Vol. 21 No. 4 (2023)

The study aims to evalute for morphological characteristics and genetic diversity of hibiscus. Twenty-four Hibiscus accessions collected in Hanoi and Hung Yen provinces (denoted as DB1 - DB24) were evaluated based on 12 morphological markers and 9 molecular markers (SSR and ISSR). The resutls showed that Hibiscus accessions exhibited significant variation in leaf morphology and flower colors, with 5 flower color groups, i.e white, pink, yellow, orange and red. The red color was predominant with 9 accessions. The genetic diversity analysis using 12 morphological characteristics grouped hibiscus accessions into 5 groups at similarity coefficient of 0.55 similarity, of which DB4 and DB20 were in each separate group. Nine molecular markers SSR and ISSR produced 33 allenswith average of 3.67 allens/markers and all were polymorphic. PIC values ranged from 0.05 to 0.47 in which HB15 marker had the highest PIC value. With the similarity coefficient at 0.64, 24 accessions were divided into 3 distinct clusters.

This study aimed to assess the fruit trait diversity of cherry tomato germplasm through image-based phenotyping for the nutritious cherry tomato breeding program in Vietnam. Fruit images of sixty-eight cherry tomato accessions grown in winter crop season 2021 at the Vietnam National University of Agriculture were collected at the harvest stage and then were analyzed by SmartGrain software. Comparing the accuracy with the manual measurement using a simple linear regression model, the obtained results show that the fruit length and width extracted from the image had a high determination coefficient (0.81 and 0.76, respectively) and low root mean square error (2.95 and 2.35, respectively) compared with manual measurements. The image-extracted fruit traits were more closely and positively correlated with fruit weight as compared to manual measurements. The tomato germplasm were classified into 6 groups at the similarity coefficient of 65.95 from 5 image-extracted fruit traits. Fruit image-based phenotyping can replace the manual measurement and apply in tomato breeding, testing system, and further apply to other cultivars.

Cymbopogon martinii(Roxb.) Wats. ispopularly used to extract essential oils as an alternative to rose essential oil in cosmetic chemistry. This study aimed to evaluate the growth, plant yield and esentail oil yield of 5 Palmarosa lines selected from Palmarosa accessions of the Research Centre of Medicinal Plants (denoted as SHH01 - SHH05). The experimentwas arranged in a completely randomized design with 3 replicates in 2021 summer-autumn season in Thanh Tri, Hanoi. The results showed that the SHH05 line had growth duration of 166 days, fresh plant yield of 43.0 tons/ha, essential oil content in fresh and dried matter of 0.73% and 1.61%, respectively, and essential oil yield of 313.9 kg/ha. The SHH05 line appeared the most potential line for essentail oil extraction.

The study aims to assess the suitability of the land and propose the use of the land for the cassava growing area to serve the development of the crop-growing area for Dong Trieu town, Quang Ninh province. At present, Dong Trieu town has 956.8ha of custard-apple trees, which have been verified for the effectiveness of this product. The land suitability assessment method is used to find the suitable area in administrative units for the custard apple tree. The study investigated and surveyed within 7 communes and wards (Binh Duong, Binh Khe, Trang Luong, Viet Dan, Tan Viet, An Sinh, Trang An) which are localities where households are developing planting models. na. From the map of land units along with the growth requirements of custard apple, the results have determined that there are 3,555.28ha at an appropriate level for na and 317,441.96ha at a less suitable level in the whole town of Dong Trieu as a basis. to propose an increase of 105.3ha of custard apple cultivation area by 2030 in An Sinh, Binh Khe, Trang Luong and 37.6ha in some other localities.

The study on treatment capacity ofwater lettucefor wastewater from Thai frog farm was arranged in a completely randomized designwith 4 coverages: 0% (control treatment),50%, 75%, and 100% of plants, 3 replications for each treatmentin 8 weeks. The water samples were collected at 24, 48, 72 hours interval to determine the retention time, and at 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks to evaluate the wastewater treatment capability of water lettuce by phase growth. The results showed that the quality of outlet water in plantedtreatments met the A column of QCVN 40/2011/BTNMT after 72 hours. The concentrations of N-NH4+, P-PO43-and COD met A column of QCVN 40/2011/BTNMT and concentrations of N-NH4+, N-NO2-and N-NO3-met column A1, P-PO43-and COD met B2 column of QCVN 08/2015/BTNMT after 4 weeks. The treatment efficiency of N-NH4+, N-NO2-, N-NO3-,TN, P-PO43-, TP and COD was 28.5-58.6; 39.4-59.8; 56.9-71.6; 32,1-58.7; 64.9-80.1; 43.7-71.8 and 57.4-79.8%, respectively, which increased and had positive correlation with the density of plants. Water lettuce helped to increase the treatment efficiency of frog farming wastewater and shoot and biomass grew well, however, plants were dead in 75% and 100% treatments from 6 weeks due to high density, so it was advisable to harvest a part of biomass to avoid re-release of nutrients from decomposing plants.

