Ghost rice: a precious genetic source in Dong Thap Muoi

At noon in mid-November, the tram from Tram Chim tourist area (Tam Nong district, Dong Thap) traveled about 5 km, to the transfer station, guests continued by bus for another 6 km to enter the kingdom of a kind. Legendary wild plant in Dong Thap Muoi: ghost rice.

Viewed from the sub-zone A1 watchtower, the ghost rice fields appear green in the distance, stretching endlessly to hundreds of hectares. In the rice flakes scattered along the riverbank, the phantom rice plants in flowering season look like weeds at first glance. But the greenish-yellow flowers, at the end of the small, flattened grains of rice, are long purple tails, like sharp points, that rush into the sky.

“In the flood season, when the water rises, the rice grows there, in the years of great flooding, it reaches 3-4 m long,” said Nguyen Hoang Minh Hai – Head of National Science and Cooperation. said the Tram Chim National Park.

The 7,500 ha national park has 230 species of birds, 130 species of fish and 130 species of plants, divided into 5 sub-zones, from A1 to A5. Eight years ago, this place was recognized as the 2,000th Ramsar (wetland reserve) in the world and the fourth in Vietnam. In addition to the repentant fields, the feeding ground of the red-haired cranes, the ghost rice fields are one of the rare and precious species that are prioritized for protection here because of their “unique” characteristics.

According to Mr. Hai, the rice harvest season is from October to December, the difference with other rice species is that the seeds only ripen at night. Ripe rice paddles gradually turn from green to yellow, when the seeds are black, only a few ripen each night and will fall off as soon as they meet the sunlight.

More than 30 years ago, due to the lack of agricultural crops, the area around Tram Chim National Park had 1,500 hectares of ghost rice. During the years of great floods, most plants cannot develop, so rice plants become the main source of food for birds.

But it is also the main staple food for the lowland people for a time. “At that time, everyone who cooked rice and ghost rice, in the house opened the lid of the pot, other people who were on the river bank could also smell the smell of their nose and stomach,” Ms. Hai Sau, Phu Duc commune, Tam Nong district, I remember waiter.

In the memory of the 68-year-old woman, the ghost rice tree has clung to the people of this land since the pre-reunification period, the population is still scarce.

At that time, in addition to sowing seasonal rice with poor yields, in early September, when the wick wind began to blow again, around 4 at night, each house with many children prepared tools to harvest ghost rice. It’s called a harvest, but they don’t use cutting sickles like normal rice, instead they use bamboo wedges (woven from bamboo sticks) one meter high and two meters long placed in the middle of the canoe. The harvester used three bamboo poles almost as long as a canoe, a pole in front of the nose, and two ropes tied to the ends of two bamboo poles on either side.

When the canoe entered the mature rice field, the driver used a bamboo pole to support it, and the person sitting in front of the nose tried to pull two bamboo poles down and hit the canoe hard from the outside. The rice cotton was hit, the fallen seed was hit by the barrier and fell into a boat.

Ms. Hai Sau said that one day she came across a dense rice field and, from a distance, the seeds were ripe and black like a beehive. The person who threshes rice even with a bamboo stick stuck in his nose with the support function also easily tires his hands. So when they are exhausted, the two of them will take each other’s place. At that time, a family of 5-6 children, on average three canoes, harvested 5-6 bushels per day and earned more than 100 bushels per month was common. Because of the location, people also call ghost rice rice paradise.

When rice is harvested, people take it to soak it in water overnight so that it falls off, then dry it and pound it. The ghost rice grain is smaller than normal rice grain, long, fragrant, flexible, in addition to cooking rice, you can cook porridge and make cakes.

Over 40 km from Tram Chim, at noon, the bulldozer is still steadily emitting smoke along the side of the Inland Field Channel in Sub-area 12, Lang Sen Wetland Reserve (Tan Hung District, Long An). This is the seventh Ramsar site in Vietnam and the 2227th in the world. This place is 1,500 hectares wide, divided into 12 subzones with 156 species of wild plants and 149 species of birds, animals, fish … For decades, this place has also propagated and conserved ghost rice plants with a scale of 30 hectares . . The entire area was previously propagated by the center’s staff and eaten away over the years.

This year, there are small floods, the canal system on the NR is ready to dredge and make the shore actively bring water. While the bulldozer was running, on the other side of the canal, in the middle of the ghost rice field, there was a cry of “te te” from hundreds of herds. While using a pick to rip the rice stem hardware to weave the nest, they don’t forget to enjoy the remaining white core.

“The center is only in charge of propagation, but the rice harvest has been cared for by other harvesters,” said the reserve staff with witty voices, pointing at the sparrows, the crow’s neck lowering to eat the ripe grain. .

Ripe rice seeds eaten by birds cannot fall into the water in time or be wasted, which is a favorite dish of perch herds. And the grains of rice that the fish ignore will be buried under the mud, the dry season will continue to regenerate. Every 2-3 years in the dry season, the field is burned to clear the vegetation layer, which helps the ghost rice plant continue to grow. On average, for one to two years, Japanese experts come to Lang Sen to collect the genetic resources of ghost rice for research.

Reply VnExpressAssociate Professor Dr. Vo Cong Thanh, former head of the Department of Agricultural Seed Genetics at Can Tho University’s Faculty of Agriculture and Applied Biology, said that ghost rice plants carry genes that are adapted to the acidic environment and are resistant to pests. Under such unpredictable climate change conditions, this genetic resource can be used to generate new varieties with high adaptability. Many years ago, experts from the Mekong Delta Rice Institute successfully crossed between Ma rice and IR 64, producing OM 4900.

According to the associate professor, in the past, to prevent hunger, scientists chose new, high-yielding varieties. At first, these varieties were less pests and diseases, however, due to the continuous cultivation of 2 to 3 crops per year, after that, it caused damage to agriculture. He proposed to return to the old seasonal rice cultivation, but it should continue to improve in the quality direction.

Observing the ghost rice fields in bloom, Ms. Hai Sau said that as a child, when she experienced years of struggle and hunger, she survived thanks to ghost rice. In the years after 1975, she had a husband, gave birth to a son, and continued to act as a partner. After more than one life living in Tram Chim, now that her children have grown up, her life has improved, she still cannot forget the smell of rice grains and the applause of bamboo sticks against the charm. canoes to harvest rice in the middle of the night.

Ms. Hai’s husband said that if he is guided to support, he believes that if farmers leave their current rice and grow ghost rice, they will still “benefit well” and still preserve precious rice species for their children and grandchildren. in the future. He also said of course it is just an idea, it may or may not need a lot of other things.

“At this time, life is quite good, many people want to eat clean and delicious food, although ma rice yield is low, in return there is no need for fertilizers, the rice is fragrant and can not be faulted, a bushel of Rice can be sold for tens of millions but you can’t play games, ”he said.

Hoang nam