Yellow flower sticky rice is a precious rice variety that has been produced by people for many years and selected by Dong Trieu town (Quang Ninh province) as a typical OCOP product of the locality.

Dong Trieu town is called the largest rice granary in Quang Ninh province. This place possesses suitable terrain and soil for growing rice, with an area of over 8,300 hectares. It is known that Dong Trieu town has many types of agricultural specialties, among which it can’t help mentioning the Yellow Flower Sticky Rice product.

Yellow flower sticky rice is a traditional rice variety that has been produced by farmers in Dong Trieu town for many years and selected as a typical OCOP product of the locality with commodity-oriented production development.

Dong Trieu is the western gateway town of Quang Ninh province, located near Hai Duong province and Hai Phong city. This place has a favorable transportation system by road, waterway, and railway that is suitable for economic development and the trade of goods.

In particular, surrounding the town are many rivers, such as Dam Thuy and Da Vach, which carry alluvium to help make the soil more fertile and suitable for developing the farming field, especially rice growing.

Visiting yellow flower sticky rice fields in the last days of October, tourists can easily enjoy the fragrant, sweet flavor of ripe rice, blended in each gentle autumn breeze.

Yellow flower sticky rice has its outstanding quality thanks to the climate and soil of Dong Trieu, which create unique characteristics. The soil rich in trace elements, a system of mountains interwoven with plains, and a dense river system have created concentrated yellow flower sticky rice production areas with large areas that only a few localities can have.

Rice has delicious quality because this rice variety is grown in low-lying fields that have acidity and alum and have convenient access to water sources from the surrounding river system carrying alluvium for the fields. In addition, the fertilizer for rice that people here mainly use is organic fertilizer, and the planting time takes 180 days.

Ms. Tran Thi Hong, General Director of Quang Ninh Seed Joint Stock Company, shared: "The reason for the name 'Yellow Flower Sticky Rice' is because when rice in the field blooms, the pollen is white-yellow. When ripe, the rice grain is round and has a beard at the end of the grain. When it is old, there are a few hairs around the rice grain shell. The milled rice grain is gray-yellow in color and thinner than hybrid sticky rice varieties.

"Especially, the quality of Dong Trieu Yellow Flower Sticky Rice is assessed as the most delicious among all types of sticky rice, with full, round, smooth, non-broken, and non-chalky kernel grains. When cooking sticky rice, the rice grains are very clear and soft, but non-broken and drained. After being cooked for a long time, the taste does not change. The smell is fragrant and attractive. The rice is sticky and shiny, with a high nutritional value and mineral and amino acid content good for health, such as iron, calcium, and magnesium," said Ms. Hong.

Not only does it have an eye-catching beauty, but the quality of Dong Trieu Yellow Flower Sticky Rice when cooking Xoi and making cakes is all delicious and soft, with a special rich aroma. In addition, Yellow Flower Sticky Rice used to brew wine or make nuggets has a special flavor that anyone who has enjoyed it once will remember forever.

Resolution No. 03-NQ/TU dated October 14, 2020 of the Dong Trieu Town Party Committee sets the goal of restructuring agriculture and rural areas associated with building model new-style rural areas in a substantial, effective, comprehensive, and sustainable direction. In particular, the specific goal of producing rice has been identified by the town as one of its top priorities. Therefore, after three years of implementation, as of now, the total food output of the entire town has reached over 52,000 tons. Rice alone reached an output of over 50,000 tons.

According to Ms. Tran Thi Hong, General Director of Quang Ninh Seed Joint Stock Company, to maintain and develop the quality as well as reputation of the Dong Trieu Yellow Flower Sticky Rice product, since 2010, this specialty rice variety has been preserved, restored, and gradually put into large-scale production in many communes.

“Yellow flower sticky rice is a photosensitive variety (reacts strongly to light), so it can only be grown in 1 crop/year. Due to its high stability with a single cultivation crop, this variety is rarely hybridized but is still affected by the tendency of seed degeneration. Currently, the yellow flower sticky rice variety is mainly selected, created, and kept by people, so only the factors of the variety's planting quality (germination rate, confusion, cleanliness, weeds, etc.) can be guaranteed, while the purity and separation level and characteristics cannot be retained by people," Ms. Hong shared.