This study applied the CLUMondo model to simulate land changes for land use planning in Van Yen district, Yen Bai province under two scenarios: Scenario 1- land use demand in the past and Scenario 2- based on local land use orientation. The simulation principle of the model was based on the interaction between the influencing factors and land use types through logistic regression. The simulation accuracy of the model for the 2020 overlay map was evaluated by the Kappa coefficient of 0.88. The simulation results show that by 2030, in scenario 1, construction land fluctuates the most (increase by 9.82%), while forest land and agricultural land decrease to 83.25% and 1.77%, respectively. In scenario 2, the forest and agricultural land also tend to decrease, but less than in scenario 1. The most obvious difference between the two scenarios is that the area of construction land increases sharply in scenario 1 compared to scenario 2, and the bare land with shrubs increases in scenario 1 but decreases in scenario 2.

matB(malonyl-CoA synthetase) and matC(malonyl CoA decarboxylase) are two enzymes involved in the malonyl-CoA metabolism, an essential precursor in metabolic processes in prokaryotes and eukaryotes such as nitrogen fixation, fatty acid synthesis, secondary metabolites, brain development, etc. Therefore, the study's objective was to clone the genes matBand matCthat can be used in the biosynthesis of the bioactive compound using malonyl-CoA as a precursor. matBandmatCwere isolated by PCR and ligated to cloning vector pGEM®-T Easy and sequenced. The obtained sequences were analyzed and compared to the reference sequence (AF117694.1) in the Genebank. In conclusion, Rhizobium leguminosarumKTCC 2362 - derived matBand matCgenes were cloned and sequenced successfully.

Mangrove forest protectionand development are facing many difficulties, the most challenging being the limited awareness of the local people about the role of forests and their participation in forest conservation and development.The research aimed to analyzethe current situation and proposesolutions to raise awareness and participation of people in mangrove protectionand development in Giao Thuy district. The study usedprimary and secondary information collected from 95 people, 14 managers of agencies and departments related to mangrove forest. Research results show that people were aware of the role of forests and actively participate in propaganda and policy dissemination activities, inspection and monitoringforest protection and development activities over the past time. but little contribution of money and labor for this activity. Some solutions were proposed from the research results to raise awareness and participation of people in mangrove forest protection and development in Giao Thuydistrict.

Agricultural enterprises play an important role in agricultural transformation and development. Together with big enterprises, which take the leading role, small agricultural enterprises are vital in terms of generating employment, fostering innovation, and promoting environmental sustainability. Nevertheless, small enterprises now face more challenges than big enterprises due to limited access to resources, lack of bargaining power, and vulnerability to external shocks. This study aimed to identify the challenges that agricultural SMEs in HoaiDucdistrict are facing. The primary data were collected from a survey enterprise’s owners and focused group discussions and in-depth interviews with authorities and representatives from the locality. The study employed thematic analysis, content analysis, narrative analysis, and interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). These methods focused on understanding how the interviewees made sense of their experiences, thereby exploring the challenges that they are facing. The results showed that weak business administration practices and low digital transformation as internal challenges, and the issues of tax reports, incentive policies, capital, and market access as external challenges. To help enterprises overcome these difficulties, it is crucial to remove the barriers that are hindering their growth and development. The role of the government is critical in creating a supportive environment that promotes agricultural entrepreneurship and business growth.

The study analyzed the awareness of swine breeding farms toward circular waste management in Hanoi. There were 177 swine breeding farms participated in the survey. The questionnaire for the survey was developed based on the basis of theories of behavioral psychology, especially the theory of Planned Behavior. The research results provided an overall picture of farmers’ perspectives on swine waste recycling. In addition, the study also used chi-square test and Fisher’s Extract test to compute the significant difference among farmers’ perspectives according to the main demographic factors, particularly age, education, gender, location, social relations, farm land ownership, and farming scale. From the results, the study proposed specific policy recommendations for promoting swine waste recycling toward a circular economy in the study area.

This study aimed to analyze the current situation of community-based tourism development associated with agricultural production in Ba Vi district, Hanoi city. The study was conducted on local officials and farmer households participating in the community tourism associated with agricultural production and 187 visitors using direct interview. Collected data were processed through SPSS software and Cronbach alpha coefficients, factor analysis and regression analysis were employed to assess the satisfaction of tourists on community-based tourism associated with agricultural production. The results show that tourism development to satisfy tourists in the area relied on 6 factors, viz. accommodation (0.365), food and beverage (0.318), infrastructure (0.286), service price (0.178), experience activities (0.169), and tourist service staff (0.165). Therefore, in order to further develop the community-based tourism associated with agricultural production in Ba Vi district, local authorities and tourist site managers need to invest and upgrade infrastructure, accommodation facilities, expanding catering services and shopping activities, diversifying experience activities and improving service skills of tourist staff.

The Party and State aim to improve the material and spiritual life of ethnic minorities by promoting sustainable poverty alleviation in their communities. However, the Central Highlands region has witnessed a high influx of free migration, which has exacerbated poverty-related issues. Thus, this study seeked to examine existing theories and practices that address poverty reduction among ethnic minorities migrating to the Central Highlands. Through a review of domestic and international studies, the research results have generalized some theories on sustainable poverty alleviation for ethnic minority migrants.By doing so, we can provide a scientific basis for refining and enhancing sustainable poverty reduction policies that cater to the unique needs of ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands.