Viet Nam – The cradle of wet rice civilization

So far, the rice has had a strong attachment to Vietnamese people and home village and also become the name of a civilization – wet rice civilization.

The rice not only brings the comfort to Vietnamese people but also become the beauty in our cultural and mental life. The paddy grain and laborous farmers are the integral colour palette in the picture of Vietnamese home village now and forever. However, with technical and scientific development, the rice has been improved to meet actual needs. So, this valuable plant gene sources should be preserved, developed and enriched.

As the most important crop in the grain group, the rice is the main feeding crop of Vietnamese people in specifically and Asian people in generally. The rice has become so familiar that the Vietnamese have considered it as an indispensable part in their life. From simple meals to big parties, It can not be absent, it is made into various forms.

It not only plays the great role in social and economic life but also has historical value because the developing history of the rice associated with the whole Vietnamese nation’s, which imprinted in each vicissitude period of the country. Formerly, the rice only brought the comfort to the people, but now it can also enrich the farmers and the whole nation if we know how to make it become a valuable commodity.

The wet rice farming has appeared in our country very early since the Peace culture; according to professor Bui Huy Dap, Viet Nam is one of the earliest wet rice farming centers in Southeast Asia and still preserves the vestiges among wild rice types in Muong Thanh, Xom Trai archaeological site, ... And Lac land, Lac people farmed wet rice by rising and ebbing tide on Lac fields in the age of Hung King. Self-propelling irrigation works in Gio Linh (Quang Tri) in the new stone age are also discovered by archaeology with tools relating to the rice farming in Van Lang period such as copper axes, copper ploughshares (Thanh Hoa, Son Tay), fatal shears (Go Mun)... Officials including river-dike messenger, messenger on agricultural expansion encouragement in the age of the Le, “Royal proclamation on agricultural expansion encouragement” of Quang Trung king, digging Vinh Te channel of Nguyen Van Thoai under Nguyen dynasty ... all originated from the guideline on expanding and renovating the rice farming in our country. Towards the South, Le Quy Don wrote “Nam Giao people contacted and communicated with Chiem Thanh people, so they farmed a variety of rice ...”. Professor Bui Huy Dap concluded: “During 4000 historical years, the works of diking for flood prevention, digging channels, building trenches for irrigation, …. served efficiently the extension of rice fields from the Red River Delta, the Central region to the Mekong Delta, ... , which made the plains become into the great rice fields”.

Viet Nam is the cradle of wet rice civilization, and the rice grain has associated with national development and rice production that has still played the key role of the economy in our country so far. On the earth, if the whole area of farming rice holds 11%, in Viet Nam the rice farming is nationwide scale, especially the Deltas; and if in the world rice is used as main food of 50%, it is used 100% in daily life in Vietnam. In reality, the rice production is a top economic activity. The rice fields, spread from mountain region to deltas through plateaus, which forms many rice intensive farming areas. The big granaries (included the area, the yield, the quality) in Viet Nam can refer as the Red River Delta belonging to the North, the Mekong Delta – the Delta of the South Viet Nam...

The Red River Delta, a wet rice civilization has formed for thousand years, including 11 provinces and cities with the natural area of 15,000 km2, which is raised by the silt of two big rivers, Hong river (Red river) and Thai Binh river. This is the resident territory of the ancient Vietnamese and the place where the wet rice civilization is formed. The rice farming areas in the Red River Delta are getting initial positive changes in order to satisfy market demands. Formerly, the rice production of the Red River Delta used to be interested in the quantity demand, but now it isn’t the sole target. The domestic consumers’ requirements of quality and the ability of rice export participation have made the significant changes at the big granaries in the Northern provinces.

The Mekong Delta is a fertile ground with the advantage climate and the area of 36,000 km2. This is the biggest granary in Viet Nam. The most important economy is rice production, especially good quality rice for export. Though the area is only 12% of the whole country, the Mekong Delta is the residence of 22% national population and provides 40% gross national food production and more than half of rice output as well as total epxort rice product is from here. The rice production keeps affirming as a key and more and more competitive production. Although the area of rice is reduced, the local staffs and farmers bravely introduce new rice varieties as IR64, OM1490, OSMC2000, ST3, HG2... with high yield capacity and quality, the national food security.

For recent years, the position of the rice has been more and more affirmed in the development of the country. From a poor country, Viet Nam has strived and become the second country after Thailand on rice export in the world.

Since 1985, the Government has had the great programs on gene funds and yearly invested 3-4 billion VND in the gene funds for cropts, domestic animals and microorganism. In which, the research on rice gene fund is attached much importance specially. The national program has created a maintenance and preservation network of valuable gene sources, also the researching and cross-breeding activities of new varieties are carried out parallel.

So far, there have been around 30 rice varieties acknowledged as the national ones, some have been popular since the 1970s and the new ones have just acknowledged for recent years. These are the ones, which have good yield capacity and quality, are attained by the effort of confidential scientists. Many new rice types have been generated thanks to scientific progress.

(Collection)

Sources: - History of Vietnamese rice.
- The report of Minh Oanh –Ha Noi Moi News.
- The report of Cao Dien Thang – Quang Nam News.