Rice variety OM 468 possesses many potentials for export

Recently, OM 468 has made an appearance in the Cuu Long Delta. This is a new variety of rice, a joint research product between the Cuu Long Delta Rice Research Institute and ThaiBinh Seed.

OM 468 rice variety in winter-spring crop 2020-2021, produced in the Mekong Delta, has reached 9-10 tons/ha in productivity (for rice harvested in the field). Photo: Thanh Binh.

This is the third winter-spring crop that the An Phong Experimental Farm for Seed Production in Thanh Binh district (Dong Thap), under DongThap Seed Joint Stock Company (Doseco) has developed OM 468 rice variety test. The test has brought good results as the rice has fewer pests and diseases and yields exceeded expectations at the end of the crop.

According to Mrs. Nguyen Thi Oanh, Vice President of An Phong Experimental Farm for Seed Production, at present, An Phong farm has over 6.5ha divided into many plots of land for production, testing and demonstration of many rice varieties of the Institute, Schools, Centers, and Corporations ... in order to evaluate each characteristic of each rice varieties, then later widely deploy to farmers.

Particularly, in two recent crops, for each crop, An Phong Experimental Farm for Seed Production used 100m2 of land to cultivate OM 468. This is a variety implemented by ThaiBinh Seed Group in collaboration with Cuu Long Delta Rice Research Institute. Especially, in the winter-spring crop of 2020-2021, the Farm planted OM 468 rice variety on 1ha for overall assessment.

Mrs. Oanh merrily elaborated that the rice variety OM 468 has a growth time of 95-100 days (transplanted rice), the rice plant has a height of 1.1 - 1.15m, a rice bush has 10 - 15 buds, rice plants are sturdy, has less fall rate… The rate of head rice is 50 - 61.3%. Rice grain is 6.76 - 6.9mm long, with an Amylose content of 16 - 17.7. The rice grain is beautifully elongated, clear, and has a mild aroma.

The yield of this year's winter-spring crop is 9-10 tons/ha (for rice harvested in the field), while dried rice is about 5.8 - 8 tons/ha. OM 468 has similar bud patterns to OM 5451, but has more buds. The grain of OM 468 is clear, beautiful and meets export standards. During the care process, OM 468 was less susceptible to pests attacks and very suitable for the soil and climate in the Cuu Long Delta.

As stated by Mr. Nguyen Van Hong, Director of Dong Thap Seed Joint Stock Company (Doseco), after many cultivation trials of OM 468 in the Cuu Long Delta, it is clear that OM 468 rice has the advantage of reacting well to rice blast (from level 1 to level 3), to BPH (level 5 to level 7), and has good tolerance to salt and drought.

OM 468 was also planted in Ca Mau in the 2020-2021 winter-spring crop during the trial on acid sulfate soils and suffered from water shortages in the post-emergence stage to ripening, but the results were the best during the evaluation.

In addition, OM 468 has been experimentally planted in the southern provinces and has wide adaptability in the ecological regions of the Southeast regions and the Cuu Long Delta. Especially, farmers of Tra Vinh, An Giang, Ca Mau, Dong Thap ... have highly appreciated the efficiency and quality of the rice, which is better compared to other varieties.

However, according to Mr. Nguyen Van Hong, OM 468 is new to farmers in the area as it is still in the trial period, currently completing procedures to apply for recognition of this rice variety by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development soon. Doseco is the recipient of the rights to widely produce and develop OM 468 in large fields in the Cuu Long Delta and the Southeast areas, so if things go well, OM 468 is likely to be eligible to be widely deployed for farmers in 2022.