The Workshop on Progress in the Development and Use of Hybrid Rice outside China was organised by MARD, in Ha Noi from 28 to 30 May 1997, including a one-day field day, in collaboration with FAO and IRRI, in the context of the International Task Force on Hybrid Rice. About 35 participants, including 27 national scientists and ten hybrid rice specialists from Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Sri Lanka, IRRI and FAO, attended the Workshop.

Mr. S. Bonezzi, on behalf of the FAO Representative, delivered a welcome address and expressed his wishes for a fruitful Workshop. In opening the Workshop, the Minister Nguyen Cong Tan emphasised the important role of hybrid rice technology in the strategies of food security in Viet Nam. The Workshop's main objective was to exchange experiences and lessons learnt in the implementation of national hybrid rice research and development in each participating country.

Two principal lessons learnt from the Indian and Vietnamese experiences received particular attention from the participants:

In 1996, Indian farmers grew about 60,000 ha of hybrid rice with F1 seeds, mainly produced by private seed companies. It was noted that the UNDP/FAO project IND/91/008 had been implemented since 1992 and contributed greatly to the current success of the hybrid rice programme in India. The Indian experience shows that, if the hybrid rice programme is to be successful, it is essential to have the following:

• A well-detailed, effective implementation of planned activities through regular evaluation and monitoring for mid-course corrections and possible modification.
• Conviction and commitment of policy planners, government's officers, senior research managers and scientists involved regarding adequate resources and personnel needs.
• Planning for extensive training programmes, both in heterosis breeding techniques and F1 rice seed production technology, at various levels.
• Maintenance of purity of seed, successful CMS multiplication, hybrid seed production and certification.
• Development of an effective research and F1 seed production network, involving public and private agencies and establishing effective linkages among the various agencies, to clearly define their roles and responsibilities.

Some Vietnamese rice specialists reported some failure of F1 seed production, at some locations, in the early days of the hybrid rice programme, due to the poor quality of parental lines and bad control of parental lines' heading dates. In 1993, Dong Van Station lost 24.8 ha of F1 seeds: Shan you 63 and Shan you Gui 99. Some other failures were found in central Vietnam during 1992-93.

These experiences have greatly improved the skills of Vietnamese researchers and extension workers involved in hybrid rice.. Now several rice seed specialists, at the Dong Van Station and a few provincial cooperatives, are able to maintain the parental lines with high quality to produce their own F1 seeds. Farmers of some cooperatives have successfully produced F1 seeds with the average yield from 1.5 to 2.0 t/ha. This was clearly observed during the field day.