Card Project VIE: Implementation of the IPM Program Using Weaver Ants as a Major Component for Cashew Growers in Vietnam - MS4" pdf

Institute Information Project Name Implementation of the IPM program using weaver ants as a major component for cashew growers in Vietnam Vietnamese Institution Institute of Agricultur

Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development

CARD Project Progress Report

029/05VIE Implementation of the IPM Program Using Weaver Ants as a Major Component for Cashew Growers

in Vietnam

MS4: SECOND SIX-MONTHLY REPORT

20 April 2007

1 Institute Information

Project Name Implementation of the IPM program using weaver

ants as a major component for cashew growers in Vietnam

Vietnamese Institution Institute of Agricultural Science of South Vietnam Vietnamese Project Team Leader Mr La Pham Lan

Australian Organisation Charles Darwin University

Australian Personnel Dr Keith Christian and Dr Renkang Peng

Date commenced February 2006

Completion date (original) January 2009

Completion date (revised)

Reporting period September 2006 - February 2007

Contact Officer(s)

In Australia: Team Leader

Name: Keith Christian Telephone: 61 8 89466706

Position: Associate Professor Fax: 61 8 89466847

Organisation Charles Darwin

University

Email: keith.christian@cdu.edu.au

In Australia: Administrative contact

Name: Jenny Carter Telephone: 61 08 89466708

Position: Research Manager Fax: 61 8 89467199

Organisation Charles Darwin University Email: jenny.carter@cdu.edu.au

In Vietnam

Name: La Pham Lan Telephone: 84 0913829560

Position: Head of Plant Protection

Department

Fax: 84 8 8297650

Organisation Institute of Agricultural

Science of South Vietnam

Email: lphlan@yahoo.com

2 Project Abstract

Cashew is a very important crop in Vietnam, and the government has designated cashew development as a national priority Productivity of cashew has increased since 2002, but the extensive use of pesticides has caused health problems to farmers, their animals and the environment The cashew IPM program using weaver ants as a key component developed at Charles Darwin University (CDU) does not use toxic insecticides, but results in high yield This project is to use the CDU cashew IPM to develop and implement a cashew IPM program that will work under Vietnamese conditions The proposed activities of the second 6 months have been achieved The TOT training at two training centres has been operating successfully

A total of 12 courses were delivered in the TOT training Weaver ant technology has been successfully transferred to IAS project staff and TOT trainees by CDU project staff The IPM curriculum development has been conducted smoothly Seventy photos have been obtained for the preparation of cashew IPM posters CDU has made another commitment towards this project by offering a Ph.D scholarship to an IAS staff member for a period of three years to work on a project related to this cashew IPM program

3 Executive Summary

The proposed activities for the second 6 months of the project have been achieved

The following are the achievements against each of the activities

The first year TOT training has been progressing well since the start of the project

The September training took place from 25 September to 2nd October Due to TOT

trainees’ heavy commitment to the brown leaf hopper control (MARD first priority),

the November training in 2006 was combined with January training in 2007, and this

combined training was conducted from 29 January – 10 February 2007 A total of 12

courses were delivered in the TOT training, and they include the following 7 aspects:

the main cashew insect pests and their control, the main cashew diseases and their

management, the natural enemies in cashew orchards, the use of weaver ants in

cashew orchards, the IPM principles, appropriate use of pesticides in the IPM systems

and cashew cultivation Under the supervision of master trainers, and using their own

observations, assessments and practice in the IPM plots, trainees have fully

understood the mechanism of weaver ants in controlling the major insect pests and

how to use the ants in cashew orchards To extensively use local knowledge about

weaver ants, an experienced citrus farmer was invited to give a talk to our TOT

trainees

The weaver ant technology has been successfully transferred to IAS project staff and

TOT trainees by CDU project staff A total of 14 weaver ant colonies were established

and maintained in our two demonstration orchards During the instalment of the

weaver ant colonies, we successfully used local knowledge to resolve the problems

caused by competitive species of other ants During the harvest time, it was noticed

that cashew nuts produced in the IPM plot were shiny and cleaner than the nuts

produced in the farmer managed plot The orchard owners in Binh Phuoc province are

happy with this IPM program

The IPM curriculum development has been conducted smoothly It has concentrated

on the data collection from field surveys and regular monitoring of the demonstration orchards We have also collected sufficient data from field observations and

laboratory rearing for several chapters of the cashew IPM curriculum

During this reporting period, a total of 70 photos have been obtained for the

preparation of cashew IPM posters These photos include insect pests, natural

enemies, weaver ant behaviour, weaver ant colony transplantation and their

management and the control of competitive species of ants in cashew orchards Because of the positive influence of this project in Vietnam, Charles Darwin

