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Nguyen Thi Le Thuy combined her professional and personal pursuits by
genetically engineering a tastier, longer lasting type of coconut, her
favourite food. Kieu Chinh and Khanh Linh sample her findings.

Nguyen Thi Le Thuy has always loved coconuts, even as a small child.

But never did she dream she?d successfully engineer four new varieties of
the fruit for cultivators in her community as the head of the Dong Go
Coconut Experiment Centre.

These genetically engineered coconuts taste good, last longer, are resistant
to disease and grow faster, characteristics that could revolutionise the
nation?s coconut export industry, according to Thuy.

"These coconuts are unique to Viet Nam," she said. "But the important part
of my research is how we?ve increased the productivity, incomes and living
standards of Vietnamese coconut farmers all thanks to a better species of
fruit."

Realising this dream took a great deal of determination and will, said Thuy,
remembering a childhood fraught with poverty and strife.

One of nine children, six-year-old Thuy wrapped coconut candy, sold cakes
and gathered firewood to pay for school where she lived in Ben Tre Province.

Thuy later worked as a waitress and an amateur tailor to continue her
studies and support her poor family.

Thuy said she remembers those times as some of the most difficult in her
life.

Her efforts eventually, and literally, paid off as Thuy enrolled in Can Tho
University as an aquaculture major.

The genetic engineer said she chose the major because she liked that groups
of fish are described as "schools" in English.

"Fish are the only animal that goes to school," Thuy joked.

From fish to fruit

When she graduated, Thuy immediately applied to the Dong Go Coconut
Experiment Centre established in 1984, managed by the Oil Plant Institute of
Viet Nam.

Thuy said she was hired to do menial labour like watering plants, feeding
fish and weeding grass. Moving up in the ranks, she eventually began working
in the accounting department.

Unsatisfied, Thuy applied to the International Plant Genetic Resources
Institute and got a full scholarship.

Thuy spent three years studying general plant genetics, specializing in
coconut palms. Her thesis "Plant Genetic Resources Conservation and
Management" in 2003 marked the beginning of Thuy?s recognition in the world
of agriculture. Thuy, believing her research should benefit the world, began
lecturing about coconut genetics far from home.

Upon her return to the institute, Thuy began work on creating a strain of
coconut that would grow faster than current crops in Viet Nam.

Thuy said she has created 15 new varieties by combining the traits of
different types of coconut. Four of the 15 were welcomed warmly by farmers
in Ben Tre and other nearby provinces.

Her most successful efforts include mixing Vietnamese coconut genes with the
Tam Quan Yellow Dwarf, Xiem Green Dwarf and Makapuno Tall coconuts.

Her newest project involved splicing the Aromatic Green Dwarf and Makapuno
Tall coconut palms.

Thuy said the centre can barely keep up with the number of orders she
received for her new trademarked coconuts, many of which are used to make
coconut rice, a well-known specialty in her home province.

The coconut expert said she believes the domestic coconut industry will
flourish if the Government makes Vietnamese coconut exports a priority.

"I hope the State will pay more attention to coconut farming and promote the
right strategy for this plant. No other Vietnamese fruit can compete in
world market like coconuts," she said.

Thuy hopes to one day boost tourism in Ben Tre by creating a special
eco-tourism centre about coconuts. Tourists would get the chance to bathe in
coconut milk, taste the unique strains of her fruits and buy souvenirs made
from its shells.

[vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn]