Dự án nông nghiệp " Introduction of the principles of GAP for citrus through implementation of citrus IPM using Farmer Field Schools " MS4 pot

Project activities are conducted in 5 provinces in the Mekong delta and 8 provinces of Central and Northern Vietnam.. The good planning, open communication between project personnel and

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Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development

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037/06VIE Project Progress Report

MS4: 2 nd six-monthly report

(October to March 2008)

GENERAL INFORMATION

Project Name Introduction of the principles of GAP for citrus

through implementation of citrus IPM using Farmer Field Schools

Vietnamese Institution Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development,

Plant Protection Department

Vietnamese Project Team Leader Mr Ngo Tien Dung

Australian Organisation University of Western Sydney

Australian Personnel Oleg Nicetic, Robert Spooner-Hart

Date commenced March 2007

Completion date (original) February 2010

Completion date (revised)

Reporting period October 2007 to March 2008

Contact Officer(s)

In Australia: Team Leader

Name: Oleg Nicetic Telephone: +61245701329

Position: Research Program

Coordinator

Fax: +61245701103

Organisation University of Western

Sydney

Email: o.nicetic@uws.edu.au

In Australia: Administrative contact

Name: Gar Jones Telephone: +6124736 0631

Position: Director, Research Services Fax: +6124736 0905

Organisation University of Western

Sydney

Email: g.jones@uws.edu.au

In Vietnam

Name: Mr Ngo Tien Dung Telephone: +84-4-5330778

Position: National IPM coordinator Fax: +84-4-5330780

Organisation Plant Protection Department Email: ipmppd@fpt.vn

1 Project Abstract

2 Executive Summary

All activities undertaken in the second six months of the project resulted in successful completion of all planned FFSs, review of the activities and the curriculum resulting

in a modified and improved program for 2008 and completion of a refresher TOT Other outcomes achieved in the reporting period include the first draft of the GAP handbook and an advanced draft of Pest and Disease Field Guide for the North of Vietnam and formation of coherent farmer group in Dong Thap that made a good start

in implementing VietGAP

Within the reporting period a total of 24 FFS were completed in 13 provinces resulting in 741 farmers being trained An additional 17 FFSs were conducted by PPD staff trained in this project or CARD project 036/04 VIE with funds provided by the provincial government That makes an estimated total of 1250 farmers trained in principles of GAP including record keeping, IPM, understanding of citrus orchard ecosystem, influence of pruning and tree density on yield and tree health, and understanding of the influence of organic and mineral nutrients on soil health and citrus orchard productivity

Refresher TOTs were held in Vinh from 26 to 29 February and from 03 to 06 March, and in My Tho from 04 to 07 March 2008 Refresher TOTs focused on discussions about GAP and ways it could be implemented in Vietnam, and on identification of citrus pests and diseases and importance of spray application including spray calibration, calculation of spray volumes and pesticide dose on successful pest and disease control

The key objective of this project is to align the Vietnamese citrus industry with world standard production practices and open opportunities for export markets Adoption of sustainable integrated pest management (IPM) aligned to principles of good agricultural practice (GAP) leads to both economic and environmental benefits, and will enable Vietnamese citrus growers to be at the forefront of production in the Asia-Pacific region Production of export quarantine-compliant citrus fruit with pesticide levels below international minimum residue levels (MRLs) as the result

of this project will open new market opportunities in the competitive export markets and will enhance food safety for domestic consumption The project is based on an interactive learning and action research paradigm, and uses the farmer field school (FFS) model Leading research institutions from Southern and Northern Vietnam, together with extension officers from PPD and farmer organisations including VACVINA and Farmers Union are working together to produce a GAP procedures tailored to suit Vietnamese conditions They are also work closely with the farmers on validation of the GAP manual and providing training of trainers and farmers in IPM and GAP through FFS Project activities are conducted in 5 provinces in the Mekong delta and 8 provinces of Central and Northern Vietnam The IPM component is based on practices developed

in project 036/04 VIE which have been adjusted in consultation with key personnel from Northern Vietnam, to account for local conditions

Dr Nguyen Van Hoa and his team from SOFRI made good progress with the writing

of the GAP manual but the implementation of GAP in My Long village cooperative in Cai Be district, Thien Giang province was slow mainly because of the lack of finance for necessary changes farmers have to make to comply with GAP requirements Dr

Vo Mai and her team from VACVINA made very good progress with implementation

of GAP in Long Hau village, Lai Vung district, Dong Thap province Eleven farmers from the village have been participating in GAP implementation They have Tieu mandarin orchards with total area of 3.42 ha

Dr Lam from PPRI completed a draft of the Field Guide for Citrus Pests and Diseases

Dr Duc and Mr Dung from PPD together with master trainers have been evaluating the draft and writing their inputs for the guide to optimise scientific and practical aspects of the Guide

The efficient management structure that was established at the beginning of the project was improved by moving project funds management from the PPD Head office in Hanoi to Regional Centre 4 in Vinh The good planning, open communication between project personnel and sustained efforts of all stakeholders from farmers and local government to PPD staff and scientists from institutes have resulted in a successful first year of the project with completion of all activities and meeting all objectives on time

3 Introduction & Background

Citrus fruit is one of the major fruit crops in Vietnam (MARD 2004) and citrus production is an important source of income for many Vietnamese farmers However, productivity and production of citrus in Vietnam is considerably lower than in Australia and major citrus producing countries of the world such as Brazil and the USA It has been stated by MARD that “in general, citrus cultivation has not been significantly developed over the past few years, largely because of the serious damage

of pests and diseases, especially greening disease (officially known as huanglongbing) and therefore studies on their control methods, in combination with managing citrus plantations and using advanced and intensive technology is a vital necessity” (MARD 2004)

The objectives of this project are to develop GAP production procedures for the Vietnamese citrus industry that will be published as a handbook and to introduce GAP practices using the FFS model Through the FFS training program a national cadre of citrus IPM/GAP master trainers and provincial level FFS facilitator teams will be established The key methodologies adopted are participatory based learning and action based research The objective of both techniques is to fully engage participants and allow them to direct the learning and research to best meet their needs A key component of this project is Training of Trainers and Master Trainers in citrus GAP including IPM Trainers will conduct FFSs in their provinces and together with the trained farmers will become leaders in citrus production aligned to GAP

Multiple outputs from FFS training have been demonstrated in previous CARD projects in citrus These include: farmer empowerment through increased knowledge

of the agro-ecosystem; the conservation of biodiversity and protection of the

environment through reduced pesticide application as a result of improved knowledge

of pests and diseases and more effective control measures; increased food security

through enhanced production; and protection of the health of farming communities

and consumers of fruit through reduced pesticide use in fruit production In addition

to these outputs it is expected that this project will establish a locally relevant GAP

framework and begin the process of implementation of these practices in citrus

production Implementation of GAP will open new market opportunities in both the

domestic and export markets

4 Progress to Date

4.1 Implementation Highlights

The activities undertaken in the second six months of the projecthave resulted in all

objectives being achieved and delivering outputs on time The activities undertaken in

this period are detailed below

4.1.1 Completion of FFFs

Successful implementation of the program for 2007 has resulted in 98 trainers being

effectively trained in citrus IPM and GAP These trainers conducting FFS at 24

locations in 5 provinces in the Mekong Delta and 8 provinces in the northern part of

Viet Nam (Table 1) Ten additional FFS were held in Mekong delta and 7 in Northern

Vietnam using local government funding Funding from local government represents

a very significant endorsement of the relevance and usefulness of the training and it is

expected that as awareness of the FFS program and GAP in citrus increases, local

government will play a vital role in implementation of GAP in citrus

Table 1 Location of FFSs completed in 2007

Province Number

of FFS

Number of farmers trained (CARD FFS only)