University has made another commitment towards this project by offering a Ph.D scholarship to an IAS staff member for a period of three years to work under this cashew IPM program

Mr La Pham Lan has been nominated as the project leader in charge of Vietnamese personnel and expenses of the project because the former project leader, Dr Pham Van Bien, retired in November 2006

The progress of the current TOT training is attached at the end of this report

4 Introduction & Background

The aims of this project are to increase cashew yield and improve nut quality Specific objectives are (1) to conduct TOT training in cashew IPM for TOT trainers to conduct FFSs in their local region, (2) to develop an IPM cashew curriculum and a series of illustrative posters that will work in Vietnamese conditions based on the cashew IPM programs developed in Australia and (3) to assess the effectiveness of the FFS model

in increasing farmer knowledge and reducing pesticide use in cashew production The project expects to result in 120 TOT cashew IPM trainers from eight major cashew growing provinces and 3750 cashew farmers educated in cashew FFSs A practical guide for cashew IPM and a series of illustrative posters will be developed The effectiveness of FFS in enhancing farmer knowledge in cashew cultivation will

be assessed

The project will concentrate on (1) the use of the farmer participatory training and research program, involving TOT and FFSs and (2) the development of a cashew IPM curriculum and illustrative posters based on field monitoring, observations and

experiments by field experimentalists, TOT trainees and FFS participants

The implementation methods include establishment of demonstration orchards for TOT courses, the TOT and FFS training, the development of a cashew IPM

curriculum and IPM posters, and the community baseline surveys A total of 8 major cashew-growing provinces, which have 300,700 ha of cashew, accounting for 86% of the total cashew areas in Vietnam will be targeted

5 Progress to Date

Based on our logframe, this report will cover activities I, III and IV of our project proposal The following is the progress against each of the proposed activities

5.1 Implementation Highlights

Activity I has three aspects: I(i), I(ii) and I(iii) I (i) Identification of regions within each of the 6 participating provinces to be targeted for the program and I (ii) Selection

of IPM trainers from each targeted region to undertake TOT training in cashew IPM have been previously reported (see the First Six-monthly Report for detail)

I (iii) TOT training in cashew IPM undertaken

During this reporting period from August 2006 to February 2007, we planned three TOT training periods: (1) 13 – 19 September 2006 (September training), (2) 24

November – 2 December 2006 (November – December training) and (3) 10 – 16 January 2007 (January training) However, the brown leafhopper was in outbreak in rice fields, threatening the Vietnamese national rice production The government of Vietnam considered this issue as a top priority for every provincial Sub-PPD All our TOT trainees were heavily involved in this campaign between September 2006 and January 2007 This resulted in a delay of our TOT training The September training was delayed for two weeks, and it took place from 25 September to 1st October 2006 The November - December training was combined with the January training

(combined January TOT training), and it was conducted from 29 January – 9 February

2007 This report will address September TOT training, the combined January TOT training, the establishment of weaver ant colonies in demonstration orchards and progress of the cashew IPM curriculum and posters

(1) September TOT training

The September TOT training was conducted from 25 September to 1st October 2006

in Dong Nai training centre and from 26 September to 2 October 2006 in Binh Phuoc training centre This training occurred during the period of cashew tree monsoon flush, and so, the training concentrated on cashew variety selection, suitable use of fertilizers, insecticide use in IPM systems, cashew diseases and their control

strategies, and weaver ants and other natural enemies in cashew orchards The courses

we delivered are tabulated in Table 1 Trainees were interested in the courses and practicals They were also satisfied with our training methods (see Appendix 1)

