Addressing artichoke varietal degeneration through tissue culture

Overcoming varietal degeneration

Lam Vien ward in Da Lat, Lam Dong province, offers numerous advantages for the development of trade, services, and tourism, thanks to its distinctive natural landscapes, mild climate, and increasingly well-integrated urban infrastructure. At the same time, high-tech agriculture remains a key economic strength, highlighted by traditional flower-growing villages such as Ha Dong, Da Thien, and Thai Phien, along with specialized cultivation areas for vegetables, flowers, and artichokes.

Artichoke is a medicinal plant that has long been grown in Thai Phien, which is well suited to open-field conditions and has previously delivered stable economic efficiency for local farmers. However, after many years of production, long-standing varieties such as A80 and A85 have shown signs of degeneration.

Currently, farmers mainly propagate artichokes by separating offshoots from mother plants. This method results in non-uniform seedlings with weak growth, making them more susceptible to pests and diseases, while yields and medicinal plant quality gradually decline. From this reality, the demand for new, disease-free artichoke varieties with stable growth has become an urgent requirement for growers.

Since late 2024, Lam Vien ward has coordinated with the Potato, Vegetable and Flower Research Center (Institute of Agricultural Science for Southern Viet Nam) to implement three artichoke growing models using tissue-cultured plants, with a total area of 3,000 m².

After one year of implementation, from an initial 3,000 disease-free seedlings, participating households have propagated approximately 10,000 F2 plants for continued production. Before being transplanted to fields, the seedlings are nurtured in greenhouses until they reach a certain growth stage, thereby improving their adaptability to outdoor conditions.

Enhancing yield and quality of medicinal plants

In Nguyen Tu Luc 4 residential group (Lam Vien ward, Da Lat), Mr. Ngo Van Thanh's family is cultivating around 7,000 m² of artichokes. From an initial 1,000 tissue-cultured plants, he has propagated an additional 5,000 plants. Currently, his family is growing about 6,000 tissue-cultured artichoke plants.

According to Mr. Thanh, the previous artichoke varieties had undergone degeneration, leading to high plant mortality and negatively affecting production efficiency. Since receiving support with tissue-cultured varieties, the plants have grown more vigorously, with better seedling quality and the ability to produce more offshoots for further propagation. This provides a basis for his family to maintain their current artichoke cultivation area.

Similarly, Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim's family in the Hon Bo residential group is currently growing around 8,000 m² of artichokes. From an initial 1,000 tissue-cultured plants, she has propagated approximately 6,000 additional plants. At present, her family is growing about 7,000 tissue-cultured artichoke plants.

With more than 30 years of artichoke-growing experience, Ms. Kim noted that tissue-cultured varieties exhibit better growth than traditional ones. The plants have stronger disease resistance, require fewer pesticide applications, and reduce labor for care. After propagation, F2 plants continue to grow stably, creating favorable conditions for her family to sustain production on their existing cultivation area.

Field results from participating households show that new artichoke varieties produced through tissue culture technology initially demonstrate vigorous growth, greater uniformity, lower pest and disease pressure, and improved propagation capacity compared to traditional methods.

According to Ms. Pham Thi Tu, Head of the Tissue Culture Laboratory at the Potato, Vegetable and Flower Research Center, production monitoring indicates that traditional propagation methods still face many limitations, including low survival rates, non-uniform plant growth, limited propagation capacity, and heavy dependence on seasonal and weather conditions.

In response, the Center has researched and completed a process for producing artichoke seedlings using tissue culture technology to generate healthy, disease-free plants with high propagation rates. Experiments have been conducted to determine shoot regeneration capacity, rapid shoot multiplication, stem elongation, root formation, and nursery survival rates.

The development of new artichoke varieties using tissue culture technology not only helps address varietal degeneration but also lays the foundation for improving yield, medicinal plant quality, and economic value per unit area, thereby gradually reinforcing the position of this characteristic local crop.

Lam Vien ward in Da Lat has a total agricultural production area of 957.4 hectares, of which high-tech agriculture accounts for 710 hectares, equivalent to 72% of the total cultivated area. The ward has 12 cooperatives and 7 professional groups and associations, contributing to production organization, farmer linkage, and improved economic efficiency.

The locality has supported 72 farmer households in setting up accounts on e-commerce platforms. As a result, many households have proactively brought their products to digital marketplaces, expanding consumption markets and enhancing competitiveness.