I. A BRIEF HISTORY OF ESTABLISHMENT

CuuLong Delta Rice Researcher Institute (referred to as CLRRI) is a governmental research organization that belongs to the Vietnam Academy of Agriculture and Science (VAAS), under management by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. CLRRI’s headquarter is located at Tan Thanh Commune, Thoi Lai District, Can Tho city.

1977: the Agricultural Technology Center of Mekong River Delta was established by Decision 41/NN-TC/QĐ, 31/1/1977.

1985: the Agricultural Technology Center of Mekong River Delta was transformed into CuuLong Delta Rice Research Institute by Decision No. 24CT, 09/01/1985, signed by Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers To Huu.

From 2010-current: CuuLong Delta Rice Research Institute has been affiliated with the Vietnam Academy of Agriculture and Science (VAAS).

II. MISSION AND VISION

Mission: CuuLong Delta Rice Research functions in scientific research, technology transfer, training, international cooperation, and advisory services about rice and rice land-based crops in the cultivation system of the Mekong River Delta.

Vision: Developing into the Center of Research-Training-Tourism-Cultural Conservation of wet rice in the ASEAN region.

III. RESEARCH FIELDS AND ACTIVITIES

Collaboration with in-country and foreign organizations and business companies to achieve the goal;

Scientific research and technology transfer in the fields as follows: rice genetics and breeding, production of rice variety and rice land-based crop; Resolution of rice cultivation technology and pest management; Utilization and  preservation of water/land resources and ecological environment; Mechanization and Post-harvest technology; Agricultural systems and economy; building new rural areas;

Production and the business of the products which are created from research activities and technological development;

Research and technological services: Consultation, rice variety evaluation and seed certification; Inspection of agricultural inputs and crop products; soil and environment analysis, and genotyping; Training working skills in related research fields;

IV. OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS

Over the 45-year of its establishment and development, CuuLong Delta Rice Research Institute has created many technologies and research products, especially new varieties, technological advancements, and bio-products. The outstanding achievements are:

Mainly contributing to the increase of rice yield and productivity in the Mekong River Delta from 5-6 Mt/ha/year in 1977 to 24-25 Mt/ha/year nowadays;OM rice variety as “white gold”, accounting for 60-70% of rice cultivation area in Mekong River Delta;OM rice variety being rewarded Vietnam’s high-quality rice grain and “Gold Rice” awards; More than 20 technological advancements and bio-products in rice production were developed to increase rice yield and sustainable production, reduce input materials as well as the impacts of climate change.

OM4900 rice variety is high grain quality and aromatic variety. It is one of five rice varieties grown popularly in the Mekong River Delta and accounted for 280,618 ha (6.93% rice area in Mekong River Delta) in 2017.

OM6976 rice variety is a high-quality and -yielding, nutritious rice variety, tolerant to alkaline phosphate, and is one of the popular rice varieties grown in Mekong River Delta. It accounted for 255,509 ha (6.31% rice area in 2017.

OM18 is a high-yielding and grain-quality rice variety. It accounted for >300,000 ha grown in the Mekong River Delta annually.

Special rice varieties with long grain, aroma and good organoleptic characteristics, and pigmented rice.

V. IN-COUNTRY AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATIONS

From its establishment to now, CLRRI has advocated in-country and international cooperations are a central and vital strategy to improve the quality of human resources and research activities. Therefore, good to speak, CLRRI currently is identified as a “general house/roof” for scientific organizations and international researchers/scientists. The in-country and international cooperations focus on: 

• Shuttle breeding by receiving the hundreds of valuable rice gene resources that are capable of tolerance to salinity and drought stress, diseases (brown plant-hopper, blast, bacterial blight…) for rice breeding program;
• Collaboration with strategic partners and collaborators for breeding new elite rice varieties with high yield and good grain quality, and for developing changing climate-smart rice varieties such as salinity, drought, and flooding…;
• Development of technological advancements for rice cultivation and fertilizer use efficiency…; Training through nominating many employees to attend short-term and long-term training courses to improve skills and knowledge;
• Cooperation with in-country and foreign partners/coordinates as Cty Cổ phần tập đoàn Lộc Trời, Cty Cổ phần tập đoàn Thái Bình Seed, Cty TNHH Lúa gạo Việt Nam, Cty Cổ phần giống cây trồng Miền Nam, Cty Cổ phần phân bón Bình Điền, Công ty Syngenta Việt Nam, Cty Cổ phần thương mại Aimstone, Cty Cổ phần khử trùng Việt Nam, IRRI, JIRCAS, USDA, Indian Government, ACIAR, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, CIRAD, DANIDA, IAEA, IFPRI, SEARICE, Potash and Phosphate Institute, SAREC, Swiss National Science Foundation, The Food and Agricultural Organization, The Rockefeller Foundation, Freiburg University, Kagawa University, Lund University, OHIO University, University of Missouri, CLUES, Cambodian Agricultural    Research and Development  Institute, LAOS National Agricultural and Forestry Research Institute……and others.

VI. RESEARCH STRATEGY BY 2030

• Accelerating biotechnology applications combined with traditional breeding to generate new superior rice varieties with short maturity, high grain quality, durable tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses; Pure-line selection of landraces and local rice varieties;
• Development of novel crop production and processing technologies for enhancing rice production, improving resource use efficiency, and for post-harvest processing; 
• Enhancing oriented basic research in genetics, physiology, biochemistry, biotechnology...to serve rice breeding/multiplication/intensive cropping and post-harvest processing;
• Promoting the transfer of technology advancements developed by CLRRI to rice production. Adoption of novel strategies to accelerate the diffusion of rice technologies among farmers and other stakeholders and assess their impact assessment, and increase farmer’s income and life quality;
• Research on solutions for rice market development, rice value chain; building rice trademark and market information systems;
• Promoting and developing research cooperative activities with in-country and foreign research/business partners;
• Developing into the Training Center of human resources about rice and rice land-based crops of the whole country and the region;Promoting the commercialization of CLRRI’s intellectual property.

VII. VISION BY 2050

• Building and developing the potential of new science and technology in rice breeding, cultivation, pest management, and post-harvest processing, thereby contributing to rice production in the region in particular and the whole country in general;
• Technology advancement transfer to rice production; increasing the usage proportion of the variety and technology advancement developed by CLRRI, thereby improving product value, sustainable production, and environmental-friendly;
• Developing into the Training Center of human resources about rice and rice land-based crop of the whole country and the region.