Proportion of female participants MEKONG DELTA

NORTHERN VIETNAM

* Funded by local government

A total of 741 farmers were trained of which 22% were female (Table 1) Participation of women was significantly higher in the Northern Vietnam where female participation was 29% with Ha Tinh province recording 60% female participation In Mekong delta female participation was only 9% with Dong Thap recording highest female participation of 22% A list of the FFSs participants from the Mekong delta is shown in Annex 1a and from Northern Vietnam in Annex 1b In most provinces FFSs commenced before flowering and terminated after harvest A total of

21 sessions were held during the growing season covering topics presented in Annex

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4.1.2 Review workshops and refresher TOT

Within the reporting period from October 2007 to March 2008 review workshops were conducted in My Tho on 27/11, in Vinh on 30/11 and in Ha Tay on 7/12 A report from the review workshops and a list of the participants is presented in Annex 3 and Annex 4

Two refresher TOTs for trainers that had completed TOT in 2007 from Northern Vietnam, was held in PPSD of Nghe An province at Vinh from 26 to 29 February and from 03 to 06 March 2008 For trainers from Mekong delta refresher TOT was organised at the Regional Plant Protection Centre in Long Dinh Village, Tien Giang province from 4 to 7 March 2008 More details about training are provided in the

‘Training Programs’ section of this report

4.1.3 GAP Handbook and Pest and Diseases Field Guide for North of Viet Nam

In the project proposal and subsequent project documents we used the terms “GAP procedures” and “GAP handbook” It was envisaged that the GAP procedures would include GAP implementation check points and the handbook would provide a more general framework for GAP implementation In consultation with Dr Hoa and Dr Vo Mai we decided that we instead should write a GAP Manual consisting of a more theoretical part that will introduce the GAP concept and a practical part that will include procedures for GAP implementation In essence the material that was originally planned to be covered in two separate parts (handbook and procedures) has now been put together in a single manual Dr Hoa also agreed to make necessary changes to align the GAP manual to GlobalGAP since the original work was based on EurepGAP The agreed timeline for the writing of the handbook was readjusted and now the draft manual is expected to be submitted to CARD PMU by the end of September 2008

Dr Pham Van Lam from PPRI has been progressing very well with writing of the Pest and Disease Field Guide He already completed the first draft and now Dr Duc and Mr Dung from PPD together with trainers involved in the project will evaluate the draft and make their input so the Guide meet trainers and farmers needs The guide is expected to be published in June 2008

4.1.4 Implementation of GAP

Output 6 of the project is to implement GAP in one of the cooperatives (farmer groups) in the Mekong delta and implementation of GAP is the main focus of the 3rd year of the project (2009) However, because of the complexity of the certification process and the existence of a large gap between the reality of Vietnamese citrus

production and GlobalGAP requirements, implementation of GAP has already commenced and the farmers who will participate in the GAP implementation process have been selected The team from SOFRI headed by Dr Hoa has done the initial assessment of farmers from a cooperative in My Luong village, Cai Be district, Tien Giang province More than 20 farmers have been assessed and the action plan for implementation of GAP was drawn up Following acceptance of the action plan the cooperative will seek support from local government for financial help to cover part

of the costs associated with GAP implementation

The team from VACVINA headed by Dr Vo Mai works with two groups of farmers The first group is from Long Hau village, Lai Vung district, Dong Thap province Eleven farmers from the village actively participate in GAP implementation This group grows Tieu mandarin, which is a very popular variety on the Vietnamese market but with very low prospects for export It was decided that for this group of farmers VietGAP would be more appropriate At the moment there is no certification scheme for VietGAP but it is anticipated that the certification scheme will be established before the end of the project The second group of farmers Dr Vo Mai works with are from My Hoa cooperative All farmers involved in this cooperative have graduated from 2007 FFS The cooperative has received financial support from the retail company Metro to implement GAP The cooperative producing pomelo and

is involved in export of pomelo to Europe hence GlobalGAP has been implemented in this cooperative

