Báo cáo khoa học nông nghiệp " Improvement of Vietnamese vegetable production using GAP principles for seed and seedling production and superior hybrid varieties - MILESTONE 9 " docx

Southern Seed Company Members of the project team met with SSC staff in December 2009 and February 2010 and, on both occasions, discussed progress with regard to capacity building in pr

Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development

CARD Project Progress Report

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

MILESTONE 9 PROJECT VALIDATION AND CAPACITY

IMPROVEMENT

Introduction

The project review visits were conducted from December 2009 and completed in March 2010 In November 2009, Robert Spooner-Hart and FAVRI staff visited a number of project FFS in 6 provinces to discuss progress with the sub-PPD (SPPD) staff, farmer participants and to visit the field demonstration sites These activities were undertaken to assess results and how they might impact on adoption of project outcomes This followed earlier visits to FFS in the first season, and the TOT at the end of the first season’s FFS

In February-March, 2010, Robert Spooner-Hart, together with Tony Haigh (UWS) and Peter Hanson (AVRDC), reviewed the progress and the status of hybrid vegetable seed evaluation and production, particularly by SSC and FAVRI They visited sites in Southern, Central Highlands and Northern Viet Nam Robert Spooner-Hart and FAVRI staff subsequently surveyed farmer participants and SPPD staff in 4 provinces: 2 in the Red River Delta (Hai Phong and Thai Binh) and 2 on the Central Coast (Quang Nam and Da Nang)

In June 2007, Robert Spooner-Hart and Oleg Nicetic with FAVRI staff, conducted a baseline study of seed and seedling producers and SPPD 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 Appraisal (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 farmers, which were a combination of questions previously asked

in the baseline survey, together with their view on project outcomes relating specifically to themselves

Review of activities and current status of activities at end of project

1 Southern Seed Company

Members of the project team met with SSC staff in December 2009 and February

2010 and, on both occasions, discussed progress with regard to capacity building in production of F1 hybrid tomato seed and understanding of GAP within the company

as well as progress toward registration and supply of new, disease-resistant tomato varieties from the project For images of SSC activities, please see Fig.1

The review team visited the 3 SSC field sites described in the Baseline Survey, namely Long An, Lam Dong and Hung Yen, in late February 2010 The overall quality of evaluation trials was assessed as very good by the team, and demonstrated a high level of competence shown by staff at SSC Two issues identified by the project team, however, was the lack of use of grafted plant material in the trial sites, and the use of commercial seed (particularly check varieties) which had received a seed treatment, when comparing with performance of non-commercial cultivars which had not received seed treatment These were not regarded as major issues by SSC, because the land for evaluations had not been previously used for tomato production, so bacterial wilt should not have been a problem However, this will be a policy they will now consider in future trials There have been 3 seasons of evaluation trials by SSC during the project The project has been able to identify, via SSC activities, two superior F1 hybrid varieties from the World Vegetable Center (AVRDC), WVCT2 and WVCT8, which have proved to be as good as many of SSC current varieties, performed well against the industry standard Savior (RRD and HCMC) and Anna (Lam Dong), and have good market acceptability They are also highly tolerant of TYLCV

While in Lam Dong, the project team inspected the hybrid seed production site

Again, the team were impressed with the level of expertise shown We quizzed SSC

as to the likely cost of seed of the new varieties vs the industry standards, Savior (South) or Anna (Lam Dong) They believe the price to farmers will be 70,000 VND (~$US 3.50) for 5 grams seed, compared with 120,000 VND (~ $US 6.00) for Savior They estimate it will cost them $US 100-120 /kg to produce the seed They are, as yet, unclear as to the size of the market for their varieties They will sell both the F1

hybrid seed and bacterial wilt-resistant rootstock seeds, and will recommend use of grafted seedlings in disease-prone districts

The company confirmed its commitment to submit an application to register at least one of the varieties through MARD, hopefully by December 2010 To this end, SSC

is currently (mid 2010) conducting final evaluation of 2 varieties to generate data for application for registration to the Evaluation Committee MARD, and is establishing

10 demonstration plots for farmers and seed buyers in North Vietnam, Lam Dong and the Mekong Delta In addition, they indicated that they are incorporating disease resistance genes (especially against TYLCV- the major disease targeted in CARD 06/025) into an expanding tomato breeding program for Vietnam

There is no doubt that there has been significant capacity development within SSC with respect to tomato evaluation, F1 hybrid production and breeding during the project period This was most evident in Mr Tuan, who was our key contact in the organisation and was the SSC representative to visit Australia on the study tour The company also recognises the need for capacity development in their staff, and paid for

a recently-appointed tomato breeder Mr Tang Duc Hung, to visit AVRDC for training in advanced breeding techniques, such as use of molecular markers, tomato inbred line evaluation, and breeding for resistance to other key tomato diseases, such

as bacterial wilt and late blight This training has now been completed, and SSC is looking forward to breeding new multi-disease resistant F1 hybrid tomato varieties for Vietnam

3 PVFC

During our visit to Lam Dong, the project review team met with the project coordinator from that institution, Dr PX Tung While Dr Tung’s background and primary interest has been in potato production, it was extremely pleasing to see that

he had developed, by the end of the project, a tomato breeding program to produce varieties resistant to bacterial blight and late blight as well as TYLCV He had been running this program for the past 2 seasons, with greenhouse and field evaluations He showed us his current field evaluation site, the assessment of which is being assisted

by Ms Hang, a Masters student from Da Lat university (See Fig 1).The breeding program commenced with 36 crosses, of which 16 were selected for further

assessment The current investigations include a further 34 evaluations Selection is being made for yield, fruit quality and disease resistance This outcome was not part

of the original project but it demonstrates both the improved capacity of PVFC and a strong interest in development of superior tomato varieties for Vietnamese conditions

