Vol. 20 No. 9 (2022)

The study aimed to evaluate Mondo grass’s growth, productivity, and anatomical characteristics when fertilized with silicon under non-irrigated conditions. A two-factor experiment was conducted in Ha Hoa district, Phu Tho province according toa split-plot design on ferralic gray soil with 6 levels of silicon (0, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60kg SiO2/ha/year) and 2 varieties of Mondo grass (G2 and G6). The results showed that under non-irrigated conditions, the growth of the G6 variety was better than that of G2. The supplemental application of silicon brought about better effect on Mondo grass, increasing the depth and width of the root system, and the leaf area and enhancing the tillering ability and dry matter accumulation. The change in the anatomical structure of Mondo grass leaves and roots increases the ability of the plant to absorb and conduct water better. On haplic acrisols, the level of fertilizer application of 30kg N + 30kg P2O5+ 30kg K2O + 40kgSiO2/ha was is considered suitable for Mondo grass. At this level, the yield of Mondo grass was the highest (at 3.7 tons/ha), an increase by 27.6% compared to the non-silicon treatment. Therefore, the use of silicon supplements is recommended to reduce the harmful effects of water shortage on the growth and development of Mondo grass.

Banana is the most important fruit crop in the world. Using wild bananas as parents in the breeding programs can help develop new banana varieties with pest and disease resistance, high yield, and cold and drought tolerance. The goals of our research were to find out the different germination characteristics of wild banana species and storage conditions on the germination to conserve wild banana resources and to use these wild banana species as materials for future breeding programs. The general experiment evaluation of seed germination was arranged according to the “cutting test” method of and). The experiment of evaluation in different stored conditions of Musa balbisiana seeds was seeded in a fully randomized block with three replications. The results showed that the germination rate of Musa balbisiana collected from western mountainous areas was higher than seeds collected from other regions. The seed germination rate of Musa balbisiana species was up to 27.53%, higher than that of M. acuminata (9.43%), M. itinerans (12.67%)and M. paracoccinea (0%). Stored at silica gel with 15.5% RH and room temperature 25C, Musa balbisiana gave the germination rate up 45.33% (VTN858), while those same samples stored in regrigerator at 4C and 19.5% RH gave only from 6.67% (VTN858).

In the presentpaper, we evaluate the ability to identify some marine fish species based on the analysis of morphological otoliths. Thestudy collected 180 sagitta of 10 species, then photographed, measured the basic sizeindices (BSI), and calculated the shape indices (ShI) in program R. Data were analyzed by standard statistical methods: ANOVA, Discriminant function analysis(DFA), and Canonical Analysis. The results of the analysis confirmed the possibility of using measurements of otolith morphology for the purpose of species identification. DFA based on basic measurements BSI could identify threespecies with 100% accuracy (18/18); threespecies with high accuracy from 77% to 95%. Based on the ShI shape index, 02 species can be identified with 100% accuracy (18/18); 03 species achieved high accuracy from 77% to 95%. When combining the basic measurements of BSI and ShI by DFA, the overall accuracy of the species was increased by 81.11%. The number of species with 100% accurate identification was increased to 4 species; 04 species achieved a high classification level from 77% to 95%.Result of this study showed that combiningBSI and ShI gave higest accuracy.

An assessment of the status of exploitation, consumption and culure of black apple snail (Pila polita) in the Mekong Delta. The study was carried out from April to October 2019 using the questionnaire to survey the total of 138 cases including managers, snail farming householdes, snail exploiting householdes and snail purchasing householdes. The results showed that the snail distribution in the stagnant water was higher than in the flow through water and the rice field. Black apple snails stayed at the surface waters in the evening and morning at a depth of 60-150cm. The snail density and production gradually have decreased over last decade, especially from 2015 to the present. The fishing season was the rainy season from May to October with the average yield of 9.54 kg/household/day (equivalent to 1,717 kg/household/year). Harvested snails were mainly sold to small-scale retail dealers (70.8%), followed by local consumers (20.0%), and lowest proportion to large-scale retail dealers (9.2%). The average area of snail farming was 294.5m2per household with the survival rate of 66.0% and harvest size at 28 ind./kg, and the productivity of cultured snails is 1.40 kg/m2.

