{"id":1502,"date":"2026-08-25T19:07:03","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T10:07:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vietnam-agri.com\/?post_type=industry_news&p=1502"},"modified":"2026-08-25T19:07:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T10:07:03","slug":"mekong-wild-rice","status":"publish","type":"industry_news","link":"https:\/\/vietnam-agri.com\/en\/industry_news\/mekong-wild-rice\/","title":{"rendered":"The Mekong Rice Research Institute unveils wild-rice-derived ND1 and ND2, allocating them to processing and export use"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Mekong Delta Rice Research Institute (Vien lua DBSCL), under Can Tho University, has announced circulation approval for two new varieties bred using wild-rice lines as parents, 'Nong Dan 1 (ND1)' and 'Nong Dan 2 (ND2).' The Nong nghiep va Moi truong newspaper reported it on August 19. The aim is not to increase output of table rice but to assign the varieties to separate outlets \u2014 processing raw material for rice flour and bun (ND1), and soft, aromatic export rice (ND2). For Japanese food manufacturers who seek their rice-flour and rice-noodle raw material in Vietnam, the fact that a growing area has begun breeding with use in mind is a sign that the premise for choosing a supplier is changing.<\/p>\n

Vietnamese rice has until now been evaluated mainly as rice to eat, and the import side has also chosen it by grades for cooked rice. ND1 and ND2 are outside that framework. One is designed not as rice to cook and sell but as raw material whose value appears only once it is processed into flour or noodles. From a buyer's viewpoint, it must be seen on an axis different from the conventional comparison table that measures jasmine-type and ST-type rice against each other on price and taste.<\/p>\n

ND1, at 26.51\u201327.3% amylose, is for rice flour and bun; ND2 is a soft, aromatic variety of 95\u2013100 days<\/h2>\n

ND1 is a variety that puts processing suitability front and center. Its amylose content is high at 26.51\u201327.3%, suiting it to processing raw material such as rice flour, bun, rice noodles and confectionery. High-amylose rice turns dry when cooked, but by that same token it is less likely to break when made into noodles, and its water-absorption behavior when milled into flour is easy to handle. Growing days are 100\u2013105 in the winter-spring crop and 97\u2013102 in the summer-autumn crop. It grows even in saline soil and is said to show a degree of adaptability in the north's low temperatures and dry land, allowing a broad growing belt. Yield is 6.29\u20137.44 tonnes\/ha in the winter-spring crop and 4.9\u20136.7 tonnes\/ha in the summer-autumn crop.<\/p>\n

ND2, conversely, aims at quality as table rice. It is soft with a light aroma, and is intended for the high-quality rice market and export. Growing days are a short 95\u2013100 in the winter-spring crop and 100\u2013105 in the summer-autumn crop. Because it can be harvested earlier than ND1, it is easy to fit into the rotation of double and triple cropping and into shipping plans for the lean season. Yield is 6.04\u20136.92 tonnes\/ha in the winter-spring crop and 4.75\u20136.10 tonnes\/ha in the summer-autumn crop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Item<\/th>\nND1 (Nong Dan 1)<\/th>\nND2 (Nong Dan 2)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Main outlet<\/td>\nProcessing raw material such as rice flour, bun and confectionery<\/td>\nHigh-quality table rice and export<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Taste and composition<\/td>\nAmylose 26.51\u201327.3% (on the high side)<\/td>\nSoft, light aroma<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Growing days (winter-spring \/ summer-autumn)<\/td>\n100\u2013105 days \/ 97\u2013102 days<\/td>\n95\u2013100 days \/ 100\u2013105 days<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Yield (winter-spring \/ summer-autumn, t\/ha)<\/td>\n6.29\u301c7.44\uff0f4.9\u301c6.7<\/td>\n6.04\u301c6.92\uff0f4.75\u301c6.10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Adaptation<\/td>\nA degree of tolerance to saline soil, low temperatures and drought<\/td>\nShort-cycle harvesting, favorable for crop rotation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Figures are based on published values of the Mekong Delta Rice Research Institute (Nong nghiep va Moi truong newspaper, August 19, 2026).<\/small><\/p>\n

