Báo cáo khoa học nông nghiệp " Introduction of the principles of GAP for citrus through implementation of citrus IPM using Farmer Field Schools - Project Progress Report 5" doc

for citrus through implementation of citrus IPM using Farmer Field Schools Vietnamese Institution Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Plant Protection Department Vietnamese P

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

Completion date (original) August 2010

Completion date (revised)

Contact Officer(s)

In Australia: Team Leader

Name: Oleg Nicetic (til 2/07/10)

Robert Spooner-Hart (from 3/07/20)

Telephone: +61245701329

Position: Research Program Coordinator Fax: +61245701103

Organisation University of Western Sydney Email: o.nicetic@uws.edu.au

In Australia: Administrative contact

Position: Director, Research Services Fax: +6124736 0905

Organisation University of Western Sydney Email: g.jones@uws.edu.au

In Vietnam

Organisation Plant Protection Department Email: ipmppd@fpt.vn

1 Project Abstract

2 Executive Summary

All activities undertaken in the third year of the project resulted in successful completion of all planned FFSs and application for certification of the farmer group in Dong Thap was submitted

Within the reporting period a total of 18 FFS in 8 provinces were completed with 660 farmers successfully completed the 2nd year of FFSs following curriculum developed for their own situation Farmers completed first year FFS in 2008 when they learned about the 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 In this second year they applied the principles they learned in the first year to manage pest and diseases and address nutrient deficiency specific for their orchards This second year of program resulted in significant practice change

In Dong Thap province our project team headed by Dr Vo Mai worked with a group of 11 farmers from Long Hau village, Lai Vung district, with the aim of achieving VietGAP certification Technical support and training of farmers is provided by VACVina members and extension officers from Lai Vung district Plant Protection Station The Farmer Union and local government have been providing great support including a subsidy towards the building

of toilets in the field Application for VietGAP was submitted and the certification inspection was carried out The group complied with all VietGAP requirements except the group does not have packaging facilities The group applied and was granted funds to build packaging facility building of which is currently in progress

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

Project evaluation team collected all impact assessment data in April-May 2010

The management structure that was improved after the first year of the project performed very effectively resulting in on time implementation of all activities

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 third year of the project have resulted in all objectives being achieved and delivering outputs on time The activities undertaken in this period are detailed below

4.1.1 Complition of FFFs

Successful implementation of the program for previous two years has resulted in 98 trainers being effectively trained in citrus IPM and GAP These trainers conducting FFS at 18 locations in 8 provinces in the northern part of Viet Nam (Table 1)

Table 1: Location of FFSs number of participants and gender ratio in 2009

farmers trained

Proportion of female participants (%)

* Funded by local government

A total of 660 farmers have been trained in 2009 of which 28.37% were female (Table 1) It should be noted that all participants in FFSs in 2009 participated in FFSs in 2008 However while in 2008 they followed general curriculum framework addressing principles of IPM and GAP and studying their own production situation, in 2009 FFSs concentrated on implementation of practice change following curriculum specific for each province and developed at the review workshop in November 2008 (see previous report) The second year

of FFS with the new curriculum was introduced after assessment of the first year of FFSs showed very slow progress in farmers’ adoption of new practices Assessment conducted after the second year of FFSs showed significant improvement in most of assess FFSs Results of the impact assessment will be shown in Impact assessment report

4.1.3 Implementation of GAP

Our first successful GAP implementation and certification was achieved in Vinh Long province In that province a total of 12 FFSs were conducted of which nine were financed by AusAID CARD and three by the provincial government At these FFSs 350 farmers were trained of which 342 were male and 8 were female As a result IPM is practiced on 140 ha out of a total area of 240 ha of pomelo in the province One of these FFSs was conducted for

26 members of My Hoa cooperative in Binh Minh district Our project also supported involvement of VACVINA for additional short farmer training on specific GAP issues The total area of pomelo grown by these farmers is 22 ha The cooperative secured financial support to implement GLOBALG.A.P from the supermarket chain Metro in 2007 and on 19 September 2008 they were granted GLOBALG.A.P certification by SGS Vietnam The total production of pomelo for the 12 month period from May 2007 to June 2008 was 970T My Hoa Cooperative exported 120 T of pomelo mainly to the Netherlands, Metro bought 50 T and about 800 T was sold on the domestic market

In an interview held with the cooperative’s vice-director in February 2009 we were told that even though Metro provided substantial funds to be used for GLOBALG.A.P certification the supermarket chain did not commit to buy fruit from the cooperative Funds were used to hire consultants to provide additional one-to-one training and help farmers keep required

records, to subsidise costs of building infrastructure necessary for compliance with GAP including pesticide storage facility and field toilets and the remainder of the funds were used for the certification process itself According to the interviewed vice-director and few farmer-members of My Hoa cooperative after certification process was completed and the consultants’ support terminated, farmers have problems with record keeping on their own, and cooperative and farmer-members did not have a significant increase in income as result

of GAP certification We talked with a representative of the exporter to the Netherlands and she said that GAP is not required for export and that Dutch importers perform their own quality control checks including pesticide residue so GAP certification will not influence export procedures or increase the price of exported pomelo Since My Hoa cooperative is the only citrus producer that received GAP certification probably the most beneficial aspect was positive media coverage The Vice-director of My Hoa Cooperative also expressed doubt that the certification will be renewed after it expired

In Dong Thap province our project team headed by Dr Vo Mai worked with a group of 11 farmers from Long Hau village, Lai Vung district, with the aim of achieving VietGAP certification Technical support and training of farmers is provided by VACVina members and extension officers from Lai Vung district Plant Protection Station The Farmer Union and local government have been providing great support including a subsidy towards the building

of toilets in the field Both local government and Farmer Union see GAP certification as a very prestigious achievement because of the political support the accreditation scheme has from the central and provincial government

The approach to GAP implementation with the Long Hau village group is very different to that in My Hoa The Long Hau group has been implementing GAP in a much longer process

of learning and making adjustments in production and practices by themselves, under guidance of VACVina consultants, but nothing has actually been done for farmers by the consultants This group of growers is much smaller then My Hoa with only 11 members cultivating a total area of 3.45 ha They are all neighbours with adjacent properties and the initiative for GAP certification and leadership in implementation came from two members of the group with the highest production and good connection with the market The group members sell their product at traditional markets just before the Vietnamese New Year holiday (Tet) so they achieve a very high price with the average net profit per group member being 70,000,000 VND or 226,470,000 VND/ha, which is 3 times above industry average So the group members are high achievers with the vision that VietGAP certification will differentiate their product on the market and they hope to capitalise on that by getting a higher price as a result of selling their product to supermarkets or/and on their own market stall in Ho Chi Minh City clearly marked with the sign “Safe mandarins”

Initial certification inspection was conducted and farmer group met all VietGAP requirement except they do not have packaging facility At the time of writing this report group is in process of building the packaging facilities with funds provided by provincial government After the completion of packaging house it is expected that VietGAP certification will be granted

4.1.5 On farm record keeping system

On farm record keeping system was developed based on VietGAP requirements and consists

of very simple, cheap record book that was evaluated by farmers in the first year of FFS The record keeping books are now used by farmers few years after the completion of FFSs In some provinces extension services have reprinted the book and distributed them to farmers

In focus group discussions conducted as part of impact assessment process acceptance of record keeping was overwhelming with farmers recognising following advantages of record

keeping: awareness of input costs (53% of respondents), awareness of labour costs (33%), awareness of income from fruit sale (44%), awareness of production profitability (85%), awareness of fertiliser used so farmer can assess their effectiveness (30%), record help farmers to predict pest occurrence (33%), awareness of used pesticide so farmer can assess their effectiveness (49%) Other advantages of using records mentioned by few farmers was selection of a cheaper pesticide shop (based on price recorded farmers became aware of different in prices between shops) Detail findings from interviews are presented in Annex 1

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 second year of the project trainers working 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

Mr Nguyen Tuan Loc vice-director from PPD Regional Centre 4 who has been key person in development and implementation of FFS curriculum in the North was commissioned by FAO

to develop FFS program on citrus in Nepal FAO will also organise visit for researchers and extension officers from Nepal to visit some of our project sites

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

In 2008 trainers are facilitating further 57 FFSs

At the farmers level training focussed on integrated crop management that included IPM, plant nutrition and pruning In regards to GAP training, the focus has been 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

end of refresher TOTs practical exercises for FFS orchards were designed and they have been implemented over last 6 months

At review workshop in November 2008 trainers have developed curriculum specific for their provinces In 2009 they successfully implemented 2 FFSs in each province following their own curriculum That marked the end of 3 years learning for trainers where in the first year (cycle) they were thought by scientist and master trainers about citrus ICM and GAP which they then implemented, then in the second year based on appraisal of farmers specific needs

in each FFS trainers modified implementation of curriculum putting more emphasis on specific needs in each FFS (2nd learning cycle) and finely trainers develop curriculum for their provinces

Ba Bong, at a ceremony in Cao Lanh, Dong Thap province on 25 September 2009 This was reported in newspapers and on VIETNet

Oleg Nicetic submitted 2 papers at 9th International Federation of System Farming (European group) conference in Vienna 4-7/07/2010 First paper titled “From knowing it all to learning

to engage – experiences from Australian interventions in agricultural research and development in Vietnam” points out some advantages of CARD approach to research for development in comparison to ACIAR approach, second paper titled “Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) as a vehicle for transformation to sustainable citrus production in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam” describes our experiences in implementation of GAP and specificity of

GAP in Vietnam (both papers are presented in Annex 2)

4.4 Project Management

After adjustments made to management structure within the first year of the project and reported in 2nd Six-monthly report project management worked efficiently in current reporting period

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% 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

1 VietGAP certification required packaging house to be certified at the same time as citrus field production Even though our GAP group met all VietGAP requirements in production

of citrus they do not have packaging house so certification could not be granted

2 Oleg Nicetic was offered full time position as project scientist on ACIAR project in NW Vietnam which he accepted and from 1/08/2009 to 2/07/2010 he was on leave without pay from UWS and on 2/07/10 he terminated his employment at UWS However, ACIAR and University of Queensland (Oleg’s new employer) agreed that Oleg will still continue with activities in CARD citrus project Oleg’s employment in NW Vietnam did not affect implementation of CARD project activities and Oleg spent more than contracted number of day in Vietnam but his full time employment with UQ resulted in delay in submission of milestones

6.2 Options

1 Farmers supported by VACVina applied for funds to provincial government and they were awarded finance to build small packaging house Completion of packaging house and award

of VietGAP certification is expected by the end of the year

2 Robert Spooner-Hart took over leadership of citrus project from 2/07/2010 and will submit all milestone according to new schedule: Progress reports (3 Milestones at the beginning of

August 2010), preliminary impact assessment and completion report by 31/08/10 and full impact assessment by 30/09

7 Next Critical Steps

The finalisation of packaging house and submission of all milestones

8 Conclusion

Project team achieved significant improvement in capacity of trainers who are now able to develop and implement their own curriculum GAP implementation was successful and results of our project have been presented on international conferences with papers printed in peer reviewed proceedings Success of 3 successive citrus projects was recognised by awarding of MARD Medal to Oleg Nicetic

9 Sign-Off

Prepared by Oleg Nicetic, Ngo Tien Dung and Ho Van

Chien, Nguyen Tuan Loc and Robert Spooner-Hart

Authorised by: Robert Spooner-Hart

Countersigned by: [Vietnamese Team Leader]

Date: 16 November 2007

Project Progress Against Proposed Objectives, Outputs, Activities And Inputs Project Title: Introduction of the principles of GAP for citrus trough implementation of citrus IPM using Farm Field School

Vietnamese Implementing Institution: Plant Protection Department

Narrative Information Required Performance Measures Assumptions/Risks Information Required

To establish a national cadre of citrus IPM/GAP master trainers and province level FFS facilitator teams

Enhanced capacity of farmers to implement citrus IPM compliant with GAP standards

GAP manual and IPM guidelines compliant with GAP standards and suitable for local conditions exist

Training of master trainers at national level conducted and reported

Training of trainers at regional level conducted and reported

Cadre of competent national master trainers and provincial FFS facilitators exist to champion GAP principles and IPM aligned to GAP

in their region

Citrus IPM/GAP FFS conducted

Trained farmers knowledge on citrus IPM and GAP increased

Trained farmer implement IPM aligned to GAP (commenced in

Low risk because of MARD need to comply with APPPC requirements Study is also aligned with

VACVINA/VinaFruit strategic goals to develop export oriented citrus industry hence proponents will have high level of

institutional support

Low risk because high self motivation of master trainers, high level of institutional support and for reasons stated in 2.1

Low risk See 2.1 and high level

of community and institutional support to achieve the objective

All objectives achieved

of pesticide and post-harvest handling

Assess effectiveness of FFS for implementation of IPM and GAP

Implementation of GAP in one of the cooperatives in Mekong delta

FFS participant orchards)

Reduced pesticide use

Increased food safety and protection of health of farming communities and consumer of fruits

Increased capacity of citrus industry to implement GAP and be prepared for new market conditions after Vietnam enter WTO

Increased capacity of GOs and NGOs to assist small holders transition to unprotected market environment

Increased capacity of VinaFruit to facilities export of Vietnamese citrus

Comprehensive analysis reported

GAP implemented

See 4.1 and high level of community and institutional support to achieve the objective

Low risk since methodology is already developed in CARD project 36/04 VIE

Medium because some elements

of GAP like use of certified planting material cannot be implemented in existing orchards

Report on baseline study submitted

to GOs and NGOs Press release written

Report peer reviewed by CARD PMU Feedback on report requested from all stakeholders

Results published in media

Baseline study methodology was developed and data collection was performed in all 13 provinces Data were analysed and reported Report was accepted by PMU

1.2

2.1

GAP and the integration of IPM into GAP

2) Knowledge and skills on GAP/IPM of

15 Master Trainers, 90 Trainers and a representative sample of 2880 participating farmers

3) Current GAP/IPM practices of representative sample of participating farmers including production levels and financial analysis of costs and returns 4) Analysis of key markets for GAP/IPM compliant citrus and expected market demand and premiums

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

IPM guidelines aligned to GAP developed and documented

10 master trainers (5 from Mekong delta and 5 from North) competent in citrus IPM aligned to GAP and GAP principles

IPM strategies developed and published in brochure and MARD and VACVINA websites

Master trainers successfully conduct training of trainers and monitor trainers involved in conducting FFSs

Brochure and content of webpage peer reviewed by CARD PMU

Competency will be assessed by critical self-evaluation and by key project research and extension personnel

IPM guidelines developed verified

by FFS participants and included

in book

Training was successfully completed

2880 farmers with improved capacity to implement IPM aligned to GAP

Publication of (1) GAP Handbook incorporating IPM aligned handbook and (2) Updated Pests and Diseases Field guide for application in different agro-ecological zones of Viet Nam

Procedures for compliance with EUREPGAP/ASIAGAP including responsible/safe use, handling and storage

of pesticide and post-harvest handling of fruits developed and published

On farm record keeping system developed and verified

Trainers successfully facilitate at least one FFS within the course of project

Farmers successfully graduate from FFS Implementation of IPM program aligned to GAP commenced during the course of FFS

Books published and used as a resource by farmers and GOs and NGOs

Procedures published in the form

of manual Concise version published in industry press and on VianFruit Website

System developed and implemented by FFS participants

Competency will be assessed by critical self-evaluation and by master trainers

Competency will be assessed by critical self-evaluation and by trainers Implementation of IPM program aligned to GAP verified through farmer record keeping

Feedback from stakeholders

Published manual and webpage peer reviewed by CARD PMU

Survey to evaluate the system

First year of training successfully completed by all 90 trainers Trainers completed first year of FFS and commenced the second year

All (57) FFS planed for 2008 completed on time All FFS enrolled 30 participants what means that 1710 farmers was trained

Dr Nguyen Van Hoa and his team from SOFRI completed GAP manual

Included in GAP manual Manual may be posted at webside if decided by CARD PMU

On farm recording formates were developed and they have been used

by FFS participants

GAP certified pilot cooperative established

Surveys conducted and analysed

Findings that comprise 4 years of assessments of FFS effectiveness published

GAP implemented in one of the cooperatives in Mekong delta

Acceptance for publication by high impact journal

Certification granted or pending Completed

Conduct semi-structured interviews with farmers, extension officers and wholesalers

in each of 13 provinces in regard to GAP principles and current practices Also conduct interviews with exporters and researchers in the Northern and Southern parts of Vietnam

Conduct survey of current practices in relation to all 14 principles of GAP

Circulate results to MARD and VACVINA/VinaFruit and other farmer and exporter organisations Write press releases

Develop draft IPM programs based on CARD project 036/04 VIE with the addition

of all GAP principles related to IPM

Activities agreed tasks and timeframes to complete tasks accepted by all stakeholders

Interviews conducted, results recorded

Survey analysed using SPPS

Results reported

Report on results of survey and interviews written and peer reviewed by CARD PMU

Submitted to GOs and NGOs

Press release written

IPM strategies agreed by all stakeholders

Dissemination of IPM programs through brochures distributed by GOs and NGOs

Publish programs on MARD and VACVINA websites

Hold stakeholder meeting to discuss activities and roles of each of the stakeholders in execution of activities in relation to Objective 2

Selection of trainers trained in previous CARD project or FAO programs

Conduct the training of master trainers

Selection of participants in TOT from members of GO, NGOs and farmers trained

in previous CARD project

IPM strategies verified by farmers, extension officers and scientists

Written feedback will be required from trainers Report on IPM strategies peer reviewed by CARD PMU

Brochure printed; webpage on citrus IPM incorporated in MARD and VACVINA websites

Activities agreed tasks and timeframes to complete tasks accepted by all stakeholders

Trainers selected Selection criteria based on competency shown in previous CARD/FAO projects, GO/NGO ratio and sex ratio

Successful completion

Competency assessed by critical self-evaluation and by key project research and extension personnel

Participants selected Selection criteria based on, GO/NGO ratio, sex ratio and for farmers competency shown in previous CARD/FAO projects

Conduct the training of trainers

Identification of districts and villages within each of 13 participating provinces to be targeted for the program Selection of farmers from all socio-economic groups

Development of preliminary procedures for compliance with EUREPGAP/ASIAGAP including on-farm recording system formats and responsible/safe use, handling and storage of pesticide and post-harvest handling of fruits

Verification of preliminary procedures developed in 4.1.2 through FFS

Successful completion

Competency assessed by critical self-evaluation and by master trainer and key project research and extension personnel

Districts and villages identified

Farmer meeting held in each targeted district and village

Participants of FFS come from different socio-economic groups

Women, ethnic minorities and members of NGOs represented

Farmers successfully graduated from FFS Competency assessed

by trainers KAP analysis conducted

Books published and peer reviewed by CARD PMU

Activities agreed, tasks and timeframes to complete tasks accepted by all stakeholders

Preliminary procedures developed and introduced to master trainers and trainers

Procedure tested by farmers and feedback analyse at review workshops

Verification of preliminary procedures developed in 4.2.1 through FFS

Verified on farm record keeping system from 4.2.2 designed

KAP survey and semi-structured interviews conducted

Objective measures of capacity improvement in target beneficiaries (Compared with baselines) including a) information on knowledge, skills attitudes and practices of PDD, SRPCC, NIPP, CU, SOFRI, VACVINA, VinaFruit and SPC on GAP and the integration of IMP into GAP b) Knowledge and skills on GAP/IPM of 15 Master Trainers, 90 Trainers and a representative sample of 2880 participating farmers c) changed GAP/IPM practices of representative sample of participating farmers including production levels and analysis of financial environmental and social benefits to growers through adoption

of GAP/IPM practices

Write scientific paper on evaluation of FFS

Select a cooperative that will be pilot for implementation of GAP in citrus

Procedure written in the form of manual

Preliminary on-farm record system developed and introduced to master trainers and trainers

On-farm record keeping system tested by farmers

System adopted by farmers who completed FFS

Preliminary analysis reported

Develop GAP implementation plan

Implementation of GAP plan

Project Implementation Schedule

Activity Month of 2009 (Year 3) and 2010 (Year 3)

4.1.2 OS OS OS OS OS OS 4.1.3 OS OS OS OS OS OS

4.2.1 OS OS OS OS OS OS 4.2.2 OS OS OS OS OS OS

5.2.1 OS OS OS OS OS OS 5.3.1 OS OS OS OS OS OS

OS = Implemented according to project logframe schedule

BS = Implemented behind project logframe schedule

NS= Implementation not scheduled in reporting period

{ } Recommended adjustments to implementation schedule

List of Annexes

Annex 1: Evaluation of record keeping book use

Annex 2: Papers presented on 9th IFSA conference in Vienna 4-7/07/10

Annex 1: Evaluation of record keeping book use

Frequency of statements made by farmers from interview notes Province n

Find record keeping useful

Will continue using record keeping

Know the cost of inputs

Know the cost of labour

Know the income received from sale of fruit

Can calculate the profit from production

Know the fertilisers used and evaluate effectiveness

Can predict incidence of pests

Know the pesticides used and evaluate effectiveness

where they get the best price

Annex 2: Papers presented on 9 th IFSA conference in Vienna 4-7/07/10

From knowing it all to learning to engage – experiences from Australian interventions in agricultural research and development in Vietnam