(2) The combined January TOT training

This TOT training was conducted from 29 January – 9 February 2007 in Dong Nai training centre and from 30 January – 10 February 2007 in Binh Phuoc training

centre, and it occurred during late flowering and fruit setting The training mostly concentrated on the biology of weaver ants, how to use weaver ant colonies in cashew orchards, the problems of using weaver ants and their solutions and the main cashew insect pests and diseases The courses we delivered are listed in Table 2 Trainees were interested in courses and practicals (see Appendix 1) Under the supervision of master trainers, TOT trainees have fully understood the mechanism of weaver ants to control the major insect pests in cashew orchards and the use of the weaver ant

technology This was accomplished by their own observations, their own practice and their own assessment of the major insect pest damage between the IPM plots and the farmers’ plots

(3) Establishment of weaver ant colonies in demonstration orchards

During the cashew pre-flowering flush, which was the best time to transplant weaver ant colonies into cashew IPM plots, Dr Peng went to Vietnam on 20 November in order to transfer the weaver ant technology to TOT trainees in the

November-December TOT training Because the TOT trainees in each provincial Sub-PPD were heavily involved in controlling brown leafhoppers in rice fields during that period, the November – December TOT training was forced to be delayed Therefore, Dr Peng had to transfer the weaver ant technology to key project staff in the IAS and

demonstration orchard owners by working with them as a group Staff who

participated in the transplantation of weaver ant colonies are listed in Table 3 Later IAS staff demonstrated this ant technology to TOT trainees in the January TOT

training, and the trainees had plenty of time to practice with it The whole

implementation of the weaver ant technology included (1) the identification of ants on each tree in the IPM plots, (2) baiting of competitive ant species, (3) Determination of weaver ant colonies, (4) Transplantation of weaver ant colonies, (5) grouping trees together to receive the transplanted ant colonies, and (6) the management of the ant colonies in the IPM plots

Identification of ants on each tree in the IPM plots

Due to regular use of insecticides, no weaver ants were found in the two IPM plots, but several species of other ants were identified as being weaver ant competitors The

major competitive ant at the Binh Phuoc IPM plot was the crazy ant, Anoplolepis gracilipes, which was very abundant, occupying every tree The main species of competitive ants in Dong Nai IPM plot were the crematogaster ant, Crematogaster sp

with large numbers occupying one third of the trees in the IPM plot, and the small

black ant, Tapinoma melanocephalum, that was abundant on the remaining trees of

the plot

Baiting of competitive ant species

Ant baits (Amdro and Campaign ant bait) brought from Australia were tried on these ants with several different medium, but they did not work on these ants At the Binh Phuoc site, through detailed examination of crazy ant behaviour, it was found that almost all the ant nests were build in the fallen leaves close to the bare soil In order to reduce the size of the large populations of crazy ants, we raked fallen leaves under each tree base to expose the ant nests and simultaneously sprayed with a contact-killing insecticide (Motox® 5EC ) This operation was repeated the next day on the tree base for some trees where crazy ant nests were not found in the first operation After the two days, the crazy ant populations were eradicated from the cashew trees, and weaver ant colonies were transplanted into the plot eight days later At the Dong Nai site, the Crematogaster ants were nesting on cashew tree branches, and the small black ant were nesting underground at or near tree base The contact-killing

insecticide was not effective in controlling these two species of ants After we

consulted local farmers and insecticide shop assistants, we were told that minced fresh fish meat mixed with Regent® (Fipronil) powder is effective in controlling many species of ants Therefore, we tried this bait (minced buck mackerel (500g) mixed with Regent® powder (0.8g)) We found that this bait was very attractive to these two species of ants Examination of the ant nests the next day showed that almost all the

crematogaster ants were dead in their nests, including queen ants, and that the small black ant activity was greatly reduced Seven days later after this baiting, weaver ant colonies were transplanted into this plot

Determination of weaver ant colonies

Because weaver ants are very susceptible to toxic insecticides and because

insecticides have been extensively used in cashew growing areas, we had difficulty finding weaver ant colonies near the demonstration orchards After extensive

searching, we successfully located enough weaver ant colonies in the suburb of Dong Xoai Town, Binh Phuoc province and in the residential area of Trang Bom Town, Dong Nai province where insecticides were rarely or never used A total of 13

colonies in Binh Phuoc and 17 colonies in Dong Nai were identified (Table 4) The procedures of identifying the ant colonies will be described in detail in the IPM

curriculum

Transplantation of weaver ant colonies

Of the 13 colonies identified at Dong Xoai Town, Binh Phuoc province, 7 were

collected and transported to the Binh Phuoc demonstration orchard Of the 17 weaver ant colonies identified in the residential area of Trang Bom Town, Dong Nai province,

7 were transplanted to the Dong Nai demonstration orchard Collecting methods and facilities needed for weaver ant collection will be described in detail in the IPM curriculum

Grouping trees together to receive the transplanted ant colonies

Based on the size of the collected weaver ant colonies, trees in the Binh Phuoc IPM plot were grouped into 7 groups The number of trees in each group varied from 4 to

9, and the average number of trees was 6.7 per group Each group of trees received only one weaver ant colony Trees within a group were linked by polystrings to

promote ant activity if the side branches were not attached to each other The

boundary between the groups of trees was kept clear by pruning attached side

branches between trees to prevent fighting between weaver ant colonies

Trees in the Dong Nai IPM plot were also grouped into 7 groups The number

of trees in each group varied from 6 to 12 based on the size of collected weaver ant colonies, and the average number of trees was 8.6 per group A total of 7 colonies were installed, and the management of trees within each group and between groups was the same as in the Binh Phuoc IPM plot (see above)

Management of the weaver ant colonies in the IPM plots

After weaver ant colonies were transplanted into the IPM plots, instructions for

weaver ant colony monitoring and management were provided to IAS project staff for the maintenance of the ants in IPM plots

III Cashew IPM curriculum development

The IPM curriculum development is being conducted smoothly It has mainly

concentrated on the data collection from field surveys, observations and regular monitoring of the IPM plots during the period of monsoon flush (III (i)),

pre-flowering and fruiting flush (III (ii)) and cashew harvest (III (iii)) The data obtained and analysed during the monsoon flush period (III (i)) were given in our last

6-monthly report, and data obtained during this reporting period - pre-flowering and fruiting flush (III (ii)), are reported below

III(ii) Data collected from field surveys, monitoring, observations and

experiments conducted on TOT training orchards in cashew pre-flowering and nut setting periods

Because the vacuum sampler was broken, regular sampling of cashew insect pests and their natural enemies was not conducted until December 2006 Regular monitoring of the main insect pests at the Dong Nai and Binh Phuoc demonstration orchards has been carried out since September 2006, and regular monitoring of weaver ant

population changes has been conducted since December 2006 The data analyses are

in progress, and will be reported in the next progress report

We conducted several field surveys and observations on the major insect pests and their natural enemies in the same cashew orchards as we did five months ago in Dong Nai, Ba Ria Vung Tau and Binh Phuoc The orchard in Ba Ria-Vung Tau was sprayed

by the orchard owner, which was unexpected The data obtained from that orchard cannot be compared with the data obtained in July 2006 Trees in Mr Who’s orchard had no flushing terminals, and so we were unable to assess the main insect pest

damage in relation to the abundance of weaver ants and crematogaster ants The data collected from Mr Quang’s orchard in Binh Phuoc are shown in Table 5, and it shows that (1) at this time of year, the most important insect pests were the shoot borer

(Alcides sp) and the tea mosquito bug (Helopeltis antonii) and (2) trees with abundant

weaver ants were significantly less damaged by the two main insect pests than trees with small black ants or no ants These results will be used in our next TOT training Having compared the spatial distribution of weaver ants between July and December (Fig 1), two points of interest arise: (1) weaver ants significantly spread all over the orchard from a colonisation level of 37% in July to 74% in December (Table 6); and (2) due to increased weaver ant colonisation in December, the overall damage on flushing shoots was greatly reduced from 24.4% in July to 3.3% in December for shoot borer damage and from 5.8% in July to 0.9% in December for tea mosquito bug damage With respect to the first point, we also found that the high colonisation level

in December was due to the dispersal of three existing weaver ant colonies on three sides of the orchard (Fig 1) This is particularly interesting According to our baseline survey, most cashew orchards in Vietnam have no weaver ants due to frequent

insecticide spray Thus, we assumed that to use weaver ants, farmers would have to transplant many weaver ant colonies (about 15 colonies if they have 1.5 ha of cashew

on average) to cover every tree in their orchard However, the evidence in Fig 1 suggests that farmers only need to transplant a few weaver ant colonies and release each colony in a corner of the orchard Over a wet season, each colony will spread into many more trees, and gradually occupy every tree in the orchard if the farmers follow appropriate management procedures that will be written on the cashew IPM curriculum This ability for the weaver ants to spread will be extensively discussed in our next TOT training