BOLD Rice Vietnam, which began in 2018, used wild-rice lines as parents<\/h2>\n

These two varieties are not the product of a standalone breeding project. According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Huynh Quang Tin, representing the lead research group, development proceeded within the framework of 'BOLD Rice Vietnam' (Biodiversity for Opportunities, Livelihoods and Development), which began in 2018, with researchers at the Mekong Delta Rice Research Institute teaming up with Germany's Crop Trust (the Crop Diversity Trust) to carry out repeated selection and testing from superior wild-rice-derived lines. BOLD is a project led by Can Tho University and funded by the Crop Trust, running from 2023 to 2027.<\/p>\n

The significance of using wild rice as a parent lies in its being a countermeasure to the current narrowing of cultivated varieties' genetic breadth. While table rice long under selection has been refined in yield and taste, it has shed traits no longer used such as salt tolerance and disease resistance. Wild rice holds those traits dormant. That ND1 is said to grow even in saline soil and dry land is not unrelated to this choice of material. For the procurement side, it can be read as a variety whose supply is less likely to be cut off even as climate change moves the growing belt.<\/p>\n

ND1 and ND2, not pitted head-on against popular varieties but narrowed to specific processing uses<\/h2>\n

Le Van Lam, vice-rector of Can Tho University, indicated a direction of breeding diverse varieties that answer specific market segments and products, rather than clashing directly with varieties widely circulating in the market. This bears directly on import buyers' practice. The reason is that it is not one more variety slugging it out on price with existing jasmine rice or ST25, but the idea of going to build a shelf separate from the rice-to-cook competition.<\/p>\n

Vietnamese rice has in recent years been advancing a shift from volume to quality in various places. An Giang province's move to switch 5.3 million tonnes to low-emission rice in half a year<\/a> and the case of Quang Ninh's reduced-pesticide rice honing quality with procurement to Japan in mind<\/a> were both attempts to break out of cheap, bulk rice. ND1 and ND2 in effect add one more axis there \u2014 breeding by use. Variety development that had been export-only is broadening to keep an eye on both domestic processing demand and export.<\/p>\n

How high-amylose rice meshes with Japan's rice-flour and bun processing<\/h2>\n

Seen in the Japanese context, ND1's design cannot be ignored. With domestic rice prices having risen, more food manufacturers are sourcing processing-use raw rice and rice flour through imports. Gluten-free rice-flour bread and rice-flour noodles, rice noodles such as pho and bun, and senbei-type processed goods are more readily handled with high-amylose rice like ND1 than with the sticky, low-amylose rice used for cooked rice. Noodle firmness, flour water absorption, and resistance to breaking during forming are areas where high amylose works directly.<\/p>\n

That said, it is not yet a stage where Japanese buyers can order right away. ND1 and ND2 have only just received circulation approval, and for the time being cultivation stays in the south, centered on the Mekong Delta. If you want stable quantities and little lot-to-lot variation for export, it is realistic to view them on the premise of inserting contract farming and actual measurement of processing yield. Before importing the rice itself, the option of bringing it in already primary-processed locally into flour or bun is also worth considering, given its character as processing raw material. The structure in which the mainstay of Vietnamese rice has been supported by aromatic rice for Africa<\/a> Given that, high-amylose varieties for processing are still a thin layer within the export portfolio, and for that reason there is value in making contact first.<\/p>\n

The 20-year circulation approval is obtained, but what the procurement side should verify first<\/h2>\n

ND1 and ND2 have received circulation approval from the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection (Cuc Trong trot va Bao ve thuc vat), with a validity period of 20 years. Institutionally, they have become varieties one can work with for a long time. Even so, what is published is the range of yield and composition at the testing stage, and the track record of commercial lots has yet to accumulate. If staff in charge of raw rice and rice flour are to act, they should cover the following points in order.<\/p>\n