Oleg Nicetica, Debbie Raeb and Elske van de Flierta

a Centre for Communication and Social Change, School for Journalism and Communication, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

b SciEdSolutions, Sydney, Australia

Abstract: The Australian Assistance in Development organisation (AusAID) funded three

projects over the last ten years as part of the Collaboration for Agriculture and Rural Development Program (CARD) with the initial objective to introduce Integrated Pest Management (IPM) based on mineral spray oil into citrus production in Vietnam This objective later evolved from IPM to a broader Integrated Crop Management (ICM) approach and eventually to the introduction of procedures for Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) In this paper we discuss the evolution of the collaborative approaches in the consecutive projects, departing from making Vietnamese researchers introduce a preconceived, externally developed concept in their local socio-economic and natural environments, to gradually facilitating the local partners to review potential innovations, test and adapt them, and develop management systems that suit the local conditions This process resulted in linkages and interactions amongst local and international experts across disciplinary boundaries and between local stakeholders themselves The final outcome of 15 years of collaborative work extended far beyond IPM, ICM and GAP resulting in the improved capacity of all stakeholders including farmers, extension and technical personnel from government organisations, non- government organisations and private industry, scientists from research institutes and universities and representatives of local governments to respond to the local specific needs of farmers and the policy requirements of agricultural and rural development in Vietnam The major outcome for Australian researchers was the realisation that humans (farmers) with their culture, habits and behaviours are a crucial part of the system in which our knowledge and technologies are to be utilised

Keywords: farmer field school, technology focused research, stakeholder focused research

Introduction

This paper describes the evolution of a series of Australian research and development interventions in Vietnam from 1996 to 2010 in the citrus industry It analyses the change in approaches applied to research and extension that occurred over time including:

• the change from technology focused to stakeholder focused;

• from wanting to change farmers to adapting technologies to suit farmers’ conditions and abilities;

• from wanting farmers to directly adopt technologies to enabling them to test, adapt and internalise innovations;

• and from transplanting foreign concepts to moving beyond technology, identifying and meeting farmers’ and other stakeholders’ needs

The change in approaches was triggered by immediate experiences in the field, through which the Australian experts learned from and with local experts and farmers

what did and did not work under Vietnamese conditions These experiences initiated

a personal change for the first two authors of this paper in the way they go about research and development As this paper critically analyses the Australian team members experiences and perceptions of the learning and changing processes it is not co-authored by our Vietnamese colleagues We highly appreciate the fact that our Vietnamese partners had a significant impact on our projects, careers and lives The paper is structured as a theatrical event in the hope to clearly and chronologically capture the flow of activities, range of stakeholders and significance

of the evolution that happened over a 15-year period and across five projects Firstly,

we introduce all stakeholders (Actors and Audience), then we described our interventions (The Play), and finally we analysed the play

The Actors

Australian actors

The Centre for Horticulture and Plant Sciences (CHAPS) of the University of Western Sydney (UWS)-Hawkesbury was formed in 1998 with major research focus on plant protection, post-harvest, and to a lesser extent, plant physiology In 1999 CHAPS was listed as one of the top 50 Australian research facilities in a survey commissioned by the Federal Department of Industry, Science & Resources Most researchers associated with the centre were scientists who believed in the power of reductionist science and their research was aimed at developing new technologies that could be used in agricultural production At the same time the Centre for Farming Systems (CFS), also within UWS, was mainly comprised of scientists believing in a farming system approach that followed the internationally recognised Hawkesbury model (Bawden, 2005) In a sense, “hard science” was a key feature of the CHAPS differentiation from CFS and a very important paradigm At the time CHAPS was very successful in applied research closely cooperating with private industry and attracting funds from industry R&D bodies CHAPS is today called the Centre for Plants and the Environment, with a shifted focus from applied to more basic research CFS disappeared together with the Hawkesbury teaching model at UWS in early 2000s ACIAR, established in June 1982, is an Australian Government statutory authority that operates as part of Australia's Aid Program within the portfolio of the Department

of Foreign Affairs and Trade It contributes to the aid program objectives of advancing Australia's national interests through poverty reduction and sustainable development by funding agricultural research and development projects, which are jointly carried out by scientists from Australia and partner countries (ACIAR, 2010) ACIAR commissions research that will foster agricultural development in partner countries and enhance the capacity of these countries to undertake agricultural research The projects that ACIAR funded in the 1990s and early 2000s had a major focus on developing the research capacity of partner country research institutions Outputs from ACIAR projects could be defined as scientific knowledge, research capacity and technology (Davis et al., 2008) Adoption of results by final users was expected but usually not a great deal was done within the projects to enable and facilitate adoption

The Australian Assistance in Development organisation (AusAID) established a program called Collaboration for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) in the late 1990s with the first round of projects awarded and commenced in 2000 CARD’s mission is to support agriculture and rural development in Vietnam through the application and adaptation of research, technology, skills and management practices with a focus on smallholders (CARD, 2010) Another important CARD activity has been to build capacity of the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural