High-quality hybrid rice variety MHC2

Hybrid rice variety MHC2, well recognized by farmers, has been present in most of the provinces in the country with increasing expansion of the rice-growing area.

Hybrid rice MHC2 in Hong Dan district, Bac Lieu province. Photo: MHC.

Mahyco Vietnam Co., Ltd. has successfully researched, produced, and supplied two-line hybrid rice varieties MHC2 in Vietnam for many years. This variety was officially certified by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in November 2019.

In fact, there is an opinion that the new purebred rice varieties give a high yield equivalent to the yield of hybrid rice. Hence, the dissemination of hybrid rice varieties into production is not really necessary anymore.

However, hybrid rice with superior characteristics such as good tolerance to external conditions does not require highly intensive farming like purebred rice. Therefore, farmers in many regions of the country still prefer to use hybrid rice in cultivation.

Hybrid rice MHC2 has hard plants, small leaves, good fall resistance, strong tillering. In the North, MHC2 can grow both crops in a year. The length of growing time in the Spring crop is 130-135 days and 105-110 days for the Winter crop.

In the South, the average length of growing time is 105 days. The average yield in the North is 7 tonnes per hectares and 9-10 tonnes per hectares for the Central Highlands and the South.

MHC2 is resistant to intensive farming, can be grown on many types of fields and all seasons. It has good resistance to pests and diseases, especially diseases such as rice blasts and leaf blight. This hybrid rice also helps to reduce the number of sprays, which contributes to environmental protection and reduces farmers’ production costs.

The rice grain of MHC2 is big and clear. The rate of rice breakage and white-belly rice grain is low. The rice quality is delicious and chewy. The loss rate during rice processing and storage of MHC2 rice is low, while the selling price is high.

The rice seed market in Vietnam is considered a high-end market, with very high competition. Rice varieties will quickly be eliminated if not suitable. The problem posed with domestically-produced rice seeds must compete directly with the "symbols" of widely distributed hybrid rice or excellent new hybrid rice varieties.

With the advantages of pest resistance, growth time, and rice quality, hybrid rice variety MHC2  has successfully experimented in many provinces in Vietnam.

In the shrimp-rice areas in Kien Giang province, Ca Mau province, Bac Lieu province, the MHC2 is highly appreciated by farmers. That's because MHC2 simultaneously solves the strict requirements for rice varieties that do not use pesticides, tolerate salt, hard plants, suitable growth time; and ensure rice quality.

In the Central Highlands, hybrid rice variety MHC2 stands out for its yield and outstanding quality.

The North Central Coast and the northern mountainous provinces are famous for many high-yielding and good-quality hybrid rice varieties. However, in the 2020 Winter crop and the 2021 Spring crop, there were not enough MHC2’s seeds to supply farmers. Most notably, MHC2 is among the very few hybrid rice varieties with great demand from the North market.

In the South Central provinces, hybrid rice MHC2 had been trial grown since 2017 with small production models. Up to now, the rice-growing area has been continuously expanded.

To the 2021 Spring-Summer crop, the total rice-growing area has reached 70 hectares. It is expected that the area in the 2022 Spring-Summer crop will exceed 100 hectares. Along with that, the rice-growing process was quickly trained and transferred to farmers in the rice-growing areas.

Hybrid rice typically displays heterosis or "hybrid vigor" so when grown under the same conditions as comparable purebred rice varieties, it can produce up to 30% more yield.

High-yield crops, including hybrid rice, are the most important tools for combatting worldwide food crises.