The research was conducted to determine the impact of urbanization on land use change in Dong Hoi city. Secondary data were collected from documents related to the natural and socio-economic conditions and current situations of land useduring2005-2020 period from the provincial agencies (Bureau of statistics and Department of Resources and Environment), and the Office of Resources and Environment of Dong Hoi City. Primary data were gathered by interviewing 15 city staff understanding the process of urban development and land use of the city. In addition, field survey was conducted to collate with the desk research data. The research results show that the degree of urbanization in Dong Hoi increased steadily in the period 2005-2020. Land use change in Dong Hoi was affected by 4 groups of factors: (i) The degree of urbanization, (ii) The distance to the coast, (iii) The distance to the main traffic and (iv) The population density.

The study aims to evaluate the effect of LED light on the yield of cucumber cultivar F1 VA.118 introduced from Thailand. These plants were grown in pots in the net house in summer. There were five planting spaces arranged experimentally, four of which receive light from both the sun and supplemental light from LEDs withspectral levels of 2,700K; 3,000K; 3,500K, and 4,000K, and one received light from the sun only. All treatments received the same climatic, nutritional, andwater conditions. The plants in all five of these spaces received light 12 hours a day with a light intensity of 15,000 ÷ 17,000Lux. The results showed that the group of plants receiving light from the sun and artificial light with a spectrum at 3,000K hada higher yield.

The study aimed to design and manufacture a lighting controller with remote control capabilities via Blynk application and wifi network. The controller in this study was designed and manufactured with hardware based on the use of Arduino Nano module, ESP 8266 module, and BH1750 sensor, combined with the established algorithm to fulfill the main purpose of controlling the brightness of the 220V lamps on a smartphone. Test results with incandescent, compact, and led lamps showed that these lamps can be remotely controlled anywhere with wifi network on the smartphone by the on/off method. Particularly for incandescent lamps and led lamps, it is possible to adjust the brightness on the smartphone. Dimmable range varies from 0 to 100% luminous flux of lamp. The controller also allows automatic adjustment of the brightness of lamps according to the ambient brightness to ensure the brightness stability as the preset value. In addition, there are also physical control buttons on the control board that synchronize with the virtual buttons of the Blynk app on the phone, which helps the control be more flexible, convenient, and energy-saving.

Cadmium (Cd) is highly toxic to most living organisms, including humans. Rice with excessive Cd (> 0,2 mg/kg - QCVN 8-2:2011/BYT) is one of the leading causes of Cd poisoning, threatening human health. Several genes belonging to the NRAMP(natural resistance-associated macrophage protein) family are related to metal accumulation in plants; in which OsNRAMP5has been identified to be involved in the transport of various metals such as iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), manganese) Mn and Cd in rice. In order to identify the function of OsNRAMP5in elite rice variety TBR225, we evaluated the expression of the targeted gene and designed Clustered regular interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated Cas9 (CRISPR/Cas9) system for editing TBR225OsNRAMP5. The increase of OsNRAMP5expression was observed in the root tissues of TBR225 rice plant in the Cd-treatment experiment using hydroponic culture. A sequence containing the ExonI region of OsNRAMP5with a size of 0.29kb was isolated from the total DNA of TBR225 to design single guide RNAs (sgRNA) for OsNRAMP5-editingCRISPR/Cas9 system. The sgRNA expression construct carrying two CRISPR RNA (crRNA) sequences recognizing two different sites on the ExonI of OsNRAMP5was ligated into the binary vector pCas9. The recombinant vector was validatedby PCR and sequencinganalysis. The results serve as basis for the improvement ofTBR225 rice variety with high quality byusinggenome editing technology.

This study focused on assessing the current situation and economic efficiency of high technology application of fruit-growing cooperatives in Mai Son district, Son La province. The level of high technology application of 50 cooperatives was determined based on the actual situation of high technology adoption in five main stages of production. Research results showed that the level of high technology application at the cooperatives was low, focusing mainly on input and production stages. The study also showed that the economic efficiency of cooperatives applying high technology at different levels wasignificantly different in total revenue and cost of profit. The cooperatives applying high technology at levels 3 and 4 obtained higher economical efficiencies than those applying at levels 1 and 2. Based on the results from the research, a number of solutions in terms of capital, market, infrastructure, land, and capacity were proposed in order to improve the economic efficiency inhigh technology adoption at fruit growing cooperatives in Mai Son district, Son La province.

