Developing an Agricultural Research
and Development Priority
Framework
for Vietnam
Crops Sub-Sector Workshop
Data and Information Sheets:
Areas of Research & Development
Opportunity (ARDOs)
ARDO 1: Rice
ARDO 2: Upland Crops
ARDO 3: Food Legumes
ARDO 4: Industrial Crops
ARDO 5: Fruit
ARDO 6: Vegetables
ARDO 7: Flowers
ARDO 8: Animal Feeds
ARDO 9: Crops for New Uses
October 2006
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ARDO 1: RICE
1. ARDO DEFINITION
1.1 National Goal
Increase yield, and quality of rice to ensure national food security, competitiveness in
export markets, reduce the cost of production and maintain exports at 4-5 millions
ton/year.
1.2 R&D Scope
Research into genetic improvement and development of agronomic techniques (GAP,
ICM, IPM) improving quality standards and food safety and further develop harvest and
post-harvest management including storage and processing and development new and
improved products to meet identified market needs.

Medium maturity:
- Locally uniform varieties
- Aromatic varieties
Late maturity:
- Aromatic varieties
Central zones
Very early, Early maturity:
- Improved varieties
- F1 hybrid varieties
- Aromatic varieties
Medium maturity:
- Aromatic varieties
Late maturity:
Locally uniform
varieties
Central plateau Very early maturity:
- Improved varieties
- F1 hybrid varieties
Medium maturity:
- Aromatic varieties
- Local uniform varieties
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Mekong Delta
(MD)
Very early, Early maturity:
- Improved varieties
- Aromatic varieties
- F1 hybrid variety
-Uniform varieties

7326,400 ha of rice divided into 3 groups
 Winter-Spring (W-Sp, from November to April the next year) rice crop
season 2942,000ha;
 Summer-Autumn (S-Aut, From April to October) rice crop season: 2348,600
ha
 Mua (from July to December in the North and from August to February the
next year in the South) rice crop season 2035,800 ha (table No.1).
Table 1. Area and Production of Rice in (1990-2005)
Year Area Production
Total Of which Total Of which
Spring
paddy
Autumn
paddy
Winter
paddy
Spring
paddy
Autumn
paddy
Winter
paddy
Thousand Hectares Thousand Tonnes
1990 6006,8 2037,6 1215,7 2753,5 19225,1 7865,6 4090,5 7269,0
1995 6765,6 2421,3 1742,4 2601,9 24963,7 10736,6 6500,8 7726,3
2000 7666,3 3013,2 2292,8 2360,3 32529,5 15571,2 8625,0 8333,3
2001 7492,7 3056,9 2210,8 2225,0 32108,4 15474,4 8328,4 8305,6
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2002 7504,3 3033,0 2293,7 2177,6 34447,2 16719,6 9188,7 8538,9

varieties and replacement of old varieties throughout the country
o Introduction of F1 hybrids, mainly in RRD and parts of the Central
Plateau
o Photosensitive varieties that have a high yield and good quality as well
as better adaptation and better tolerance/resistance to pests and diseases.
o Mua crop varieties have declined and been replaced by improved
varieties, especially in the RRD region.
Table 2. Area, Yield and Production of Paddy (1961-2005)*
Year Area Yield Production
Thousand.
ha
Index
(Previous
year=100%)
Ton
/ha
Index (previous
year=100%)
Thousand.
ton
Index
(previous
year=100%)
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1961 4.744.000 - 1.896 - 8.997.400 -
1965 4.826.300 101,73 1.941 102,37 9.369.900 104,14
1970 4.724.400 97,88 2.153 110,92 10.173.300 108,57
1975 4.855.900 102,78 2.120 98,46 10.293.600 101,18
1980 5.600.200 115,32 2.080 98,11 11.647.400 113,15

