VietNamNet Bridge – The Southern Seed Corporation has put into operation a Vegetable and Flower Seeds Centre in HCM City's Cu Chi District with a total investment cost of VND30 billion (US$1.4 million).

The Southern Seed Corporation has put into operation a Vegetable and Flower Seeds Centre in HCM City's Cu Chi District with a total investment cost of VND30 billion (US$1.4 million).

Using the most modern technology, the centre is expected to provide a wide variety of high-quality vegetable and flower seeds, meeting domestic demand and export.

It will train farmers in advanced cultivation methods to meet the goal of modernisation of agriculture and rural areas.

Dr Nguyen Quoc Vong, member of the company's board of directors, said besides the task of producing new seeds, the centre would also be a vegetable production model following VietGap (Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practices) standards where farmers can visit.

There is an enormous demand for high-quality vegetable seeds in the domestic market, he said.

The country needs more than 8,000 tonnes of vegetable seeds a year, of which more than 80 per cent must be imported. About 10 per cent are created by farmers, and the rest are provided by enterprises, institutes and universities.

Source: VNS