This study investigated the roles of cooperatives in production inputs supply to andoutput marketing from rice farmers. Data used for the study were collected from rice-farming householdswith116 cooperative members and 117 non-cooperative members inVi Thuy and Long My districts of Hau Giang province. Methods used for data analysis were descriptive statistics, cross-tab, and independent samples t-test to clarify the roles of the cooperatives in rice-farming households’ production and marketing. Results showed that the cooperativeshavenot played a crucial role in supplying inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides to both cooperative members and non-cooperative members. The cooperativeshavenot also played an important role in purchasing farmers’ rice but a key role in linking farmers and enterprises for the operation of rice contract-farming. Members of the cooperativessignificantly obtainedhigher revenue as compared to non-membercounterparts.

The study was conductedto analyze and compareproduction efficiency amonglongan fruit models (Households, Farms, Cooperatives) and among longan fruit growing areas (concentrated vs scattered growing areas) in Hung Yen province. From there, the author to proposesolutions and policies to improve efficiency of longan cultivation in Hung Yenprovince. The study used both secondary data andprimary data through 180 respondents(60 households, 60 farms and 60 members of the cooperatives). The resultsshowedthat longan growing model at cooperativesbrings the highesteconomic efficiencywith added value at VND199.76 million/ha/year, higher than the farm model (VND167.41 million/ha/year) and the household model (VND138.43 million/ha/year) and this difference was statistically significant (P <0.05). Additionally,the efficiency of longan growing in concentrated areas was higher than that of growing longan in scattered areas. The average productivityin concentrated areas was 12.45 tons/ha, higher than thatin scattered areas (12.03 tons/ha)and this difference was statistically significant (P <0.05). Besides,added value of longan growing in concentrated areas was VND179.41 million/ha/year, higher than longan cultivation in scattered areas (VND157.65 million/ha/year)and this difference was statisticallysignificant(P <0.05).

The objective of this paper was to assess the current situation of fruit and vegetable cold chain in India, thereby proposing some lessons learned and policy implication for sustainable development of the fruit and vegetable cold chain of Vietnam. To accomplish these objectives, the author conducted a comprehensive literature review on the fruit and vegetable cold chain of India and Vietnam. At the same time, the author employed the document analysis technique to extract the necessary data as well as classify data according to the objectives and research questions. The research resultsrevealed that improvement of technical standards and operation rules in the cold chain along with re-planning logistics infrastructure (cold storage, cold transport) combined with information technology application and human resource training are critical recommendations to improve the efficiency of the cold chain of Vietnamese fruit and vegetable products. The research results are expected to provide deep insight for policy makers in proposing measures to improve Vietnam’s position in global fruit and vegetable supply chain.

Lotus planting has been contributing to incomeimprovement of rural farmers, butthe development of lotus farming is not commensurate with its potential.Lotus products were mainly sold as raw materials with low values; marketing channels lacked the stability and sustainability. This review paper provides information that has scientific and practical significance aboutthe situation oflotus production and consumption, and the potential for diversifying lotus products, as well as the barriers in production and diversification of lotus products in Vietnam. This study indicated that lotus growers completely have the capacity of lotus products diversification to increase theproduct value. However, traditional production and consumption forms are still remaining. Farmer households have been struggling in theproduction and output market and lotus productsdiversificationhas not been concentrated yet. There is a big gap between actual products and potential lotusproductsfordiversificationof farmer households. This gap could be only narowed by intervention from outside.

Cinnamon, a member in the Lauraceaefamily, is an indigenous perennial tree in tropical rain forests of Vietnam. Despite being a large woody tree and containing oil, it is quite susceptible to harmful insects and plant pathogens. The objective of this study was to synthesize the composition of cinnamon pests and diseases and their management measures in different cinnamon growing areas. The review study synthesized literature from publications of different sources, such as books, peer-reviewed articles, general statistics books, and articles published on websites of relevant sectors and ministries. Common insects commonly reported in largest cinnamon plantation areas of Vietnam include Arbela bailbarama(Lepidoptera: Metarbelidae), Culcula panterinaria(Lepidoptera: Geometridae), Pseudodoniella chinensis(Hemiptera: Miridae), Synanthedon sp. (Lepidoptera: Aegeriidae), and Zeuzerasp. (Lepidoptera: Cossidae). Main diseases are Pestalotiopsis funerealand cinnamon witches' broom (CinWB). Protection measures for the afore-mentioned pests have been studied for knowledge transfer, contributing to improved forest productivity and sustainable forest management as it is today.