 The quality of exports varies: Egypt, EU, America, Australia, China, India,
Argentina, Uruguay (India and Pakistan export Basmati variety) export rice with
high quality. India, Thailand, Vietnam export rice with medium quality and India,
Pakistan, Thailand, China, Vietnam export rice with low quality.
 Some major exporting countries (Thailand, China and Vietnam are diversifying from
rice into other crops while other producers (Cambodia) have increased area and yield
as national goals.
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Table 3. Rice Exports from Vietnam (1989- 2005)
Year Export quantity
(tons)
Price
(USD/tons)
Value
(1000 USD)
Worldwide imported
rice (tons)
1989 1.420.000 204 290.000 -
1990 1.624.000 248 304.637 -
1991 1.033.000 283 234.482 -
1992 1.945.800 239 417.742 -
1993 1.722.000 209 310.000 -
1994 1.983.000 230 359.600 -
1995 1.988.000 289 391.900 -
1996 3.500.000
303
750.000 19.700.000
1997 3.574.804 256 870.892 18.800.000
1998 3.800.000 288 1.023.997 27.200.000

USD)
Total 3.135,20 560.000 4.059,74 950,39 5.250,27 1.407.23
Nth. America 301,1 1,12 0,32 - -
United States - 0,89 0,24 - -
Europe 137,00 324,41 70,75 87,38 23,24
EU25 - 46,29 9,97 10,14 3,33
EU15 - 13,48 3,70 9,34 3,07
Eastern Europe 137,00 141,17 32,50 69,60 18,01
Asia 2.078,10 1.914,42 456,83 2.484,08 686.03
ASEAN 1.185,60 1.401,22 313,25 2.224,95 616,89
Middle East 886,30 351,02 102,02 12,03 3,12
Japan 4,70 75,36 16,06 196,83 53,42
China 1,50 82,62 19,21 48,28 11,97
Hong Kong 2,20 0,67 1,13 0,29
Australia
+ Oceania
100,0 4,48 0,95 3,20 0,84
Other countries 519,00 1.815,31 421,54 2.675,61 697.12
 Rice exports form Viet Nam commenced in 1998 and have increased annually. The
value of the rice crop in 2005 was approximately 40% of total agriculture GDP.
 Export volumes are 3.6 times higher in 2005 compared to 1989, and rice exports
have increased 21.1%/year on average.
 Main exports are to Asia (40-60% of annual exporting volume). Europe, Africa,
Middle East and Japan are also markets of Vietnam but are unlikely to increase in the
foreseeable future.
Domestic markets:
 Viet Nam has a population of 80 million and rice as the main food in the diet. As
living conditions improve the demand is for better quality rice.
 The domestic market is estimated to be 22 million tons with a market value of US$5
billion.

for affordable food.
 Viet-Nam has well defined markets, in developing countries, where living standards
are still low. Rice from Viet-Nam imports is not so expensive and Viet-Nam has a
comparative advantage in these markets.
 At present Vietnamese breeders have been released some of high quality with aroma
varieties those are testing in lager scale. These varieties would be grown as national
varieties on larger areas in the near future years.
3 Industry Analysis
3.1 Structure
Households and Size of Holdings
 In the MKD the area of rice per farmer household is rather large, may be several
hectare for each household.
 In other regions, especial in the RD regions, rice area of a household is very
moderate, of some hundreds and thousands m².
 On some river banks rice planting area of a farmer household is not so large - usually
less than a hectare for each household.
 In river delta regions, especial in the MKD and RRD regions, rice planting area is
reduced; rice is replaced by crops that are more profitable such as vegetables, fruit
trees, and flowers.
3.2 Supporting Infrastructure
 At present irrigation systems for rice production are almost completed in RRD to
MKD.
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 Seed production Plant protection centres are sufficient and good enough to control
disease and insect pest.
 Agricultural extension bureau belong to MARD and extension centres from
provinces are strongly supporting in rice production, too.
 There are 270,000 rice millers in Mekong Delta with total capacity of 21,000 tons
paddy batch (equal to 11 million rice/year), more than 300 machines for polishing

4.2 Major Research Providers
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
 Viet-Nam Agricultural Science Institute (VASI) (now Vietnam Academy of
Agricultural Sciences – VAAS)
 Institute of Agricultural Science for Southern Vietnam (IAS)
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 Agricultural Genetics Institute,
 National Centre of Variety Evaluation and Seed Certification (NCVESC),
 Cuu Long Rice Research Institute,
 Food Crop Research Institute
Universities
 Hanoi Agricultural University,
 Thai -Nguyen Agro-Forestry University,
 Ho- Chi - Minh Agricultural University,
 Hue Agricultural University
 Can -Tho University
Others
 Vietnam Atomic Energy Commission (Mutation rice breeding).
 IAEA (mutation rice breeding)
 International cooperation on R & D of the rice crops is very active in training,
scientific information exchange and particularly in germplasm for breeding as well as
solutions F1 hybrid seed production in Viet-Nam.
 International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)
 Provincial seed companies with trained technicians
 Hundreds senior scientists and thousands researchers with different research fields
such as bio-technology, plant breeding, farming systems, regional project, variety
pattern, soil research, fertilizer, irrigation, plant protection, agriculture, engineering
and post harvest technology and protection of Vietnamese as well as foreign
Intellectual Property especially in rice hybrid seed.

o Improving techniques in Research and implement of male sterility lines
(multiplication male sterility lines and produce F1 hybrid seed in Viet-
Nam)
o Agronomic research and definition of most suitable areas for commercial
hybrid rice production.
 Research on integrated intensive techniques to increase rice yield for different agro-
ecological zones.
 Research on IPM, ICM and GAP in rice production to ensure security and safety of
food.
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5. SWOT Analysis
Strengths Weaknesses
 Large area for rice production (ranked the
6
th
in the world
 18 years of rice exporting experience
 Ability to multi-crop and grow year round
– particularly in the South.
 Area of rice with 3 crops/year grown from
30,000 ha in 1977 to 239,000ha in 1995
 4000 years of traditional rice growing
experience
 Diversified genetic resource with varieties
adapted to different agro-ecological
zones, tolerance to pests and diseases
 Large domestic markets for 80 million
people and well established in export
markets

 Low profitability for farmers due to quality
of rice, poor market research, need to further
develop trademarks/brands compared with
other major exporting countries
 Low and variable export prices
 Scattered research facilities with
uncoordinated and poorly focused research
strategy and implementation plans
 With a large investment in research in the
past many of the potential gains from
research have already been achieved and
further gains are likely to be more difficult.
 Profit form growing rice is comparatively
low and rice farmers find it difficult to
afford adoption of new technology
Opportunities: Threats:
 Domestic markets are likely to increase
with population growth and quality
demands likely to increase as standards of
living rise
 Further significant improvement of
quality and diversity of rice production
and products will improve export returns
 WTO membership may reduce trade
barriers but will also increase requirement
for export standards
 Improvements in dryer capacity and post-
harvest and storage management
including quality standards likely to
improve export returns

which ranked as secondary after rice. However, the role of these crops has been
changed in recent years with a rather high rate of substitution from food crops
(including upland crops) to industrial ones. The upland food crops are considered as
additional cash crops for small households in many regions, particularly in mountainous
areas (maize and cassava), sandy coastal areas (sweet potatoes). Recently specialized
commercial production of some crops such as the “corn belt” in Son La, Dak Lak and
Dong Nai provinces and cassava in the South East region, central plateau and Northern
mountainous mid land areas has occurred. In other regions, upland crops are mainly for
home consumption. Areas for the upland food crops are mainly under unfavourable
natural and social conditions, difficult communications and limited storage facilities.
With the exception in some large commercial upland crop areas, cultivars and other
materials are supplied by agro–services. Demand of the upland crop products has
increased rapidly and is likely to continue in the future as animal feed demands rise, for
increased processing and for human consumption.
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2.2. Industry Characteristics and Prospects
Growing Areas and Yields
Crops Criteria 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2010
Maize
Acreage (1000 ha) 556.8 730.2 729.5 816.0 912.7 991.1 1,043.3 1,200.0
Yield (qtl/ha) 21.1 27.5 29.6 30.8 34.4 34.6 36.0 45.00
Production (1000
tons)
1,177.2 2,005.9 2,161.7 2,511.2 3,136.3 3,430.9 3,756.3 5,400.0
Sweet
potatoes
Acreage (1000 ha) 304.6 254.3 244.6 237.7 219.6 201.8 188.4 160.0
Yield(qtl/ha) 55.3 63.4 67.6 71.7 72.4 74.9 77.5 85.0
Production (1000

 Potato: Area has been static over recent years at about 35,000 hectares. 60% of
potato acreage is in the Red river delta in an efficient crop rotation of Spring rice -
Summer rice - Winter potatoes. In the South, only Da Lat and Lam Dong provinces
have grown annually 1,000 hectare of potatoes. Yield is relatively low 11-12 t/ha
Value and Markets
 Maize: Vietnam is a net importer of maize. Net value of imports is US$10 -
30m/year. About 75% of the total maize production is for animal feed. The demand
of feed for animal husbandry in 2010 is anticipated to be 11 – 12 million MT, which
equals to 5 – 5.5 million MT of maize grain with an approximate value approximate
of USD 700-800 million
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 Sweet Potato: used for domestic market, mainly for feed animals in farmer
households. Some products from sweet potato as chip, jam, and starch powder are
processed by simple techniques. In recent years, some vegetable sweet potato
varieties have been released into production to meet the demand of urban regions.
Some sweet potato varieties origin from Japan planted in the Central Highland and
Cuu Long River Delta was exported and gained high benefit.
 Cassava: About 70% cassava starch was exported. Wholesale value of exports to
China is over USD 10 million annually. Annual, Vietnam export cassava chip about
USD 14 million.
 Potato: used as food for human as a fresh root and for chip production. Vietnam
imports 60% of its total processing potato from China.
Comparative Advantage
 Maize: China is planning to import 10 million MT of maize by the year 2010 and 40
million MT by 2020. With the high price of fuel for transportation the import price
of maize is about the same as the cost of domestic production.
 Sweet Potato: Some countries such as China and Japan have bred varieties that have
yields of 45-60 tons/ha with a high dry matter content (over 30% of fresh weight),
polished root skin and nice shape. This is 6-7 times the yields obtained in Vietnam.

larger but usually less than a hectare for each household. In river delta regions,
especial in the near urban of the Red River Delta region, maize planting area is
reduced, field corn is replaced by vegetable corn – for human consumption. With
adequate irrigation, some maize areas may convert to planting another crop that gives
higher benefits. However in some rice growing areas without irrigation rice
production is being replaced by planting maize. Farmers are encouraged to plant
fallow land after the autumn rice crop in Northern mountain region with maize.
 Sweet Potato: Sweet potato areas per household are small. Without better varieties
the area will be reduced. In recent years, in Central Highland and Cuu Long River
Delta, Japan sweet potato varieties are planted and provide high benefits. With
stable markets, these varieties area will be increased. Sweet potato varieties with
good leaf production has a high benefit but its scale is small, only several hundred
metric square per household.
 Cassava: Nowadays, cassava is not considered as a food crop but it is still the main
income source for small households at many localities, especially in the mountainous
areas of Vietnam. Cassava is mainly used for processing starch for exportation with
some used for animal feeds. Cassava area for each household in Central Highland
and Central Coastal regions are rather large, from several thousands metric square up
to several hectares. It is also used in some areas for animal feed.
 Potato: Contributes to shifting cropping systems for the Northern provinces,
especially for the Red river delta and Northern midland regions.
3.2 Supporting Infrastructure
 Maize: Small scale processing is established with products such as starch, alcohol,
oil, milk, and cakes now available in the Vietnamese market. In the near future, it is
anticipate that the demand for these kinds of products will grow significantly.
According to MARD, there are now 249 animal feed processing mills with total
capacity of 8 million ton per year. 23 large joint venture companies process just over
70% of all animal feedstuffs. Small feed processing companies find it difficult to
compete with these large companies. By 2010, the total capacity will be increased
up to 11-12 million tons. In 2005, it produced 5.5 million tons of feed for animals.

produced in 2003 . Thailand and Vietnam are the two leading exporters with a total
annual production of 5.6 and 0.2 million MT, respectively. Major markets of
Vietnam cassava are China, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and
some other countries in Easten Europe.
 Potato: Up to now, potato is used in domestic market as fresh root and chip
processing. Vietnam imports large volumes of potato from China for processing.
The market for potato in the Asian region is still large and growing and with
increased production Vietnam could export potato to regional countries as Japan,
Korea, Malaysia, Australia, and Singapore.
3.4. Future Trends and Key Market Issues
 Maize: Prior to 1996 Vietnam exported maize. (250,000 MT in 1996). Since 1997,
Vietnam has become a maize importer (50,000 MT in 2001 to over 300,000 MT in
2002). Value of imports was US$ 51.6 million (2003), US$ 17 million (2004).
Small amounts of maize have been re-exported but Vietnam has continued to be a net
importer of maize. (Vietnam General Customs Department, 2005). Maize is now
mainly used for animal feeds with a continuously increasing demand. Target for
2010 is to expand area to 1.2 million hectares with aerage yield of 4.5-5.0 tons per ha
and a total production of 5.5 – 6.0 million MT. Also to expand the area of vegetable
maize (mainly hybrids), that has high quality and yield
 Sweet Potato: Recently, acquired renewed attention due to its mutli-end uses such as
fresh vegetables and production of pharmaceuticals. Target for 2020 is an area of
160,000 hectares and to increase average yield to about 8.5 tons per ha.
 Cassava: Intensive monoculture production systems has caused some problems,
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including expansion into areas of other crops such as sugar cane, tea, fruit crops and
deforestation, reduction of yield and soil degradation on the hills and environmental
polution from cacssava processing factories. It is illegal to expand cassava into
forest areas. Target for 2010 is to maintain area of 380,000 hectares with an
increased yield of 20 tons per ha and a total production of about 7,600,000 MT.

 Ho Chi Minh Agricultural University,
 Hue Agricultural University
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Others
 International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), and FAO etc.
 CIP, CIAT (sweet potato, cassava)
4.3. Funding
 Mainly from the Government and partly from international cooperation projects.
 1996-2000: MARD’s fund for upland crop project held by NMRI was VND 1,032
million, (approximately USD 70,000). Annual fund was about USD 14,000
 2001-2005: MARD’s fund for maize crop project held by NMRI was VND 13 billion
(approximately USD 830,000). Other sources of fund for maize from international
cooperation projects was USD 37,800.
 Funding for root crops was smaller
4.4. Major Achievements to Date
 Maize: During period 2000-2005 the main achievements have been:
Field corn: Area from 730,200 to 1,043,300 ha (1.5 times). Yield from 2.75 to 3.6
t/ha (1.3 times). Total Production from 2.0 to 3.76 million MT (1.8 times).
Proportion of maize grain in total food production from 5.7% to 9%.
Percentage of hybrid maize acreage increased from 0% in 1990 to about 60% in 2000
and approximately 90% in 2005. Vietnamese developed hybrids occupy about more
60% of the total maize area as they appear to be more adapted to Vietnamese
conditions. In spite of this Vietnam is not self-sufficient.
For vegetable corn: Imported hybrid varieties are supplemented by domestically
released hybrid varieties since 2000 now some promising waxy corn hybrids have
been demonstrated.
NMRI, IAS and NCVESC have released dozens of maize varieties (TSB1, TSB2,
MSB49, Q2, and HL31) and maize hybrids (LVN10, LVN4, LVN9, LVN99 etc).
Maize breeding has applied bio-technology in areas such as anther culture, ovule