It also demonstrates a response beyond the original focus on TYLCV, in light of actual experiences from the project activities (namely, loss of evaluation plots from late blight)

Further demonstration of the capacity improvement includes the training of a Masters student in tomato variety evaluation in Vietnam and AVRDC UWS will financially assist Ms Hang to undergo a training course on tomato breeding and varietal evaluation of late blight resistance, in November 2010

4 Seedling production

The project team also met Nguyen Hong Phong, Duc Trong district in Lam Dong, the vegetable seedling producer who assisted in the project He provided access to his production facility for the TOT and Industry training workshops at Lam Dong, as well

as producing the grafted tomato seedlings for the FFS in Lam Dong and, in the second season, for Da Nang and Quang Nam The project team was impressed to see how Mr Phong’s business had developed during just over three years of the project- it had expanded with improved technology, but also with improved record keeping and implementation of worker occupational health practices However, it was difficult to determine how much of this was achieved as a result of his association with the project We discussed with Mr Phong what he had achieved from his involvement in the project He stated that he had widened his network of researchers and extension staff he had increased his awareness of the tomato production industry beyond Lam Dong He also stated that the discussion of GAP, especially practical implementation, had helped him and his wife to improve their record keeping practices He was unclear about implementation of GAP certification of his company, because he is selling plants to other farmers and certification does not seem relevant at this time

He invited us into his very impressive recently constructed home, and expressed his gratitude for being allowed to participate in the project There is no doubt that his business will continue to be the leading vegetable seedling producer in Lam Dong, and possibly in Vietnam, and that it will be a demonstration of good technical,

business and organisational ability Images of Mr Phong’s production facilities are presented in Fig 2

5 FAVRI

The project evaluation team visited FAVRI on February 24, 25 and 26, 2010 We received presentations of the activities and outputs of FAVRI with respect to the project, and visited field sites for production of hybrid tomato and cucumber seed

Tomato seed production

We first reviewed tomato variety evaluation and production of F1 hybrids Several of the AVRDC varieties (in particular WVCT2 and WVCT8) had performed well when compared to the industry standard varieties, P375 (Known You Seeds) and Perfect (Syngenta Seeds) In the first season, FAVRI was able to obtain total yield and marketable yields, but was total yield only in the second season, because of severe late blight attack This problem, which was similar to that reported for Lam Dong evaluation trials, demonstrates the need for multi-disease resistant tomato varieties, particularly during the off (rainy) season This problem may be exacerbated (and, thus, there will be an even more pressing need to manage it) if seasonal rainfall patterns in Vietnam are modified as a result of climate change

The team then visited the field where hybrid seed was being produced, and which Robert Spooner-Hart had visited in November There was a quite high level of disease (not TYLCV), particularly the foliar/fruit fungal diseases Alternaria blight and late blight in the block This was probably a result of unfavourable weather and proximity

to other tomato evaluation trials This problem will have to be overcome if FAVRI wishes to produce commercial quantities of high quality tomato seeds for sale to farmers It was clear from the earlier pilot production of F1 hybrids during the project that FAVRI has the expertise to produce hybrid tomato seed However, to date they have not sold tomato seeds, and it remains to be determined if they have the appropriate facilities and location to produce them and distribute commercially Never-the-less, while SSC has demonstrated that they are willing and able to commercially produce hybrid tomato seed, it is a good outcome that FAVRI also has

the capacity to do so Images of the (early stages) of the hybrid tomato production site

in November 2009 are presented in Fig.3

Cucumber seed production

The review team was also briefed on the cucumber variety evaluation and production

of F1 hybrids Evaluations were conducted by FAVRI over 3 seasons, and were based

on fresh market, not processing, varieties FAVRI’s F1 variety CV5 demonstrated superior performance with regard to yield, market acceptability and disease resistance, over the industry standard variety, Amata (Chia Seed Co), as well as two SSC varieties, CUC777 and CUC 6110 It should be pointed out, however, that these evaluations were conducted in Northern Vietnam, and CV5 did not perform as well, nor did it have high market acceptance in Southern Vietnam (as shown in Dr Vinh’s variety evaluation at Cu Chi) CV5 was registered with MARD as a cucumber variety during the course of the project, as some previous evaluations had been conducted by FAVRI prior to commencement of CARD 06/025 Its previous good performance meant it was selected as a candidate for the broad variety evaluation trials conducted

as part of the current project

The team then visited the cucumber hybrid seed production facilities at FAVRI The team was impressed with the facilities, the quality of the production as well as the post-harvest handling (see Fig 3) During the course of the project, FAVRI adopted the technology of hermetically sealing the hybrid cucumber seed in labelled packets, whereas at the commencement of the seed was often distributed in unlabelled plastic bags In addition, sales of CV5 have significantly improved during the period of the project, in part due to the demonstrated superiority of this variety in evaluation trials and FFS demonstration plots which were a key component of the project FAVRI sold approximately 50 kg of CV5 seed over the past 12 months, and believes this will increase by at least 20-25% in the coming year The uptake of this variety by farmers has been undoubtedly facilitated by the increased professionalism associated with sale

of this product and the provision of advice and support by FAVRI staff

Fig 1 Field evaluation trials

SSC evaluation trials and hybrid breeding at Lam Dong

SSC evaluation trials in Hung Yen

Dr Tung describing his tomato breeding evaluation trials in Lam Dong

to Peter Hanson (AVRDC) and Tony Haigh (UWS)

Fig 2 Mr Phong’s Seedling Nursery, Lam Dong

Tomato seedling production Grafting of tomato seedlings

Grafted tomato seedlings Farmer collecting seedlings from despatch section

Fig.3 Hybrid seed production at FAVRI

Tomato hybrid production plot, FAVRI (Nov 2009)

More advanced tomato hybrid production plot at FAVRI, with

CARD tomato breeder, Ms Thuy (Nov 2009)

Hybrid cucumber seed production (CV5) at FAVRI, with CARD cucumber breeder, Ms Hahn

Seedling production

At the commencement of the project, it was envisaged that the commercial arm of FAVRI (CIDHOP) would, through the project, become a key producer of tomato seedlings for the Red River delta CIDHOP had facilities for tomato seedling production and had sold several thousand seedlings in the previous year Shortly after the commencement of the project, CIDHOP was restructured to primarily focus on ornamental plants and floriculture This meant that the tomato seedling production component of its business reverted to FAVRI As part of the project FFS field demonstrations, FAVRI provided grafted and non-grafted tomato seedlings to all FFS

of the 6 provinces in the Red River delta, as well as to Quang Nam and Da Nang in the first season The rootstock used by FAVRI for all grafted tomatoes was eggplant

The seedlings had to be transported to the Central Coast by train, and arrived in poor condition The eggplant-grafted scions did not perform as well as they did in the Red River delta A decision was therefore made to source the second season’s Central Coast tomato seedlings from Mr Phong in Lam Dong (see information above) In this case, the seedlings were grafted on disease-resistant tomato rootstock, arrived in very good condition, and performed much better than did the non-grafted equivalent varieties This demonstrated two things:

• the eggplant grafting technology suitable for the Red River delta was not suitable for either the Central Coast or the Central Highlands

• the capacity to deliver quality tomato seedlings was limited by distance and logistics of transport

Even the logistics of transporting seedlings commercially to provinces in the Red River delta far from FAVRI, such as Thai Binh and Hai Phong, made us all question whether a better strategy was to set up more localised production facilities and to train the SPPD staff existing seedling producers and farmers in this technique As described in the baseline study, Quang Nam and Da Nang had no local seedling producers (farmers produced their own) and in the Red River delta, there were few seedling producers and these had small capacity, and none were capable of producing grafted seedlings It was only in Lam Dong that there were truly professional and

commercial vegetable seedling producers, and many of these were able to produce grafted tomatoes The two industry workshops, one held in Ha Noi and the other in

Da Lat, aimed to improve capacity within the seedling producers, particularly related

to GAP Both workshops included grafting of tomatoes in the curriculum, and both provided hands-on experience in this activity However, the evidence was that at least

at the time of our review, only one seedling producer (in Vinh Phuc) had taken up this technology, with support from FAVRI This limited uptake may have been because production of grafted tomatoes requires investment in some additional infrastructure, such as appropriate areas for grafting and protected shadehouses for plants post-grafting, as well as skilled staff Following discussion with FAVRI staff and PPD (Mr Ngo Tien Dung), we considered that further provision of training and facilities in the Red River delta and Central Coast would be required to ensure the adequate supply of quality, grafted seedlings at a reasonable price which would optimise farmer uptake It was clear from the farmer feedback, and SPPD staff (see later in this report) that farmers were very keen to adopt use of grafted tomato seedlings We received the

opportunity to conduct this initiative with an application to the Reinforce CARD Project Outputs and Outcomes, which included provision of facilities for grafting at

a provincial level and training of SPPD staff and farmers in production and field

management of grafted tomatoes

Never-the-less, it was clear that FAVRI had significantly improved their capacity in production and distribution of commercial quantities of tomato seedlings during the project Their output over the last year was approximately 2 million grafted seedlings,

a substantial increase over CIDHOP’s production at the beginning of the project, and

is starting to approach production of some of the Lam Dong producers (but by no means the production of Mr Phong) Grafted seedlings are sold for 850 VND/plant, compared with approximately 300 VND for non-grafted plants The majority of the grafted seedlings are produced for off-season cropping This is, at least in part, because fruit harvest is delayed by several weeks in eggplant-grafted tomatoes, providing weather conditions are ideal and the area does not have a history of bacterial wilt This aspect will be discussed further in the section reporting on the demonstration blocks

FFS, Demonstration Blocks and PPD staff surveys

Visits were made by members of the project team to FFS and demonstration blocks in all provinces at least once during the project, except for Lam Dong In this case, Dr Tung from PVFC (a key collaborator in the project) visited and reported on their performance

There were a total of 36 FFS (16 cucumber and 20 tomato) conducted over 2 seasons

(18 per season) in the following 9 provinces: Thai Binh (2 tomato, 2 cucumber), Hai Phong (2 tomato, 2 cucumber), Ha Nam (2 cucumber, 2 tomato), Ha Noi (2 tomato, 2 cucumber), Vinh Phuc (2 tomato, 2 cucumber), Hung Yen (2 tomato, 2 cucumber),

Quang Nam (2 tomato, 2 cucumber), Da Nang (2 tomato, 2 cucumber) and Lam Dong (4 tomato), with a total participation of 860 farmer participants Farmer participation

in FFS varied from 20 to 30, and while there were differences between provinces, approximately 58% of the total participants were women

Demonstration plots formed an integral part of all FFS, and were therefore run by the SPPD in each province While each was slightly different (as times, climate and local varieties were different), all tomato demonstration blocks generally included AVRDC TYLCV-resistant F1 hybrid varieties (WVCT2 and/or WVCT8- the best performing

in the evaluation trials), as well as a local variety In most provinces, these “local varieties” were F1 hybrids (e.g Lam Dong-Anna, Red River delta-Perfect or P375) whereas in Quang Nam and Da Nang they were the open-pollinated variety BOM For cucumbers, FAVRI mildew-resistant F1 hybrid varieties (CV5 and CV11) were included as well as local varieties (Amata, Trang Nong 20, and open-pollinated varieties) SPPD staff and farmers used the demonstration plots as a resource (e.g stages of growth, pest and disease observations, pruning etc) and varieties were compared as to their yield, fruit quality and disease resistance

In addition to comparing different varieties, all tomato demonstration plots compared grafted and non-grafted seedlings FAVRI produced and supplied grafted (on disease-resistant eggplant) tomato seedlings to all FFS demonstration blocks in the Red River Delta, and to Da Nang and Quang Nam in the first season Mr Phong, vegetable

seedling producer from Lam Dong, produced grafted (on disease-resistant tomato) seedlings for FFS in Lam Dong, and for Da Nang and Quang Nam in the second season Grafted and non-grafted seedlings were compared as to their yield, fruit quality, tolerance to soil-borne diseases or waterlogging, and other factors (such as differences in harvest time, ease of management etc.)