It is known that before 2014, each year, Dong Trieu town planted over 400 hectares of yellow flower sticky rice, but the average yield only reached 3.5 tons/ha, and the product was mainly consumed in traditional markets.

By 2015, after successfully restoring the variety, especially after Yellow Flower Sticky Rice was built with the brand of an OCOP product, the area of yellow flower sticky rice in Dong Trieu increased rapidly.

In 2018, Dong Trieu town had an area of 1,030 hectares growing yellow flower sticky rice, with an average yield of about 4 tons/ha, a grain output of over 4,100 tons, and a rice output of 2,900 tons. The application, training, and transfer of science and technology, along with people's experience in selecting varieties, have maintained the quality of the precious rice variety, helping to increase the yield of yellow flower sticky rice in recent years.

The restored variety has increased productivity by 10–15% and improved quality and design. In particular, the rice produced still retains its deliciousness, so it was selected as a typical OCOP product of Dong Trieu town.

Particularly, the economic potential of yellow flower sticky rice production is very large. The grain price of yellow flower sticky rice has increased by 2–2.5 times compared to cultivating ordinary rice. This price difference has created a higher income of VND 10–14 million/ha.

In 2013, the Quang Ninh Department of Science and Technology coordinated with the Center for Agrarian Systems Research and Development to implement the project of creating, managing, and developing the collective trademark "Dong Trieu Yellow Flower Sticky Rice".

The project has planned concentrated yellow flower sticky rice production areas in four communes: Yen Duc, Hong Phong, Hoang Que, and Nguyen Hue, with a total area of 50 hectares. The production area has been developed and expanded in the following years. The project has built a product identification system and registered and received exclusive protection for the collective trademark "Dong Trieu Yellow Flower Sticky Rice" at the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam (Ministry of Science and Technology).

According to the Dong Trieu people, to preserve the rice variety, seed selection must be done immediately after harvesting rice, and rice must be harvested on a sunny day. After harvesting, each handful of rice can only select 5-7 rice ears, then plucks off their seeds to expose in the sun for 3–4 times, depending on weather conditions. According to their experience, it is mandatory to choose compact seed ears with evenly sticky grains to maintain rice quality.

In 2015, Dong Trieu Yellow Flower Sticky Rice was built with the brand of an OCOP product from Quang Ninh province and has been granted a code and a barcode, designed packaging and label, and established trademark registration rights.

In 2017, the Dong Trieu Yellow Flower Sticky Rice product of Quang Ninh Seed Joint Stock Company was rated 4 stars by the Dong Trieu Town OCOP Executive Board. The product has been built and granted the collective trademark "Dong Trieu Yellow Flower Sticky Rice".

Dong Trieu Yellow Flower Sticky Rice is assessed as the most delicious among all types of sticky rice. The product is selected by Dong Trieu town as a typical OCOP product of the locality with commodity-oriented production development. Currently, the area of growing yellow flower sticky rice in Dong Trieu town reaches 2,000 hectares; each hectare yields 3–3.5 tons.

Hong Phong is one of the localities with a large scale of producing yellow flower sticky rice. The whole commune has over 120 hectares of yellow flower sticky rice production. Of which, 50 hectares are planned for the production area linked to product consumption.

In recent years, local people have been approached about pest prevention and control measures and planting schedules. Thereby, the commune's model of producing yellow flower sticky rice has brought high efficiency.

Mr. Nguyen Quang Hong, a resident of Trieu Khe village, shared: "My family has been producing yellow flower sticky rice for many years. Previously, the yield was very low. In recent years, the local government has organized training and transferred technical advances for people, along with close direction and inspection, so rice yield has gradually improved. Last season, the family planted 3 rods (1 rod equals 0.036 hectares). The yield reached 1.8 quintals/rod, equivalent to 4.8 tons/ha".

Yellow flower sticky rice is identified as the locality’s typical product based on advantageous factors such as low production costs, good rice quality, a low requirement for science and technology, and suitability for the locality’s soil.

