Nguyen Trung Duc

About

Research Scientist at Vietnam National University of Agriculture and Ph.D. student at Kyushu University.

Portrait of Nguyen Trung Duc

I am a research scientist at the Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA) and a doctoral student at the Mathematical Modeling Laboratory, Graduate School of Bioresource and Bioenvironmental Sciences, Kyushu University, Japan.

I breed sweet corn hybrids at VNUA, from inbred-line development and test crosses to multi-location testing. With colleagues at ICAR-IARI, I used image-based, high-throughput phenotyping and machine learning to measure and predict traits in rice, wheat, and soybean, including rice under nitrogen stress. At VNUA, I use multivariate selection indices such as MGIDI, combining-ability analysis, and SSR markers to choose parents, hybrids, and germplasm, mainly in specialty corn and more recently in sweetpotato and taro. My Ph.D. research applies remote sensing and machine learning to Robusta coffee production in Dak Lak, Vietnam.

I have worked at VNUA since 2015 and currently serve as Deputy Head of the Department of Vegetable and Flower Research, Institute of Biology and Agricultural Technology.

40+ peer-reviewed publications · 5 co-developed corn hybrids recognized for circulation (VNUA141, VNUA191, VNUA168, MH81, FC369), 4 of them also protected · 13 awards, commendations and scholarships, including a JDS Ph.D. scholarship (JICA) and the Grand Award for a poster at Kyushu University Asia Week 2025.

Research interests

  • Crop breeding: sweet corn and other specialty corn hybrids for northern Vietnam, and multi-trait selection of germplasm in rice and sweetpotato.
  • Mathematical modeling: statistical and machine-learning models for predicting crop traits, yield, and production.
  • Phenomics and genomics: image-based, high-throughput phenotyping and SSR markers for evaluating germplasm, and genomic selection in sweetpotato.
  • Remote sensing and computer vision: satellite and UAV imagery and machine learning for mapping, monitoring, and forecasting Robusta coffee production.

Research programs

  • Purple, waxy and specialty sweet corn breeding for northern Vietnam at VNUA. I am a team member on its national, ministry and Hanoi city grants.
  • Image-based phenomics and breeding decision support: a VNUA project on image-based phenotyping that I led as principal investigator (2021–2023), and a review in Ecological Genetics and Genomics (2026) that proposes the “breeding digital twin” framework.
  • Sweetpotato and other tuber crops: I lead VNUA’s Strong Research Group on potential tuber crops (NCM2024-39).
  • Mini waxy corn breeding: a Ministry of Agriculture and Environment task approved in 2026 (QĐ 3083/QĐ-BNNMT), on which I am a team member.
  • Remote sensing and machine learning for Robusta coffee production in Dak Lak, Vietnam, my Ph.D. dissertation research at Kyushu University.

Background

I earned my B.S. in Crop Science (Advanced Program) from the Vietnam National University of Agriculture (2015) and my M.S. in Agricultural Science (Plant Physiology) from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (ICAR-IARI), New Delhi (2021), under an ICCR scholarship from the Government of India. I began my career as a researcher at VNUA in 2015, working on corn breeding. I have published in iScience, Plant Stress, Frontiers in Plant Science, Ecological Genetics and Genomics and other journals.

Contact

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