In early March, 2010, Robert Spooner-Hart and staff from FAVRI (including, at various times, Dr Tran Kac Thi, Pham My Linh, Pham Van Dung, Le Thi Thuy and Ngo Thi Hanh) visited five selected provinces Hai Phong, Hung Yen, Thai Binh, Da Nang and Quang Nam to review the performance of the FFS and associated demonstration plots Hung Yen and Da Nang still had demonstration plots available for observation, because of delayed commencement of the second FFS The team met with SPPD staff, and surveyed them for their views on the performance of the FFS, and on the benefits of the project to them They also surveyed 4 selected farmer participants from each of the provinces The section immediately below reports on the outcomes of those observations and the discussions with SPPD staff, and a subsequent section reports on the farmer surveys The questionnaire for surveying sub-PPD staff

is presented in Appendix 1

Hung Yen

We visited the demonstration block for the second FFS at Thuong Dat district Yen

My, which was still operational, because this FFS (with 20 farmers) commenced late (15 January, 2010) The demonstration block comprised 1200 m2 In this demonstration block, there was a comparison between grafting and non-grafting technology, with only one variety selected was WVCT8, because this performed best

in the first season In the non-grafted block, there was 50% plant loss with 20% dying from water-logging and a further 30% dying from bacterial wilt, as a result of heavy rain Estimated yield from the grafted block was 54 tonnes/ha, whereas it was just under 20 tonnes/ha from the non-grafted block While bacterial wilt was the major

disease present, crab eye spot, Pseudomonas syringae, was also present There was no

evidence of any virus (TYLCV or TSWV), nor of late blight Both demonstration

blocks had been treated with the fungicide Xanized 72WP Cymoxanil + Mancozeb

WP (fungicide), and with the antibiotic fungicide/bactericide Kasuran

(Kasugamycin) for crab eye spot Only 1 application of PSO was applied, as insect pressure (especially whitefly) was low In this demonstration block, there was no difference in the number of pesticides applied between the two blocks

In the previous (main) season FFS, the grafted demonstration block achieved a surprising total yield of 100 tonnes/ha, with the non-grafted block yielding 76 tonnes/ha However, the farmers reported that there was a delay in tomato development in the grafted tomatoes, resulting in an approximately 2 week delay in harvesting, and fruit size was slightly smaller Returns for fruit from grafted plants was therefore lower (approximately 4000 vs 5000 VND per kg) This meant that they achieved similar returns, and most thought they would not go to the extra expense of purchasing grafted seedlings during the main season, but would like to use them during the off-season

We visited a tomato market agent in Hung Yen, near the demonstration block He has received support from both FAVRI and the SPPD, and reported that he had benefitted from the project He now has 300 farmers supplying him, and in November-December, the main harvest season, he receives approximately 100 tonnes of tomatoes per day The tomatoes are graded, and farmers are paid on quality as well as weight Fresh fruit is sold within 3 days of arrival at his packing shed, with smaller and excess fruit being processed whole, in glass jars, via a collaborative agreement with a cucumber processor He sells fresh fruit in Hung Yen, Hai Phong and Ha Noi but also exports the processed tomatoes to Russia, Mongolia and Germany We discussed with him the volatility of the tomato market He explained that several weeks previously, he was paying 1000 VND/kg, but now it was closer to 4000 VND This price differential explains why farmers are interested in avoiding any delays to fruit harvesting in the main season

The agent also sells pesticides and other inputs to farmers We discussed with him his interest in supplying seed and seedlings, and he indicated his interest in doing so FAVRI will contact him in the coming season Images of his facilities are presented in Fig 4.)

Thai Binh

Thai Binh was one of the provinces selected for review of farmers and SPPD staff

We met with Mr Phu Ngoc Hung, Leader in vegetables in the sub-PPD, and also with

Ms Trang Thi Hue, one of the FFS trainers They reported that the FFS and demonstration blocks went well

For tomatoes, they reported that the farmers’ interests were primarily in using grafted seedlings, pruning and crop maintenance, pests and disease recognition and pesticide safety They also indicated that the farmers learned about GAP, but when quizzed, it was clear the emphasis of GAP had been on record keeping and the selection and safe use of pesticides They reported something different from the farmers in Hung Yen- that farmers using grafted seedlings could plant into moister soils earlier in the season and could thus obtain higher prices However, they also indicated that, based on the demonstration trials, the harvesting season for the grafted tomatoes was longer, by at least several weeks, helping to even out any price fluctuations They also stated that farmers could now more confidently grow (grafted) tomatoes in the off-season, and sell their fruit for a high price This delay in plant development may be a result of the smaller diameter of the eggplant rootstock compared to the scion stem (see Fig 4)

When asked about what farmers were most likely to adopt of the project outputs, they said grafted tomatoes However, farmers wanted to learn grafting for themselves and would need training They suggested this could be done at FAVRI When we asked how the production could be practically implemented in Thai Binh, they suggested that they would encourage the farmers to form a co-operative and build a net house for production of grafted seedlings We also discussed the interim option of the sub-PPD organising with farmers to coordinate grafted seedling production and transport from FAVRI

Other aspects of the training the SPPD staff thought farmers were likely to adopt were better use of side-dressings (i.e a basal fertiliser plus timed’ specific side-dressings), and better selection of pesticides (both registered pesticides and more IPDM-compatible) They would not be drawn on what were the worst aspects of the FFS

For cucumbers, the sub-PPD staff reported that the farmers were very happy about the performance of the FAVRI variety CV5 They indicated that they doubled yield from

30 ton/ha to 60 ton/ha using CV5 and improved management, compared to the farmer practice crop, which used a local F1 hybrid variety They also reported that one less pesticide spray (4 cf 5) was used in the CV5 block, because of its higher resistance to downy and powdery mildew CV5 fruit was well received in the market, and commanded at least as high a price as did other cucumber varieties Other benefits to farmers they reported were an increased understanding of cucumber pests and diseases, and better selection of pesticides Again, they did not report any negative aspects of the FFS

When asked about what farmers were most likely to adopt of the cucumber component of the project, they said it would be adoption of CV5

Hai Phong

We met SPPD staff Nguyen Thi Lan and Pham Thi Hoa and discussed how the FFS went They reported that the farmers in the recent FFS in Tan Tien commune in An Duong district were very happy FFS participation in Hai Phong was overwhelmingly female (85% for tomato and 100% for cucumber- reflecting our previous assessment

of the gender of farmers in production of these crops, and reported in the baseline study) The SPPD staff reported that the commune had received benefits from the FFS beyond the targeted crops of tomato and cucumber and that their experience, especially in IPDM and safe use of pesticides gained through the FFS, had sparked an initiative to set up a production area of 20 ha for safe vegetables

They reported that the production for grafted tomatoes in the demonstration block was

100 tonnes/ha, but that in the non-grafted block they lost almost all of the plants in the current season to bacterial wilt In the previous season, there was 40 % higher yield (55 cf 78 tonnes/ha) in the grafted tomatoes

They complained, however, that when farmers after the first FFS tried to adopt grafting technology on their own farms, seedlings for 3 ha were ordered, but only enough sufficient for 1 ha were received They suggested that the SPPD should play a coordinating role to ensure that farmers’ orders were met in the future We also

discussed the possibility of farmers themselves being trained to graft, but we realised the obstacles to this, including lack of adequate training and appropriate supporting infrastructure Staff thought that they may be able to access a net house

For cucumbers, the SPPD staff reported that the farmers were very happy with the FFS They also reported that in the demonstration blocks, CV5 had around 50% higher yield (20 tonnes/ha cf >30 tonnes/ha) than the farmers’ practice open-pollinated variety in the demonstration CV5 also had 7-10 days longer harvesting period, although time of commencement of harvest was identical In addition, less pesticide was required for CV5 During the 2 season’s FFS, CV5 had 3 and 4 sprays, compared with 5 and 6, respectively, for the farmers’ practice block However, there was an initial problem with market acceptance of CV5 in Hai Phong, because of its different appearance and taste to local varieties However, it has subsequently received good acceptance by the expanding supermarket demand At the time we visited (early March) farmers were obtaining 10,000 VND/kg, because cucumbers were in scarce supply This compares with as low as 1000 VND during main season for the local varieties The SPPD staff indicated that CV5 should be able to be produced in the off-season, when it is very difficult to successfully produce cucumbers because of downy and powdery mildew problems, further benefitting farmers

We subsequently met with the Director of the commune, Nguyen Vau Hinh He thanked us for the work of the project, particularly for enabling the farmers to be in contact with FAVRI for the “technology for grafted tomatoes”, and for the theory and practice of safe vegetable production covered in the FFS He confirmed that the farmers were very happy with the FFS activities, and particularly for their ability to grow (grafted) tomatoes off-season or early season, enabling them to receive higher prices Regarding tomato varieties, he reported that from the demonstration blocks, it was clear that the tomato varieties that farmers had been using previously were not well suited to production in Hai Phong, and that he would be encouraging adoption of the (AVRDC) varieties that were superior in performance (this was WVCT2) We further discussed the initiative of developing a safe vegetable production facility He told us that it was the cooperative’s intention to develop up to 60 ha of what he called

“safe/clean vegetables” by the end of 2012, and this decision was partly based on the positive outcomes of the CARD project

We then visited several local communes around Hai Phong not associated with the FFS, but growing tomatoes or cucumbers The extent of crop loss, especially in tomatoes, was devastating and we recorded typical field losses that occur when grafted seedlings are not used, and farmers produce their own seedlings (see Fig 5) Hopefully, the success of the communes selected for the FFS, and the increased capacity of sub-PPD staff will assist in this technology being more widely disseminated and adopted in this area

Da Nang

Here we met with SPPD staff, Director Pham Hong Van, and trainers Le My and Le Nam and discussed how the FFS went They reported that both the staff and farmers were very happy about the outcomes of the project, particularly in the second season They discussed the problem with poor quality grafted tomato seedlings which arrived from FAVRI in the first season, but the good quality of the seedlings from Lam Dong

in the second season Overall, grafted seedlings out-performed the non-grafted seedlings, even in the first season, but they took much longer to establish after transplanting The yield difference was approximately 25% (36 cf 45 tonnes/ha), but SPPD staff indicated that these differences would have been greater with high quality seedlings and more adverse weather conditions The AVRDC variety WVCT8 performed well, but the local variety, BOM, outperformed it in both yield and in market acceptance There was no difference in foliar and fruit disease incidence (particularly virus diseases) between the two varieties, which was generally low in both seasons The staff indicated that farmers would be keen to adopt grafting technology, but would continue to use BOM as their scion variety They quizzed us

on how training in grafting could be conducted locally, because Lam Dong was too far to source their seedlings on a regular basis

