Báo cáo khoa học nông nghiệp " Improvement of Vietnamese vegetable production using GAP principles for seed and seedling production and superior hybrid varieties " MS3 doc

In June 2007 Spooner-Hart and Nicetic with FAVRI staff, conducted a baseline study of seed and seedling producers and sub-PPD staff in 3 regions of Viet Nam: the Red River Delta, Hung Ye

Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development

CARD Project Progress Report

025/06VIE CARD 025/06 Improvement of Vietnamese vegetable production using GAP principles for seed and seedling production and superior hybrid varieties

MS3: BASELINE SURVEY

Introduction

This baseline survey was split into two key components, and was initially conducted from June 2007 and completed in June 2008 In June18-8 July 2007, Spooner-Hart and Nicetic, with FAVRI staff, conducted a baseline study of seed and seedling producers in the Red River Delta, Central Coast and Lam Dong and HCM city They also conducted an initial survey of sub-PPD staff in a number of the designated project provinces They also surveyed the Hanoi vegetable markets and Metro, which was done in collaboration with staff from CARD 06/028 Further surveys of identified project FFS sites were conducted in December 2007 and June 2008, and discussions/surveys with trainers and nursery industry personnel at the Lam Dong workshops in June 2008 A survey of Metro, and its attitude to GAP and “safe” tomatoes and cucumbers, was also finally completed in April 2008, and we received it

in June 2008 This was an activity which had been delayed from the previous milestone report

In June 2007 Spooner-Hart and Nicetic with FAVRI staff, conducted a baseline study

of seed and seedling producers and sub-PPD staff in 3 regions of Viet Nam: the Red River Delta, (Hung Yen and Vinh Phuc provinces) Central Coast (Quang Nam and

Da Nang) and Lam Dong In each province, survey questionnaires were used to gather information from tomato, cucumber producers and seedling producers, using a Participatory Rural Apppraisal (PRA) approach Data collected included current crop varieties grown, key pests and diseases, and yield and quality and costs and returns

In addition, the knowledge, skills, attitudes and practices of the target farmers to GAP in the context of vegetable production was also assessed The interview forms for seedling producers and farmers are presented as Appendix 1.

The baseline study also investigated key markets and market requirements for cucumbers and tomatoes in Ha Noi, via visits to the Ha Noi vegetable markets at Long Bien and the supermarket chain Metro Cash and Carry, in Ha Noi The Metro visit was facilitated through collaboration with personnel from project CARD 06/028

in December-March, and April-September, with the crop lasting for approximately 2.5 months The most commonly grown tomato was the local, open-pollinated variety BOM Seed was normally produced by the farmers from their previous crop Tomato fields were commonly between 360-720 m2 The major pest and disease problems were bacterial wilt fruit caterpillar and TYLCV, with flooding in autumn also frequently causing major crop losses Interestingly, there was no understanding of the

relationship between TYLCV and its vector, silverleaf whitefly, Bemesi tabaci In

some districts in Quang Nam (e.g Phuong truong Xuan in Tam Ky), one district identified location for FFS, most farmers had ceased growing tomatoes because of regular crop failure from bacterial wilt Average yield is around 20 tonnes/ha Tomatoes are sold locally (in Da Nang sometimes also to supermarkets), at a price of 4-5000 VND/kg In Quang Nam, the prices received for tomatoes are generally lower (closer to 2000-3000 VND/kg), and the sub-PPD estimated an average return to farmers would be around 300,000 VND/60m2 (50,000,000 VND/ha) There is the opportunity for future market expansion as a result of recent developments in Hon La Economic Zone Quang Ngai province as well as the Dung Quat Industrial Zone and Chu Lai Open Economic Zone in Quang Nam In Da Nang, the majority of tomato and cucumber farmers were women (probably because men could find jobs in Da Nang city), whereas in Quang Nam, there was a higher proportion of male farmers

In the Red River Delta (RRD), all three provinces surveyed had seedling production

on a medium scale (e.g., Van Lam district - Hung Yen province and Vinh Tuong district - Vinh Phuc province) Here, seedling producers produced between several hundred thousand to several million tomato seedlings, generally to supply growers within their province Production was in a mesh or shadehouse, but in the ground Grafting was not practised However, a very small number of farmers purchased grafted tomato seedlings from FAVRI (through its commercial arm, CIDHOP) There were a range of tomato varieties grown in the RRD More than 90% of farmers bought F1 hybrid tomato seed from the local agents, who were normally supplied pesticides, and sometimes fertilisers These agents also sometimes provided farmers with advice

on crop production and selection of pesticides Popular varieties included Perfect 89 (August plantings) (Syngenta), P375 (November) (Known You seed Co) VL642, VL2003, VL2004 and VL2910 (Lotus Seed Co.), and Savior (Syngenta) Only a few farmers in RRD (approximately 2%) produced open-pollinated tomato seeds for their own use Small plantings of cherry tomatoes also occurred in Ha Nam and Vinh Phuc; these were mainly used for processing Size of tomato fields was commonly 350-1000

m2 There are normally two tomato crops per year in most RRD provinces The main season commences in September-October, with transplanting occurring then, and harvesting completed in December-January The off season crop is transplanted in Feb-March, with harvest finishing in May-June The major pests and diseases were late blight, TYLCV and bacterial wilt, with fruit caterpillar being a problem in some districts Heavy rain and waterlogging also affected crop production in some provinces, and crops in provinces near Ha Noi were sometimes totally flooded Reported yields varied, depending on locality and season Yield was commonly reported to be around 30 tonnes/ha although much higher yields of 40-80 tonnes/ha in were reported for some districts in Ha Nam and Vinh Phuc Fruit was generally sold locally, but was also sold to wholesalers where it made its way to the Ha Noi markets Prices for tomatoes varied from as low as 1500 VND/kg, due to market oversupply, but were commonly around 3000 VND/kg Prices were highly volatile, and depended

on season, weather (including flooding), availability of fruit from Lam Dong and China, and earliness within the season It was reported that in Ha Nam farmers in a good season could receive up to 120 million VND/ha Costs of production of non-

returns, excluding labour In Ha Noi and Hai Phong, the majority of tomato and cucumber farmers were women, as males had other jobs in the cities

Lam Dong province in the Central Highlands is the largest production area for tomatoes in Vietnam As a result, specialized and professional seedling production is undertaken on a large scale There are at least 40 seedling producers in Lam Dong They commonly produce from several million-12 million tomato seedlings per annum, with all of them growing other vegetable seedlings too All producers have large net houses, and seedling production is in trays Usually, more than 40% of tomato seedlings are grafted to bacterial wilt-resistant tomato rootstock Seedlings are sold mainly in Lam Dong, but orders are also transported outside the province The most commonly produced tomato variety is Anna (Seminis), because of its yield, size, oval shape and uniform deep red colour Size of tomato fields is larger than the other regions, and is commonly several thousand square metres Most crops are field planted, but increasingly are being produced in net houses or greenhouses Tomato

crops may be grown all year round, but the main (Spring-Summer) crop is

transplanted around February-March, and is completed in June-July The Winter crop is normally transplanted around August, and is completed in December Major problems are bacterial wilt, late blight in rainy season crops, and the viruses TYLCV and TSWV Yield is normally more than 60-80 tonnes/ha, but can be over

Autumn-120 tonnes/ha in well-managed crops Tomatoes are commonly sold to agents or collectors, for distribution throughout Vietnam, but particularly Ho Chi Minh City They are also exported to Cambodia Prices to farmers vary, but are normally around 3500-4000 VND/kg

Cucumbers

The survey showed that there were significant differences in many aspects of field production of cucumbers between the regions In all regions, however, cucumbers are generally sown at seed, and are not transplanted First harvest occurs around 35 days after sowing and harvesting continues for approximately 8 weeks, although this varies slightly with variety, season and district There was, however a difference in varieties

of cucumbers grown for the fresh market between the different regions and even provinces The major reason for this was the appearance of the cucumbers and local

market acceptance rather than other agronomic factors, such disease resistance The most important parameter was fruit skin colour, but fruit size and shape were also considered important

In the Central Coast, the size of cucumber fields is approximately 200-500m2 There are a number of cucumber varieties, all F1 hybrids, used including Trang Nong varieties, especially Trang Nong 133, Happy 14 (Southern Seed Co); and in Quang Nam the most common varieties used are Chaiyo 578 (Dai Dia Co, Chia Tai Co) and Amata 765 (Chia Tai Co) The major reported pests and diseases are thrips, white fly, and downy and powdery mildew Farmers commonly apply 5-6 pesticide applications, mainly for mildews Harvested fruit are preferred dark green, normally 18.5 to 20 cm long, approximately 4.5 cm width in the middle, and around 250-300 g Yield varies, but is commonly between 25-30 tonnes/ha for hybrid cucumbers For the older, open-pollinated varieties yield is lower and around 15-20 tonne/ha Cucumbers sell for

lower prices than tomatoes, at between 2000 and 2500 VND/kg in Da Nang

However, in Quang Nam, farmers in main season may receive as little as 1000 VND/kg, but higher in off-season It was estimated that farmers could receive around

150 million VND/ha under these circumstances In Quang Nam and Da Nang, cucumbers may be grown for three seasons in the year, namely December-February, March-June, June-September Shortages of cucumbers can occur in August-September

In the RRD, the majority of cucumbers are grown for the fresh market, but there are significant plantings of processing (baby pickled) cucumbers in Hung Yen (particularly Kim Dong district - Phu Thinh commune) Ha Nam and Vinh Phuc Production of processing cucumbers is highly regulated by the processing companies, which provide the seed and set standards for harvested fruit Returns are lower than for fresh fruit production, but are less volatile Processed cucumbers are exported to Russia and former USSR countries For fresh production, the major varieties used are all F1 hybrids- Ninja 179, Amata 765 (Chia Tai Co), Trang Nong 20, Hung Thinh (Trang Nong Co) Most seed is bought by farmers from local pesticide/farm produce stores Fresh cucumbers can be grown most of the year, but the main crops are February-May and August/September –December/January In Ha Nam, there can be

also has the largest plantings of cucumbers of any in the CARD project Yield is commonly around 30-35 tonnes/ha but may be as high as 40 tonnes Major pest and disease problems are powdery and downy mildew, gummy stem blight, cucumber mosaic and thrips Cucumbers are sold locally, or to agents for markets in Ha Noi Returns are commonly 2500-3500 VND/kg PPD staff estimated that production costs for cucumbers were around 35-40% of returns (excluding labour)

There are no cucumbers produced in Lam Dong province The cucumbers for Ho Chi Minh City markets are produced in areas surrounding the city, particularly Cu Chi While this area was not part of the project, we met Dr Ngo Quang Vinh of IAS, located in Ho Chi Minh City, to discuss evaluation trials of cucumber varieties at Cu Chi This was done to identify whether varieties which performed well in the north and in the central coast would be suitable for production in the south of Vietnam

Skills of seed producers/distributors (Southern Seed Company)

Southern Seed Joint Stock company, based in Ho Chi Minh City, commenced in 1975

as a state enterprise, and was converted to a joint stock company in 2005 Apart from its main offices in Ho Chi Minh City it also has branch office in Ha Noi and a branch office in Phnom Penh Southern Seed operates six manufacturing facilities and employs over 300 people Its main activities are research, development, manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of agricultural seeds, particularly rice, hybrid corn, and vegetables It produces a large proportion of its seeds in Viet Nam, but also imports and repackages seeds from USA, Thailand and India It has seed quality control laboratories, and regularly checks batches of seeds during storage and prior to despatch

Southern Seeds has three experimental farms in various provinces in Viet Nam, and,

in addition, conducts evaluation and demonstration trials in farmers’ fields

The largest of SSC’s farms is in Phu Giao district in Binh Duong province It is 80 hectares and mainly used for vegetable seed production farm, with the major seed crops being cucumber, corn, pumpkin, long bean, luffa, bitter gourd, watermelon, and chilli It is the major production area for F1 hybrid cucumber production: 1ha

cucumbers produces 200 kg seed Crops are rotated to minimise disease, and drip irrigation is employed for a number of crops (e.g luffa, watermelon, bitter gourd, long bean Seed crops are grown in the seasons with minimal pest and disease problems

The major location for SSC’s tomato evaluation and hybrid production is Lam Ha district in Lam Dong The area is ideal for tomato production Hybrid seed is produced in the off-season In addition, tomato evaluation trials are conducted in the South in Long An, Ben Tre and Tien Giang provinces, and in the North in the district

of Thanh Tri in Ha Noi It sells seed throughout Viet Nam, as well as to Cambodia and Laos

Senior SSC staff were questioned about their ability to produce F1 hybrids, and it was immediately clear that the company has both the knowledge and expertise to produce hybrid vegetable seeds The company currently produces hybrid cucumbers and tomatoes, as well as watermelon and corn, so we were convinced they could produce the F1 hybrids required in CARD 06/025 They were also quizzed as to their knowledge and interest in GAP The staff displayed a good knowledge of both the principles and practices of GAP They have quality control systems in place, both to meet Ministerial Standards for seed quality, but also to maintain customer satisfaction The company is outward-looking SSC is a member of The Asia and Pacific Seed Association, and has links with international seed companies, including

in Australia They expressed a particular interest in both evaluating AVRDC resistant tomato varieties, and also producing any superior F1 hybrids for variety registration in Vietnam

disease-Attitudes, practices and experience of nursery/seedling producers

There are no seedling producers for cucumbers, because the cucumbers are grown from seed planted directly in the ground So this section will describe findings from tomato seedling producers only

In the Central Coast (Quang Nam, Da Nang provinces), seed and seedling production was done entirely by farmers themselves on a small scale to supply their household demand This meant that seedling production was around 500-several thousand Production was not in a net house, and seedlings were not grafted, despite bacterial wilt being recognised as a problem Thus, seedling producers had the same (low, compared to the other regions) level of skills and knowledge as farmers generally

In the Red River Delta (RRD), all three provinces surveyed had seedling production

on a medium scale (e.g., Van Lam district - Hung Yen province and Vinh Tuong district - Vinh Phuc province) Here, seedling producers produced between several hundred thousand to several million tomato seedlings, generally to supply growers within their province A number of the seedling producers were also tomato growers, but this was not always the case Production was in a mesh or shadehouse, but in the ground Grafting was not practised by any seedling producer, except at FAVRI A very small number of farmers purchased grafted tomato seedlings from FAVRI (through its commercial arm, CIDHOP)

With the exception of the CIDHOP staff, most of whom were also staff of FAVRI, nursery staff in the RRD provinces had limited knowledge of tomato pests and diseases, and little knowledge of the range of safe pesticide options available for tomato production (e.g PSOs), although many were aware of IPM through their experience of training in IPM for other crops They had no knowledge of GAP, and none of the nurseries maintained records at level required for VietGAP compliance More than half of the nurseries kept no written records except for sales of plants

Lam Dong province in the Central Highlands is the largest production area for tomatoes in Vietnam As a result, specialized and professional seedling production is undertaken on a large scale There are at least 40 seedling producers in Lam Dong

They commonly produce from several million -12 million tomato seedlings per annum, with all of them growing other vegetable seedlings too All producers have large net houses, and seedling production is in trays Usually, more than 40% of tomato seedlings are grafted to bacterial wilt-resistant tomato rootstock Seedlings are sold mainly in Lam Dong, but orders are also transported outside the province Never-the-less, there was still quite a deal of variation in the quality of nursery operators’ level of knowledge, skills and nursery hygiene The best seedling producer in Lam Dong was identified as Mr Nguyen Hong Phong, Ductrong district Mr Phong had received international training, and his nursery set-up was of a high standard, even for international seedling production His knowledge and skills and record keeping, and those of his senior staff (including his wife) were of a very high standard, and so he was invited to be an active participant in the project We were happy that he agreed The level of knowledge and skills of other nursery producers was lower While most kept records, they did not include use of fertilizers and pesticides, nor worker training and safety records Most nursery operators in Lam Dong had heard of GAP, but were unsure about the practices required for GAP certification

Knowledge, skills and attitudes of farmers

In Quang Nam, farmers had almost no knowledge of best practice methods for tomato

or cucumber production There had been no training in IPM in vegetables in the districts we surveyed, nor even in any aspect of production of tomatoes or cucumbers, let alone safe production Consequently, they had limited knowledge of pests and diseases (for example, they did not understand the relationship between invest vectors and virus diseases, nor were they aware of other varieties of vegetables which might have higher disease tolerance), and no knowledge of grafting tomatoes In the Hoi An area, however, training for farmers in several communes had been provided in safe leafy vegetable production and record keeping several years previously, but no farmer

we visited was keeping written records, despite claiming to be producing “safe” vegetables This district was not part of the CARD project In one district (Tam Ky) in Quang Nam, which had been nominated for tomato and cucumber training FFS, tomatoes had not been produced for a number of years, because of the severity of bacterial wilt Farmers had some understanding of IPM, mainly as a result of training

in rice IPM, but there was no knowledge of GAP Farmers did not keep written records

In the Red River Delta, farmers generally had good knowledge of pests and diseases

of tomatoes and cucumbers, but limited knowledge of range of pesticides available (especially safer pesticides, such as PSOs) Most had heard about grafted tomato seedlings, but few knew sufficient about the practice to request or buy grafted plants There was no knowledge of GAP, and almost no record keeping Farmers generally thought that GAP certification would be a good idea, but could not say why they thought so

In Lam Dong, farmers had the best knowledge about tomato production However, there was no cucumber production in this province Most farmers could identify the major pests and diseases of tomatoes, and while they were aware of safe vegetable production and IPM, they did not generally take this into account in selection of pesticides There were several farmers we visited who were producing their tomatoes

in net houses, mainly to reduce pest and disease problems While the houses reduced entry of tomato caterpillars and reduced incidence of some diseases including virus diseases, incidence of some other pests (e.g white flies) was higher than in field grown crops Farmers varied in the level of records they kept, but none were adequate for VietGAP certification

Knowledge, skills and attitudes of PPD staff

The sub-PPD staff in all provinces visited expressed strong interest in participating in the CARD project None of the potential trainers, even in Lam Dong, had conducted FFS training in tomato and/or cucumber production They displayed good knowledge

of the principles and practices of IPM and the major tomato and cucumber pests and diseases, but were less aware of best practices in tomato and cucumber production, such as pruning, grafting of tomatoes, and use of disease-resistant tomato and cucumber varieties All expressed the need for training in project workshops in best practice for tomato and cucumber production, as well as use of PSOs and resistant varieties of tomato and cucumber This matter was taken up with Mr Ngo Tien Dung, IPM Coordinator PPD, Ha Noi

Trainers were also asked if they were aware of the GAP concept and what the main purpose and core components of GAP are All were aware of the term GAP but none were aware that GAP is a retail and consumer driven concept to deliver safe food to retail outlets with minimum environmental impact in production They were not aware of traceability of product and record keeping as core concepts of GAP The most common response was that GAP involved implementation of best practice, including IPM It should be noted that, when this survey was being undertaken, the Declaration of VietGAP had not been made by the Ministry, although GlobalGap (formerly EurepGAP) and ASEANGAP had been in place for some time

We discussed with the sub-PPD staff about the level of farmer compliance with GAP requirements Quite high compliance was estimated for application of only officially registered pesticides and for compliance with pre-harvest interval However PPSD staff did not have a full understanding of the GAP requirements for a registered product The GAP requirement for a registered pesticide is that the pesticide is specifically registered for the targeted crop (tomato or cucumber in our case) while PPD staff described a registered product as a pesticide registered for any crop in Vietnam that has not been placed on the list of banned pesticides Consequently, if no specific pre-harvest interval was set for tomato or cucumber (because the product was not registered for these crops) then no compliance with this requirement is possible Compliance with the pre-harvest interval requirement is important because of continuous harvesting throughout much of the year Compliance with the requirement for training in pesticide use is relatively high for other crops, particularly rice, but compliance with requirement for use of safety gear and training in safe pesticide use

is very low There are no pesticide residues checks or appropriate pesticide storage and disposal facilities or procedures However, we observed that quantities of pesticides for vegetable production kept at the farmers’ properties are very small, but unfortunately, empty pesticide containers were found lying around houses or in the field Storage and handling of pesticide in pesticide shops should be also be considered in any GAP implementation strategy because the small village pesticide shops are were the pesticides are stored for local farmer needs

Key Markets and market requirements for local and supermarket outlets, including potential to supply GAP vegetables to Ha Noi

1 HA NOI WET MARKET

The Long Bien wet market in Ha Noi was visited in June, 2007 Four cucumber wholesalers and three tomato wholesalers were interviewed The interview questions and the responses of the individual wholesalers are presented as Appendix 3

Cucumbers

Cucumbers were generally sourced from provinces in the Red River Delta, particularly Hung Yen, Vinh Phuc and Bac Giang These are sourced commonly directly from farmers These may be sourced throughout the year, but mainly in April and November-December, because they are in shorter supply and more expensive at other times of the year

Of the six criteria on which the wholesalers based their selection of cucumbers, the two most important were variety and appearance, followed by source of supply, taste and storage life The least important was labels (such as safe production) The wholesalers also believed that appearance and variety (colour, size, shape) were the most important criteria for their customers to select The wholesale price for cucumbers in June was around 2000-2500 VND/kg

Tomatoes

Tomatoes were sourced in season from the Red River Delta, e.g Bac Ninh, Hai Phong, but out of season they were sourced from Lam Dong and China While some tomatoes could be bought directly from farmers, the traders also bought from wholesalers, especially from other areas of Vietnam or China

Of the six criteria on which the wholesalers based their selection of tomatoes, these were markedly different from cucumbers, with storage ability being ranked highest, followed by source of supply and appearance, then taste, and variety As with cucumbers, the least important criterion was certified safe production The wholesale price for tomatoes in June was 4,500-5000 VND/kg June-August was the most

expensive time for tomatoes Tomatoes from China at this time could be sold for up to

2 SUPERMARKET OUTLET- METRO SURVEY

A survey was conducted by the team from CARD 06/031 in April 2008 The questions, similar to those used for the Hanoi wet markets, had been previously (December 2007) sent to Dr Gordon Rogers The interview survey was conducted at Metro Cash & Carry Wholesale Trading Center, Co Nhue, Tu Liem district, Ha Noi, with Mr Thang Long, Fresh Produce Purchasing Manager, Metro The Interview form

is presented as Appendix 4

Cucumbers are sourced locally, and either purchased directly from farmers but mainly from “middle men” collectors Cucumbers can be sourced all year, and quality is generally satisfactory throughout the year The major selection criterion is price, as varieties grown in the Red River Delta are generally similar in appearance and quality

Tomatoes are purchased from the Red River Delta, particularly Vinh Phuc, Hung Yen and Ha Noi, but also from Lam Dong Again, these are most commonly sourced from middle men, but sometimes from larger farmers Tomatoes of the highest quality come from Lam Dong, but the price is higher Metro therefore selects on both quality and price, and sells both types of tomatoes Poorest quality tomatoes occur in summer Metro has specific selection criteria for tomatoes The first is size (specified minimum 70g), then freshness (maximum 2-3 days after harvest) Appearance and storage life are also important Regarding taste- in south Vietnam, tomatoes are more commonly

used fresh in salads, so taste is important In the north, tomatoes are more commonly used in cooking, so colour is more important than taste

Metro believes that while customers have similar selection criteria to themselves, they are primarily driven by price Metro would not discuss purchase or selling prices for their produce They also keep very detailed records, but considered these commercially confidential With regard to safe vegetables and GAP, Metro is currently selling certified safe leafy vegetables, and would be interested in safe fruity vegetables, but not organically produced vegetables, at this stage While Metro believes that safe vegetables should sell for a higher price, they could not say what this premium was likely to be A subsequent visit to Metro stores by the FAVRI/UWS team suggested that safe leafy vegetables were not selling at a premium, or at most, a very minimal premium

Identification of opportunities for project interventions to provide economic, social and environmental benefits to smallholders

Several opportunities for incorporation into the project were identified, as a result of the baseline study

First, the large difference between farming practices, especially for tomato production, between the region indicated that the advanced techniques used in Lam Dong and to some extent in some districts in the Red River Delta, could be shared amongst the trainers, and ultimately included in the FFS It was, therefore seen as imperative that the two Training of Trainers sessions should be at Ha Noi/FAVRI and PVFC/Da Lat, and that during the workshops, trainers should visit production sites displaying best practice in tomato (and cucumber, for FAVRI) production, but at a level of technology appropriate for implementation in Viet Nam

Second, the importance of grafting technology for tomato production was recognised

as an important advance in safe and economic tomato production While it was widely practiced in Lam Dong, it had limited adoption in the Red River Delta, and none in the Central Coast It was, therefore, decided to include tomato seedling grafting as a key topic for the TOT workshops, and furthermore, to provide, wherever possible, grafted tomato seedlings for the FFS demonstration blocks in all regions

Third, the strong interest of Southern Seeds in the AVRDC tomato germplasm as well

as their clear ability to evaluate tomato varieties, lead us to invite them to be part of the field evaluation trials for tomato- an offer which they accepted This meant there were four, not three, institutions evaluating tomatoes

Fourth, following discussions with Dr Ngo Quang Vinh from IAS, we thought that an evaluation site for cucumber varieties in the South would be beneficial We therefore asked Dr Vinh to conduct such a field trial, incorporating FAVRI varieties in the trial

We earmarked funds outside the CARD project for this additional work, but considered it a useful addition to the project’s activities

Conclusions

It is clear from the information collected from the surveys, interviews and observations that there are marked differences in the tomato and cucumber growing practices used in the Central Coast, Red River Delta and central Highlands (Lam Dong) This was most obvious for tomatoes Lam Dong had the most knowledgeable, skilled and experienced tomato farmers The production techniques were also the most advanced, including seedling production Consequently, yields were the highest

In the Red River Delta, there was a deal of variability even between districts in the same province, in the knowledge and abilities of the farmers The level of infrastructure, such as supply of quality tomato seedlings, was not as good as in Lam Dong However, cucumber production techniques were quite well advanced In the Central Coast, tomato farmers did not display the production skills and knowledge at the level of the other regions and, unfortunately, had no exposure to training in either tomato or cucumber production

For cucumbers, the most advanced production methods were evident in the Red River Delta This is probably because of the extensive plantings there, the presence of processing facilities and the associated farmer training, and the good work of FAVRI

in extension in this region

Farmers still need to acquire more skills in recognising pests and diseases and particularly in understanding the relationship between virus diseases and their insect