Vietnam is seeing an increase in the application of mutation breeding for improving crops, Director of Vietnam Atomic Energy Agency (VAEA) Hoang Anh Tuan said at a conference in Hanoi on Thursday.

The two-day national conference highlighted applications for atomic energy in Vietnam’s socio-economic development.

According to the director, radiation and radioisotope application have been adopted for use in Vietnamese agriculture, healthcare, industry, natural resources and environment, and radiation technology.

Within the healthcare industry, Vietnam’s advancement in nuclear medicine technology and chemotherapy treatment for cancer, cardiovascular, and neural diseases has caught up with international standards, Director Tuan said.

In Vietnamese agriculture, the country was awarded for its outstanding achievement in mutation breeding by IAEA/FAO in 2014 for a research performed by its Agricultural Genetics Institute, led by Prof. Dr. Tran Duy Quy.

Vietnam also received an award for collaboration between the Institute of Agricultural Sciences for Southern Vietnam and the Ho Chi Minh City Centre for Nuclear Techniques, as well as for the work of two individuals from Soc Trang Province Department of Agricultural and Rural Development.

According to Tuan, radiation-supported plant breeding has created 41 new rice varieties and nine soya bean varieties, along with several other high-quality creations from breeds.

Despite the advancement of Vietnam’s nuclear applications, the Southeast Asian country is facing a substantial lack of human resources in a field that requires elite personnel.

There are around 1,300 nuclear energy experts in Vietnam, among them 20 percent have at least 20 years of experience, but most of whom will retire by 2020, Tuan said.

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