The FAVRI variety CV5 than the local variety and harvesting commenced 45 days after planting, similar to other variety In the previous FFS, the FAVRI varieties also outperformed the local variety, achieving a yield of almost 60 tonnes/ha compared with 36 tonnes/ha for the local variety CV5 was also well accepted in the market, as

we were told that Da Nang consumers like large cucumbers, up to 500g (characteristic

of CV5) The farmers were able to the fruit in the Da Nang local markets and directly

to Metro, and were receiving 2500 VND/kg

The Director then discussed a major development project proposed to commence in

2011, which will be impacted by outcomes of the CARD project This large, 60 B VND ($US4.5 M) project, funded by the Asian Development Bank will focus on development of 5 ha of greenhouses and 40 ha of field production of safe vegetables Greenhouse production will be in-ground (not hydroponics), and one of the major crops will be tomatoes Another (probably mainly field-based) crop will be cucumbers Currently Da Nang only produces 10% of its vegetable requirements, and imports the rest This project, therefore, aims to sell its produce in the Da Nang local markets, and also into Metro He discussed the importance of adopting grafting technology from the outset of this new project He also expressed the need to use disease-resistant cucumber varieties Training in IPM and appropriate technology is a part of the project, and there will need to be training in GAP to ensure supply of vegetables to Metro We discussed the possible role FAVRI and some of the other project partners might play in the future, and we planned for Pham My Linh to visit

Da Nang later in 2010

Quang Nam

In Quang Nam we met with the SPPD staff Pham Dinh Tinh, Pham Thi Thu Thuy, Pham Xan Tran, Thi Bich and Tran Ut and discussed how the FFS went They informed us that both they and the farmers were very happy with the outcomes of both tomato and cucumber FFS For tomatoes, the major benefit was use of grafting technology In the commune where the FFS was run, Phuong Truong Xuan in Tam

Ky, farmers had been unable to grow tomatoes for the past 10 years, because of problems with bacterial wilt The FFS was the first time that tomato growing had been reattempted there As with Da Nang, the staff also reported problems with the first season’s grafted tomato seedlings from FAVRI, but it appeared to be less of a

problem to them This is because they used the practice of transplanting seedlings twice (into a “nursery block” before transferral to the field) As with Da Nang, the local OP variety, BOM, performed at least as well as the AVRDC hybrids in the demonstration blocks in both FFS (approximately 42 tonnes/ha), and most of the farmers thought BOM was had superior marketability Some, however, preferred the smaller fruit of the WVCT8 and indicated they would like to trial it on their own farms They can currently sell BOM locally for 6000 VND/kg, but it was unclear what would be the price for WVCT8 The staff indicated that most growers in the FFS would use grafted tomato seedlings, at least in the off-season, provided they could use BOM as the scion and the costs for seedlings were not too high The project budget paid for the production and transport of the seedlings from Mr Phong The cost for grafted seedlings from Mr Phong (450 VND), and farmers in Quang Nam have generally produced their own seedlings, at minimal cost

With regard to cucumber, the farmers preferred the variety Trang Nong 133 (SSC) It performed well in the demonstration plot in both seasons (only around 30 tonnes/ha, but similar in yield to CV5) and had greater market acceptability Fruit of CV5 are too large for the local market (despite them being preferred in nearby Da Nang) Trong Nang fruit sold for 5000-6000 VND/kg The good performance of their variety was passed on to the project’s industry partner, SSC The SPPD staff also quizzed us about possible training in bitter gourd production, because of farmer interest We pointed out this was not a topic of the current project

Cucumbers and tomatoes are some of the most profitable crops to grow in Quang Nam, so the sub-PPD were hopeful that the farmers would take up the outcomes of the project They also expressed thanks for their training- none of them had previous training in safe vegetable production, although there is a large area of safe leafy vegetable production near Hoi An None had any previous experience with tomato or cucumber production

Farmer surveys

As discussed earlier in this report, farmer participants in four provinces, Hai Phong, Thai Binh, Da Nang and Quang Nam were surveyed to for their feedback on the FFS and to assess their capacity improvement Four farmer participants were randomly selected by the sub-PPD staff in each province A summary of their descriptions, including location, gender, age, educational training and farming experience is presented as Table 1 There were 10 females (62%) and 6 males (38%) surveyed, a similar gender ratio to the overall farmer participation in FFS Their age ranged from

28 to 56, with a mean age of 47 With regard to educational training, the 6% had 6 years, 31% had 7, 31% had 9, 6% had 10 and 25% had 12 years The number of years farming experience varied from 10 to 32 years, with a mean of 23 years

The interviews were conducted by FAVRI staff who had been previous experience in the farmer surveys for the baseline data In each province, survey questionnaires were used to gather information from using a Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) approach However, in this case, data were collected individually by semi-structured interview Data included current crop varieties and area of crop grown, key pests and diseases, and the benefits they derived from participation in the FFS In this regard, farmers were allowed to nominate any benefits or detrimental aspects they considered appropriate, but with appropriate prompting by the interviewers to ensure that all aspects of the FFS and their possible outcomes were covered There were additional questions of clarification, especially on GAP, which could be used to clarify farmers’ understanding of the topic These were the same as those used in the baseline study The interview forms and a summary of the results for each province are presented in Appendix 2

While there were some differences in farmer responses between provinces, in general there were many similarities Approximately 50% of farmers attended both season’s FFS, with the rest only attending the most recent session Of those surveyed, 56% attended tomato FFS only, with the remainder attending both tomato and cucumber FFS This was province-specific, and it depended both on the crop production in the districts selected as well as the distance between the FFS locations

Table 1 Farmer Participants in project review survey

PROVINCE DISTRICT NAME MALE/

FEMALE

AGE EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

YEARS OF FARMING

THAI BINH KIEN

XUONG

Pham Thi Phuong

Nguyen

Ho Nhuan

Dinh

Thi Dung

Doan

Thi Chut

HAI PHONG Tran

Thi Dieu

Le

Truong Hai

Pham

Dinh Tinh

The production areas of the farmers surveyed varied between 300 to 1000 m2 for tomatoes and between 200 to 720 m2 for cucumbers Varieties of both tomatoes and cucumbers grown by farmers (local varieties) varied between provinces, but were similar to those reported in the baseline survey Of particular interest was that in Da Nang and Quang Nam, a local OP tomato, BOM, was the dominant variety grown None of the farmers surveyed in any province were using grafted tomatoes

