inspiring innovative startups. "I hope that the recognition of the organizing committee and the jury for Luong Van Truong personally will create motivation and promote innovative activities in the province," said Mr. Quang.

Author Luong Van Truong (middle) received third prize with his project of ready-to-germinate seeds. Photo: Giang Huy

Luong Van Truong's solution, which was assessed by the Jury of the Science Initiative Competition, has a great impact on rice seed production, in the context of a country with a dominant agricultural sector. Scientists also advised the author to clarify how to change and transform the impact on the germination process in order to optimize the technological process.

Process of producing pre-germinated seeds

Nhu Quynh

Source link: https://vnexpress.net/ky-su-ho-bien-hat-giong-nay-mam-sieu-toc-4605083.html