Mr. Nguyen Van Nam's family in Binh Luc Thuong village could not hide their joy because, in the recent yellow flower sticky rice crop, he collected over 2 tons of grains, worth nearly VND 50 million.

Mr. Nam said: "Although the economic efficiency of the yellow flower sticky rice growing model is not comparable to other types of service industries, it is a victory compared to purely growing rice."

Secretary, Chairman of Hong Phong Commune People's Committee Nguyen Hoang Thien, said: "It must be affirmed that yellow flower sticky rice has been bringing high value to farmers because supply is always not enough to meet demand, thereby farmers do not have to worry about output. This result was achieved thanks to the great impact of the program on building a brand for the Yellow Flower Sticky Rice agricultural product of Dong Trieu town."

“Thanks to the town’s acceleration of brand building combined with trade promotion, this product is increasingly known to many consumers, thereby enhancing the product's value." Before having the product brand, the selling price on the market was still higher than products of the same type, but only different in 2–3 prices, while the current difference index between this product and the normal type has increased to 7–10 prices and possibly to 15 prices at peak times. This contributes to increasing product value and increasing income for farmers," Mr. Thien emphasized.

Reality shows that the commune still has many difficulties in socio-economic development, and people's lives mainly rely on agriculture with limited income sources. However, thanks to accelerating the transformation of economic structure and crop and livestock structures, as of now, people's lives have been significantly improved.

Currently, there are many businesses participating in linkages with farmers in the production and consumption of the Yellow Flower Sticky Rice product. Typically, Quang Ninh Seed Joint Stock Company manages products in a closed chain, from the seed stage, production according to the VietGAP process, to processing and consumption.

Ms. Tran Thi Hong said that in recent times, Quang Ninh Seed Joint Stock Company has registered to produce the super original variety and restore the yellow flower sticky rice variety. Since then, there has been coaching and technical training for people to mass-produce yellow flower sticky rice in the locality.

Dong Trieu Yellow Flower Sticky Rice is now consumed in the supermarket system, the OCOP sales system, agents in Quang Ninh, and many other provinces and cities.

Thanks to brand building combined with trade promotion, the Dong Trieu Yellow Flower Sticky Rice Product is increasingly known to many consumers and is very favored in the market with great demand. That increases the product's value and brings high value to farmers because supply is always not enough to meet demand.

To expand the market and improve competitiveness for typical traditional products, Dong Trieu Town has implemented a series of projects to renovate and enhance product quality and build product certification trademarks.

At the same time, the town has effectively implemented the project of restructuring the agriculture sector towards increasing added value and sustainable development associated with building new rural areas, which has achieved many expected results.

Quang Ninh Province has organized many trade promotion activities to introduce OCOP products, bringing products to participate in domestic and foreign fairs to connect with consumption. The province focuses on applying post-harvest technology, consulting and guiding the registration of the product traceability stamp, and building quality according to advanced management programs such as ISO, GMP, HACCP, VietGap, etc. for OCOP products with local strengths. Currently, the average per capita income in rural areas of Dong Trieu Town reaches over VND 75 million/year, and the multidimensional headcount ratio in rural areas reduces to 0.49%.

Especially, continue to strengthen the four production and consumption linkage chains of agricultural products that are the town's strengths; continue to improve the quality of 150 hectares of yellow flower sticky rice to meet VietGAP standards in three communes: Yen Duc, Hong Phong, and Hung Dao.

Agriculture develops steadily, people care about the environment, and people's lives are improved both materially and spiritually. Besides, the rural economic structure of Dong Trieu town continues to shift towards improving quality and production efficiency, especially the town's strong products such as Flower Fruit Sticky Rice, fresh milk, custard apples, lychees, oranges, etc.

Specifically, the town currently has models of production linkage chains in agricultural production, including yellow flower sticky rice, Atlantic potatoes, and DT37 rice, which bring high income and productivity. Besides, Dong Trieu has implemented 22 concentrated production areas through land consolidation via plot exchange to create "model fields" suitable for the soil and convenient for mechanization in agriculture.

Content: Tien Thanh - Viet Cuong

Photo: Tien Thanh - Viet Cuong

Translated by: Huyen Vu Thu