 Demand for water is less than for crops
such as rice, but there is a need to ensure
available moisture at critical times (e.g.
tuber development for root crops)
 Use of crops (e.g. maize) in cropping
rotations assists in the management of pests
and diseases
 Farmers very familiar with traditional
cropping systems over a range of cropping
seasons
 Some processing facilities established
 Good relevant research experience, but
relatively low level of investment in
research
 Release of improved varieties adapted to
Vietnamese conditions
 Low yields and quality compared with
other Asian producing nations
 Declining areas and profitability of some
crops makes them less attractive to growers
 Planting in marginal areas can lead to soil
degradation and adverse environmental
impacts
 Most upland crops lack competitive
advantage with imports
 Many crops require good cultivation and
agronomic practices to achieve high yields
and quality
 Although grown for a long time the
understanding of correct agronomic

imports making imports more competitive
and possibly lead to further reductions in
areas
 Environmental impacts of increasing
planting areas may have flow on effects for
local communities
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cassava)
 Use of improved research strategies
including bio-technology should improve
yields, quality, resistance to pests and
diseases, improve competitiveness and
reduce costs of production
 Extension of production season through
development of early and late maturing
varieties
 Development of larger scale commercial
production packages.
 Development of varieties to fit end use
needs including higher starch yields, and/or
different food quality attributes and
processing end uses
 Development of high health propagation
and seed certification techniques
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ARDO 3: LEGUMES
1 ARDO DEFINITION
1.1 National goal: Cultivated area expansion, crop yield and quality improvement,

 Groundnut is mainly produced for export, soybean is developed for domestic
consumption (food for human and feed for animal), and mungbean is produced for
both domestic consumption and export purposes.
 Mungbean-growing areas are scattered, and farmers mostly plant this crop on soil
that was used to grow rice seedlings, rice, or intercrop it with other plants.
 Production of groundnut, soybean and mungbean has had specific advantages and
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disadvantages. However, the common points for three crops is the cultivation
area, yield and production in general tend to increase (shown in table 1).
Table 1: Cultivated area, yield and production of Groundnut and soybean (1985-
2005)
Crop 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005
Groundnut Cultivated area (1,000ha) 213.2 201.4 259.9 243.9 265.6
Yield (kg/ha) 950 1060 1290 1450 1750
Production output (1,000 tons) 202.4 213.1 334.5 352.9 465.0
Soybean Cultivated area (1,000ha) 102.0 110.0 121.0 122.3 200.0
Yield (kg/ha) 780 790 1040 1160 1350
Production output (1,000 tons) 79.1 86.6 123.5 141.9 270.0
Mungbean
Survey
Cultivated area (1000ha) 10 25 32
Yield (kg/ha) 500 700 900
Production output (1,000 tons) 5 17.5 28.8
Table 2: Cultivated area, production of Groundnut at ecological regions (2004)
Region
Area
(1000 ha)
Production
(1000 ton)

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soybean and mungbean are widely used in the foodstuff industry. Vietnam imports
hundreds of thousands tons of soybean to process feed for livestock. Apart from
helping improve soil quality, these crops have been contributing to agricultural
sustainable development and employment generation in Vietnam.
Exports: In 1995 115,100 tons of Groundnut was exported with approximate value of
USD 74.7 million. 20,000 tons of Mungbean are exported annually.
Table 3. Production and export profit of groundnut (1995 – 2004)
Year 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
1.000 tons 115.1 76.1 78.2 106.1 82.4 44.9
USD (mil) 74.7 49.4 50.8 68.9 53.5 29.1
Source: statistic department, 2006
Diet:
 Groundnut, soybean and mungbean are important components of the daily diet
 Per capita consumption of tofu is estimated to be 12 kg. Total consumption of tofu
is 984,000 tons.
 National dietary requirement of soybean is 300,000 tons of grain. Total
production is 291,500 tons, of which 190,000 tons is used for feed animal. This
leaves a deficit of approximately 200,000 tons for human consumption.
 If per capita consumption of groundnut is 10kg/year, the national requirement is
820,000 tons. Total production is about 300 thousands tons per year. At least 100
thousand tons is used for animal feeds.
Animal Feed:
 Groundnut and soybean are important in reducing imports of animal feed. Vietnam
imports more than 1 million tons of material to process into animal feedstuffs. However
in 2005 Vietnam imported 1.7 million tons, including 225,700 tons of maize and 787,300
tons of dry oil including 105,000 tons soybean residues.
Competitive Advantage:
 Compared with other countries, Vietnam has favorable soil and weather conditions and a