4.2 Capacity Building

The institutional capacity of the PPD to facilitate farmer participatory training is high and this project is further enhancing that capacity by addressing capability gaps in relation to specific knowledge about GAP In the first year of the project trainers worked with farmers on implementation of elements of GAP related to IPM, farmers and environmental safety, and record keeping At the review workshop it became clear that trainers understanding of GAP improved but there is still lot of conceptual confusion in differentiation between IPM and GAP At refresher TOTs the concept of GAP and potential impacts of GAP implementation were studied and discussed At the end of the TOT the GAP implementation strategies were drafted

Forming linkages between all stakeholders involved in the project is a critical component of capacity building and all efforts are being made to build linkages between institutions in Northern and Southern Vietnam This project has successfully facilitated sharing of expertise and knowledge related to GAP between stakeholders from Mekong delta, who have higher levels of GAP knowledge and experience, and stakeholders from the Northern provinces with less exposure to GAP The very important linkage has been established between PPD staff and non-government organisation VACVINA that now driving implementation of GAP

4.3 Training Programs

Training is a major component of this project and during 2007 it has been conducted

at two levels At the trainers’ level 10 master trainers completed a 4 day workshop in Hanoi and a total of 98 extension officers, mainly from PPD but some from ARD and NGOs, received training in citrus IPM and GAP These trainers then facilitated a total

of 24 FFSs in their local regions funded by CARD and an additional 17 FFSs funded

by provincial government

At the farmers level training focussed on integrated crop management that included IPM, plant nutrition and pruning In regards to GAP training, the focus was on record keeping At workshops in November 2007 and refresher TOTs in February-March

2008 it was concluded that in Northern Vietnam the focus should remain on Integrated Crop Management (ICM) and record keeping while in Mekong delta other elements of GAP may be included in FFS curriculum

Refresher TOTs were used for discussion about GAP principles and the ways GAP can be implemented in Vietnam Discussion focused particularly on the role of cooperatives in implementation of GAP Another important part of refresher TOTs was the identification of pests and diseases in the orchard and practical exercises to calibrate knapsack and calculate dose of pesticide applied Participants also assessed spray coverage of citrus canopy At the end of refresher TOTs practical exercises for FFS orchards were designed

4.4 Publicity

A finding of the pre-intervention survey was that the best way to disseminate information to farmers through the media is by television, as more than 90% of all farmers have a television set in their own home Every province in Vietnam has a local television station and as 70% of the population live in rural areas, the level of content relating to agricultural matters is high Television reporters have been invited

to all major project events such as meetings and the opening and closing of FFS Details of coverage by local TV stations will be reported in the next report

4.5 Project Management

A project management framework was established during the stakeholder meetings held in February and March 2007 Mr Ngo Tien Dung (Vietnamese project leader) is

in charge of coordinating overall project activities in Vietnam and organising and managing activities in the 8 participating provinces of Northern Vietnam Mr Dung and Oleg Nicetic are responsible for submission of reports and other milestones to CARD-PMU Dr Dinh Van Duc from PPD Head Office in Hanoi and Mr Nguyen Tuan Loc, Vice Director of Regional Plant Protection Centre 4 in Vinh have a very important role in the day to day management of the project Mr Ho Van Chien (Director SRPPC) is in charge of all activities (training and GAP related activities) in the 5 participating provinces in the Mekong delta Mr Le Quoc Cuong, Vice Director

of SRPPC has the important role of conducting the baseline study and assisting in training related activities Dr Hoa from SOFRI is in charge of writing the GAP manual and developing an on-farm recording system Dr Hoa is also responsible for implementation of GAP in the pilot cooperative in My Long Dr Vo Mai from VACVINA is in charge of GAP implementation in Vinh Long and Dong Thap province To enable faster transfer of funds to the final user and to ensure smooth running of the project, funds from UWS have been transferred separately for activities

in Mekong delta and activities in Northern Vietnam From January 2008 Plant Protection Regional Centre 4 is in charge of funds distribution for activities in Northern Vietnam and SRPPC distribution of funds for activities in the Mekong delta

