(VOVworld) – Vietnam and Japan will work together to study genetically modified cassava to produce a high-yield variety. The cooperation agreement was signed Wednesday in Yokohama city by Japan’s Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (Riken) and Vietnam’s Agricultural Genetics Institute (VAAS). At the signing ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan said he hopes the project will be a success to pave the way for closer Vietnam-Japan agricultural cooperation. According to VAAS Director Le Huy Ham, cassava is one of Vietnam’s top hard currency earners. It earned 1.2 billion USD in export revenue last year.

Cassava is one of Vietnam’s top hard currency earners. (Photo: vaas.vn)

Ham said: "The two countries will co-study a new cassava variety which has higher productivity and quality and less soil erosion or depletion. This is one of the first bio-technology studies to improve cassava".

Chief researcher Kazuo Shinozaki said the team will inject a gene into cassava to increase its starch synthesis.

Hoang Lien Son, Nguyen Viet Dung – VOV correspondents in Japan