In addition to this, we have also collected sufficient data from field observations and laboratory rearing for the following chapters of the cashew IPM curriculum during the period of cashew pre-flowering and flowering flush:

- Cashew orchard management including weeding and fertilizing,

- The main cashew insect pests and diseases, and

- Common natural enemies

IV Cashew IPM poster development

IV(i) Photos, diagrams and graphs from field surveys, monitoring, observations and experiments conducted on TOT training orchards have been reported (see our last 6-monthly report) for the cashew monsoon flush

IV(ii) Photos, diagrams and graphs from field surveys, monitoring, observations and experiments conducted on TOT training orchards in cashew pre-flowering and flowering flush

During the period of cashew pre-flowering and flowering, a total of 70 photos have been obtained for the preparation of cashew IPM posters; 6 of insect pests, 17 of natural enemies, 7 of weaver ant behaviour, 22 of weaver ant colony transplantation and their management, and 18 of controlling competitive species of ants including ant baits A detailed selection of these photos will be made after we have comments and suggestions from TOT trainees and farmers

5.2 Smallholder Benefits

The expected benefits for smallholder from this project, according to our baseline survey, have been described in our last 6-monthly report Because the first year TOT training is still on-going, FFS cannot be opened until August 2007 Therefore, at this stage, it is impossible to report on the smallholder benefits from this project

5.3 Capacity Building

Dr Peng went to Vietnam in November 2006 to work with IAS project staff to

introduce the ant technology, and he went to Vietnam again in March 2007 to inspect the general management of the transferred weaver ant colonies The results showed that IAS staff and the TOT trainees can operate the ant technology successfully, and they are now familiar with the whole working procedures including orchard

preparation, controlling of competitive species of ants, identification of weaver ant colonies, transplantation of the ants into cashew orchards, and management and maintenance of the weaver ant colonies Under the supervision of Dr Peng, they have also gained extensive experience with the assessment of weaver ant abundance and the levels of insect pest damage

Because of the positive influence of this project in Vietnam, Charles Darwin University has made another commitment towards this project by offering a Ph.D scholarship to an IAS staff (Mr Nguyen Thanh Binh) for a period of three years to work on a project related to the cashew IPM program Mr Nguyen Thanh Binh started his Ph.D study 31 March 2007

5.4 Publicity

The project activities including TOT training were reported by local media and

agricultural News Papers of Vietnam AusAID logos have been displayed in all our activities

5.5 Project Management

Because the project leader, Dr Pham Van Bien, retired in November 2006, Mr La Pham Lan has been nominated as the project leader Mr Lan is in charge of

Vietnamese personnel and expenses of the project He will be also manage two

training centres and the demonstration orchards During this reporting period, Mr Nguyen Thanh Binh was in charge of the training centre and the demonstration

orchard in Dong Nai province Since 31 March 2007, Mr Binh has started his Ph.D research related to this project, and he has been using the two demonstration orchards

as a major part of his study Therefore, Mr Lan can be helped by Mr Binh in the management of the two demonstration orchards Associate Professor Keith Christian and Dr Renkang Peng are responsible for the overall coordination of the project and will meet reporting requirements with input from Vietnamese personnel as required

Dr Peng has been monitoring all the activities, and he is also responsible for the implementation of the IPM program, for the part of the TOT training and for the field

data analyses

6 Report on Cross-Cutting Issues

6.1 Environment

According to our baseline survey, pesticides have a negative effect on cashew

farmers’ health, farm animals and the environment, as reported in our last 6-monthly report Significant improvement of the environment and farmers’ health will be

achieved by the implementation of this cashew IPM program We transplanted weaver ant colonies into our demonstration orchards November 2006 During the period of cashew flowering and fruiting, we did not use any pesticides During the harvest time, the orchard owners told us that cashew nuts produced in the IPM plot were shiny and cleaner than the nuts produced in their own managed plot They believe that the cashew IPM program will certainly improve the farming environment

6.2 Gender and Social Issues

Based on our baseline survey, women already play a very important role in cashew production About 40% of labour was provided by women in orchard management, including weeding, pruning, fertilizing, harvesting, etc Because the weaver ant technology is not physically strenuous, and it does not involve toxic insecticide spray, its adoption could further promote women’s participation in smallholder’s cashew production