Compared to the baseline survey, the farmers had more confidence in nominating their most important diseases There were almost no farmers who said they did not know about a nominated pest or disease, and the answers more closely reflected the advice provided to us by the SPPD staff, and followed up, where possible, by questions on examples in the field in the demonstration blocks This provided opportunities for “triangulation” of some of the survey data The most interesting outcome was that bacterial wilt was nominated in all provinces as the most important disease, with all but one farmer respondent saying it was very important (the other said it was important) This was different from the baseline study, and we believe the elevation of the status of this disease was a result of using grafted (i.e bacterial wilt-resistant) seedlings in the FFS and demonstration plots This enabled farmers to see the losses they may have previously tolerated in the absence of this technology

When farmers were asked which particular skills they had learned from the FFS, they overwhelmingly responded that they had learned a lot, although this varied with topic and province A summary of responses is presented in Table 2 The skills that were nominated as having been best learned (based on scores of “learned a lot”) were selecting the best varieties to produce (81%), knowing some varieties are more

resistant to disease (81%), accurately recognising damage of pests and diseases (75%), and safely applying pesticides (87.5%) The next most nominated skills were: choosing the best pesticide for control of pests and disease (69%), keeping accurate records of farm activities (63%) and using grafted tomatoes (57%) Those with the lowest score were pruning tomatoes (44%) and applying GAP (25%)

These results are interesting, and probably reflect the skills and experience of SPPD staff, and the design and implementation of the demonstration blocks For example, SPPD staff have extensive knowledge and experience in crop pests and diseases (although some are specific to tomatoes or cucumbers), and safely applying pesticides, two of the most highly scored tasks Recognition of local pests and was probably also reinforced in the field demonstration blocks However, selecting the best varieties to produce and knowing that some varieties are more resistant to disease were, in our view, largely outcomes of the demonstration blocks where the project team deliberately incorporated selected, superior disease-resistant varieties of tomato and cucumber in a comparison with the commonly locally grown variety It should be noted that “selecting the best variety” did not always mean the most disease resistant one In several cases, the outcomes of the demonstration plots reinforced farmers to retain their existing variety or select varieties other than the most disease-resistant one, primarily because of market acceptability (e.g tomatoes in Da Nang and Quang Nam and cucumbers in Quang Nam)

The lower skill scores for using grafted tomatoes and pruning tomatoes probably reflects the higher level of experience, understanding and skills in tomato production required by the SPPD staff to both teach in the FFS and to facilitate in the demonstration blocks This is understandable, because none of the staff in the provinces surveyed had previous experience in tomato or cucumber production, or in conducting FFS with these crops The higher score for grafting is probably an outcome of this technology being clearly displayed as part of the demonstration blocks, whereas maintenance of grafted plants in the field, pruning and other crop management skills require extensive experience However, the fact that the majority

of farmers responded that they had learned something (a little or a lot) in these areas suggests that the TOTs were effective in providing the SPPD staff with sufficient expertise to achieve a positive outcome in upgrading farmer skills

Two skills surveyed that related to GAP were: keeping accurate records of farm activities and applying GAP Almost two-thirds of the farmers responded that they had learned a lot about record keeping, and the rest indicated they had learned a little However, when we quizzed farmers about the level of records they were now keeping, some still kept no records, although most responded that they kept written records of crop yield and sales and of pesticide use These aspects were strongly emphasised in the FFS curriculum We did not, however, ask farmers for examples of their record keeping With regard to GAP, 75% of farmers responded they had learned

a little, with 25% reporting they had learned a lot This, in our view, is an accurate reflection As reported in our baseline study, farmers had generally not heard of GAP, and knew nothing about it In the review survey, when quizzed, they often responded that now they now knew what it was, but did not know how they would implement it

on their own farms As GAP was also a relatively new concept for the SPPD staff, and many of them were not able to fully explain it to the review team (other than it included selection of pesticides and their safe use, IPM and record keeping), this result is still encouraging However, given the size of the project farms and their locations, it is unlikely that most of these farmers would be seeking GAP certification (unless selling to supermarkets), even in the more distant future

When the farmers were asked about which new things from the FFS training they would you apply in their vegetable production, the most common responses (out of 16 respondents) were:

Table 2 Percentage of farmers which learned the following skills from the FFS

Select the best plant varieties

Accurately recognise damage

of pests and diseases

25.0 75.0

Choose best pesticide for

control of major pests and

diseases

6.3 25.0 68.8

Keep accurate records of farm

activities

37.5 62.5

Other (Please name)

Farmers’ responses to the specific question about whether they would use grafted tomatoes were consistent with their responses to the open question above However, it was interesting to note that all respondents from the Red River delta responded positively, whereas only 25% of those from the Central Coast (Da Nang and Quang Nam) gave a similar response We initially thought this latter response may, in part,

be because of the first year FFS problems with grafted seedlings from FAVRI However, their responses to one of the following questions about why they would not use grafted seedlings were that grafted seedlings were not available, or that they would be too expensive This may explain the apparent inconsistencies between the

information we received from respective SPPD staff (viz that growers were keen to adopt use of grafted seedlings) as well as earlier responses in the survey

All farmers who said they would use grafted seedlings indicated they would do so in the off (rainy) -season

The two last formal questions asked farmers whether they thought they would obtain higher production (yield) and whether they thought they would obtain a higher profit

by applying the things they had learned in the FFS There was 100% positive response

to both of these questions While this might have been predictable, the farmers appeared to be genuinely honest in their responses to the other survey questions, so

we were very pleased with this response

When asked whether there were any further comments they would like to make, there were only 2 responses, both of them positive One Thai Binh farmer responded “This was the best training I have attended”, and a Da Nang farmer, when prompted about whether there were some negative aspects of the program responded “Yes, there is a problem The higher yield we obtained means that the fruit are so much harder to carry.”

Economic benefits from adoption of project outputs

We have attempted to estimate economic benefits for farmers who adopt the outputs (new technology) arising from the project The underlying assumptions and the calculations are made below

Adoption of grafted tomatoes

All farmers who said they would adopt use of grafted plants said they would do so in the off (rainy) season Based on the demonstration sites which compared grafted and non-grafted plants, there were ≥40% higher yield from difference grafted crops (in several instances, the non-grafted crop completely failed) The yields from grafted tomatoes in the demonstration blocks, depending on the province and season, varied between 45-100 tonnes/ha If we assume the yield difference to be 50%, and the

normal yield to be 50 tonnes/ha, the difference in yield would be 25 tonnes/ha Because this production is in the off-season, the price for tomatoes should be quite high, say 4000 VND/kg So the increased return from grafted crops would be 100 M VND/ha The cost for grafted seedlings is 850 VND (eggplant-FAVRI) and 450 VND (tomato-Mr Phong), whereas the cost for non-grafted seedlings is 350 VND This means that the price differential is 500 and 100 VND, respectively Farmers plant between 15-20,000 seedlings/ha So the cost for using the grafting technology is between 1.5-7.0M VND/ha This results in an estimated increased profit of over 90M VND/ha This profit would be even greater if the price for grafted seedlings (especially for those grafted on eggplant, which is more technically difficult) was reduced However, as some farmers produce their own non-grafted seedlings (say, 50 VND/plant), they may have a differential input cost of between 8-17M VND/ha

Adoption of new tomato varieties

In the demonstration blocks in the Red River delta (and in the SSC evaluation trials in Southern Vietnam), the AVRDC varieties WVCT8 and/or WVCT2, outperformed or yielded similarly to the locally used variety (Perfect, Savior etc) SSC estimates that when it has registered these varieties, its seed will be available to farmers for 70,000 VND for 5g compared with Savior at 120,000 VND Calculating around 350 seeds/gram (and 90% germination), 1 ha would require ~ 45 g seed Savings for seed purchase would, therefore, be in the vicinity of 450,000 VND/ha

In addition, if there was an associated reduction in the number of pesticides applied, and/or there was reduced occurrence of TYLCV there would be further benefits While we did not record high levels of this virus disease in our demonstration blocks, data from the earlier evaluation trials and other anecdotal evidence indicated that up

to 25-30% of plants might be affected by this virus, and if infection occurs prior flowering, plant yield can be very low) So, using similar calculations above for the grafted tomatoes, in a severe TYLCV could gain nearly 50M VND/ha

Thus, adoption of the tomato varieties selected in the project could result in savings of without any reduction in yield or market acceptance

In Lam Dong, however, the variety Anna outperformed the AVRDC varieties (although in SSC trials in Lam Dong they performed better), and on the central Coast farmers preferred their local variety, BOM, because it had better market acceptance These farmers would, therefore, be unlikely to adopt the new varieties at this stage

Adoption of new cucumber varieties

The FAVRI variety CV5, was the preferred variety in the Red River delta and Da Nang, because of its high yield and market acceptance In the demonstration blocks, CV5 had between 50-70% higher yields than local varieties (although this difference was not so obvious in the evaluation trials) On the basis of normal production of CV5 around 40 tonnes/ha (50% higher than its local counterpart) and returns of 2500

VND/kg, this is estimated to be around 33 M VND/ha This figure is likely to be higher in the off-season, when mildews are more of a problem and the fruit price is higher There is unlikely to be a difference in seed price between the varieties

In addition, it was reported that there were at least one less fungicide during the

season applied to the CV5 This is a cost savings which will further increase farmers’

profits

Fig.4 Demonstration blocks in FFS

Tomato demonstration block in Thai Binh The crop on the left (with stakes)

is grafted tomato The one on the right (destroyed, no stakes) is non-grafted

Tomato demonstration in Hai Phong The crop on the left is AVRDC disease

resistant, and the crop (local variety) on the right is devastated with TYLC virus

Farmers and SPPD staff at cucumber demonstration block, Da Nang

Fig 5 Further examples of demonstration blocks in FFS

Demonstration block cucumbers, Hai Phong

Demonstration block cucumbers, Vinh Phuc

Grafted tomato plants in demonstration block Showing lack of pruning and

eggplant rootstock shooting

Fig 6 Tomato production in Red River delta

Grafted tomato plant with eggplant rootstock Note narrower diameter of rootstock

stem- probably the reason for reported slower development and delayed harvest

Tomato crop in Hai Phong, not part of FFS, devastated by bacterial wilt

Tomato seedling rearing by farmer Note nearness to diseased crop

Compare with Mr Phong’s production (Fig 2)

Capacity building in the project collaborating organisations

As part of the project review, we also asked the four key Vietnamese collaborating institutions: FAVRI, PVFC, PPD and SSC, for a written response to a number of questions, to identify institutional benefits, capacity building and future

developments/activities arising from their involvement in CARD 06/025 HUAF was not included, because they had no participation after the initial variety evaluation trials

The key personnel contacted for a response were:

FAVRI: Pham My Linh/ Tran Khac Thi

PVFC: Pham Xuan Tung

SSC: Nguyen Hoang Tuan  

PPD: Ngo Tien Dung

The questions asked were:

1 Based on your previous experience in projects, how do you rate this project? Poor, Medium, Good, Very Good

2 What were the major benefits of this project for you and your centre/organisation?

3 What were the major benefits to the farmers in your region?

4 Will there be any ongoing work from this project? If so, what is it?

5 What were the best things about the project?