It was noticed during the first six months of the project that the accounting system in PPD head office in Hanoi is more complex than in SRPPC, simply due to the much

larger size of the organization and it was agreed that distribution of funds for the North will be more efficiently managed by Regional Centre 4

In the second half of the first year of the project management structure improved because the changes in accounting system and more clearly define management responsbilities between PPD head office in Ha Noi and Regional Centre 4, and it was functioning very well with all institutions and individuals involved acting independently with a high level of coordination that resulted in implementation of all activities on time in accordance to the Logframe Support and flexibility of CARD PMU has contributed to the successful first year of the project

5 Report on Cross-Cutting Issues

5.1 Environment

The focus of FFS is to increase the farmers understanding of the ecosystem and the impact of human influences on it This approach has the potential to reduce the

detrimental impacts of human activities on the environment The IPM strategies

farmers learn and implementation of GAP should result in improved ecosystem

health At this stage of the project it is too early to detect any evidence of

environmental improvement

5.2 Gender and Social Issues

In the training of master trainers and trainers about 30% of the total number of trainers was females This proportion of males and females is reflective of the overall PPD trainer gender balance In the Mekong delta only 9% of trained farmers were woman and in Northern Vietnam woman participation was 29% with Ha Tinh province recording 60% female participation This reflects the differences in traditional roles of women between the regions

All project activities are strongly supported by local government and farmer organisations including the Farmers Union and The Women’s Union Participants in FFS are encouraged to actively engage with their local community and share knowledge acquired in FFS From previous CARD projects we have evidence that the FFS participants became the founders and core members of farmer’s clubs and cooperatives and it can be anticipated that FFS participants will become actively involved in dissemination of their newly acquired information in this project as well

6 Implementation Issues

6.1 Issues and Constraints

There are two issues that pose minor constraints to the project successful implementation These are limited knowledge of trainers in the area of citrus pests and diseases in some provinces and the selection criteria for participants of FFS in the North that is based on social status of the farmers with preference given to poorer farmers without taking in account level of farmers’ knowledge and level of production

1 In some provinces in the North trainers do not have much experience with citrus pests and diseases Even though they completed a TOT in 2007 and a refresher TOT

in 2008 their knowledge of citrus pests and diseases is still limited Other constrain is the reliance on local (village) supplies of pesticide that in many cases ‘force” trainers

to use IPM incompatible pesticides

2 The level of knowledge, production and capability of development of farmers from many FFS is in the North is very low That is partly a consequence of the selection process use to select participants for FFS In Mekong delta even though gender and social status of the candidates for FFS are considered, generally more advanced farmers in the community that are ready to adopt new technologies and with capability to apply GAP in the future are selected In the North selection is biased towards poorer farmers, who are very often old It is unlikely that local government will agree to change the way FFS participants are selected so the project objectives in some provinces should be modied to reflect the local farmers’ capability

6.2 Options

1 Vietnamese experts from PPD Hanoi and Regional Centre 4 will more often visit FFSs and provide ‘on-site’ training for trainers and farmers They will also check list

of pesticide use and ensure that IPM compatible pesticide are used If necessary a supply of pesticide will be provided from provincial centres and not local village shops

2 In provinces where farmers can not improve their practices within the timeframe of one FFS conducted for one growing season FFSs should be extended to two seasons

7 Next Critical Steps

In the next 6 months 57 new FFSs will commence In June the project managment team will visit all provinces and conduct a baseline study of the second year FFS participants

The final drafts of GAP manual will be submitted to CARD PMU for evaluation and the Pest and diseases field guide will be completed and printed

8 Conclusion

In the first year of the project an efficient management structure was established Good planning, open communication between project personnel and sustained efforts have resulted in successful training of 1250 farmers and 98 trainers The GAP handbook draft was written and GAP implementation is progressing well in in Dong Thap and Vinh Long provinces The final draft of Citrus Pest and Diseases Field Guide for Northern provinces of Vietnam was completed and the guide will be printed

on time The guide will be a very important reference book for trainers in the second and third years of the project