Project Technical Report: " Capacity Building in Applied Natural Resource Economics and Management for Vietnam " ppt

Tran Dinh Thao Australian Organisation Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia Completion date revised Reporting period Contact

Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development

Project Technical Report

(Milestone 3) Capacity Building in Applied Natural Resource Economics and Management for Vietnam

(Project No 025/05VIE)

Date: 11 th April 2007

Resource Economics and Management

16

Annex 3 Web Page Contents of the Agricultural Knowledge

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Institute Information

Economics and Management for Vietnam

Hanoi Agricultural University Gialam, Hanoi, Vietnam

Vietnamese Project Team Leader Mr Tran Dinh Thao

Australian Organisation Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources

University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

Completion date (revised)

Reporting period

Contact Officer(s)

In Australia: Team Leader

Organisation Faculty of Agriculture, Food

and Natural Resources University of Sydney, NSW

2006, Australia

Email: g.macaulay@usyd.edu.au

a.vervoort@usyd.edu.au

In Australia: Administrative contact

Organisation Research Grants

University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia

Email: Luda.kuchieva@usyd.edu.au

In Vietnam

Position: Senior Lecturer, Head of

Organisation Faculty of Economics and Rural

Development Hanoi Agricultural University Gialam, Hanoi, Vietnam

Email: tdthao@netnam.org.vn

Or trandinhthaoktl@yahoo.com

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Project Abstract

With very rapid growth and development in Vietnam, there is a danger of overuse and mismanagement of natural resources, thus compromising sustainable development The level of knowledge, understanding and use of the principles of natural resource management (NRE) is limited in Vietnamese agriculture The designed outcome of the project is to begin to have resource management concepts used in various institutions in Vietnam (Universities, MARD, and the extension system) and to strengthen the ability to deliver knowledge, set policies and advise farmers in this area This outcome is being approached through a participatory approach using workshops in Vietnam on NRE held by the University of Sydney staff and the staff of the participating organizations Two training workshops and extension workshops each have already been held in Hanoi and Can Tho, Vietnam Two of the Vietnamese scholars have had three month visits to the University of Sydney so as to broaden their understanding of NRE In the next stage, three more extension workshops will be held

at the provincial level by Vietnamese staff with participation of USYD team members, thus transferring the acquired knowledge to extension specialists and thereby to smallholder farmers In the final stage, five training workshops/field days with farmers will be conducted to demonstrate the use and application of practical knowledge and skills in resource management

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Introduction

This report has been prepared as a part of the project milestone three, which includes;

1 The baseline for a natural resource economics curriculum at Hanoi Agricultural University (HAU) and Can Tho University and an assessment of the competency and knowledge levels of university faculty staff in natural resource economics and the available information

2 Farmer surveys and priorities for farmer intervention in natural resource economics

3 Documentation of an Agricultural Knowledge Information System including details of the website and an implementation plan agreed to by HAU and Can Tho University

4 Policy briefs based on the research work of two Vietnamese research scholars

1 Competency Assessment and Curriculum Development

This project was designed to strengthen the teaching and research capacity in the field

of natural resource economics in several key Vietnamese institutions of higher education This is being accomplished through assistance in curriculum development and course design and transfer of research and training expertise

The first stage of the project, that is, institutional capacity building has been approached through conducting training workshops on Natural Resource Economics and Management run by staff of The University of Sydney in Hanoi and Can Tho Assistance was also provided by a group of academics at Hanoi Agricultural University (there were 26 participants), and Can Tho University (there were 19 participants) in July 2006 The aim of the workshops was to enhance the capacity of the participants to pass on the acquired knowledge to extension specialists Pre and post workshop competency tests were conducted among the participants to compare their knowledge level before and after the workshops The results were very satisfactory; in the post workshop competency tests (Refer to Annex 1)

The curriculum development part of the project for the Vietnamese Institutions is currently in progress Issues of curriculum and course design have been discussed at both of the Vietnamese institutions visited by the University of Sydney team

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members In Hanoi they met with Dr Thuy, a lecturer at Hanoi Agricultural University who teaches the unit Environmental Economics (January 2006) We had a very good discussion and reviewed the curriculum for the unit The unit content was reasonably standard, with an emphasis on theoretical concepts Even though these concepts are important and useful in grasping the problems of environmental economics, it was mutually agreed that the curriculum for this unit could benefit from incorporating more practical activities These included: exercises based on custom built MS-Excel spreadsheets, analysis and discussion of research papers, short essays

on certain aspects of environmental and resource economics, etc It was agreed to consider the specific areas of environmental and resource economics that will be covered in this project and to make them available to Dr Thuy

In Can Tho a meeting was held with Ms Vo Thi Lang, a lecturer in environmental economics at Can Tho University, with whom collaboration in reviewing curricula was discussed for the subjects that she was teaching Work is continuing on identifying the curriculum needs for Environmental and Resource Economics at Can Tho University

A more detailed stakeholder/beneficiary analysis using a participatory approach with

a focus on smallholder farmers was planned as one of the first activities within this project which would help to identify the key concerns and needs that the farmers have

in relation to the natural resources The farmer survey has been completed with a total

of 90 respondents 15 participants each were interviewed from Bac Giang, Bac Lieu, Hung Yen and Soc Trang regions and another 30 participants were interviewed from

Ha Tinh region The possible key interventions, as identified from the farmer survey are given below

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Possible Key Interventions

Water issues appear to raise serious concerns among the sampled farmers, suggesting that improvements in irrigation and drainage systems are high on the list of key interventions (Where irrigation systems exist, high fees have been raised as a concern.) Water quality is also an issue, with water pollution being identified as a constraint on shrimp farming Water treatment facilities may be a possible area for policy intervention Declining fish stocks were also identified as a major problem, meaning that regulatory intervention in the open access fishing industries is in urgent need of various forms of policy mechanisms to manage the stocks

Regarding terrestrial farming, unclear farm boundaries and uncontrolled ruminant grazing suggest the importance of clarifying property rights, so that use of on-farm resources can be more efficiently (and sustainably) managed by the property owner

It is also notable that in two surveyed provinces (Soc Trang and Bac Lieu) less than

10 per cent of the sampled farmers had access to agricultural extension services The issue of availability of extension services in those areas should be addressed Fuller details are provided in the attached farmer survey Report in Annex 2

3 Agricultural Knowledge Information System Website Implementation Plan

The creation of the Agricultural Knowledge Information System (AKIS) website was first proposed by the project participants during the project inception meeting in January, 2006 and again during the first round of workshops in July, 2006 The key issues identified were in relation to hosting the website, securing an appropriate domain name, general design features and content, and web administration issues The project team appointed Mr Nguyen Duy Linh of Hanoi Agricultural University as a website administrator with the primary responsibility of setting up, maintaining and updating the website This was deemed appropriate, since administering the website in Vietnam and by a Vietnamese team member was seen as a valuable contribution to the capacity building objective of the project It was also decided that Ms Annette Vervoort of The University of Sydney, will act as a web administrator and she will be responsible for uploading materials provided by the Australian team members

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Current status

The website domain name is www.resman.edu.vn and is currently operational in an initial version and is temporarily hosted on the HAU server It consists of both Vietnamese and English components The website has been publicised in the recent round of workshops The website target audience is Vietnamese academics and students in the area of natural resource and environmental economics, policymakers in this area (MARD), extension workers and farmers with some expertise in the area Currently, the website contains the description of the Projects, the materials from the first round of workshops (Powerpoint presentations), as well as useful links to internet resources

Actions to be taken

Updating the website contents with new material needs to be expedited, and its usage needs to be encouraged through publicising its existence The following steps have been agreed upon:

1 Uploading the most recently available material flowing from the project (workshop materials, research papers by research scholars, workshop schedules and programs, further links, photos, etc.) This will be undertaken by Mr Linh and Ms Vervoort It

is expected that the website will be fully functional by the end of 2007 with all materials and resources being posted and organised along with easy accessibility

2 Further publicity for the website will be provided through e-mails sent to relevant institutions and agencies in Vietnam during the December 2007 to January 2008 period

3 Usage of the website and the active involvement of the project partners, Hanoi Agricultural University, CanTho University and Hue University, will be encouraged through a letter from the project leaders, Gordon MacAulay and Tran Dinh Thao These letters will be sent to people and departments in the three participating universities and some other related organisations This step will help inform potential users about the existence and functionality of the website and encourage further dissemination of the website address, in particular, to extension agencies and officers (details of the website are provided in Annex 3)

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4 Policy Briefs

Two policy briefs have been prepared based on the research work of the two research scholars (Ms Do Thi Den, Can Tho University and Ms Le Thi Kim Lien, Hue Economics University) The research scholars arrived at The University of Sydney in July and completed their research projects related to the development of case studies

in resource use in Vietnam Ms Do Thi Den, who arrived on 22nd July and departed

on 22nd October 2006, carried out research entitled “The Efficiency of Prawn Production in the Mekong Delta” Similarly, Ms Le Thi Kim Lien, who arrived on

27th August and departed on 1st Nov 2006, undertook a research project entitled

“Alternative Systems of Shrimp Culture in the Lagoon Area of Thua Thien, Hue, Vietnam” Ms Den prepared a paper and which was presented at the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Conference, held in Queenstown, New Zealand

in February 2007 and this was used as the basis for the policy brief entitled “The Efficiency of Prawn Production in the Mekong Delta.” The policy brief relating to

Ms Lien’s work was entitled “Alternative Systems of Shrimp Culture in the Lagoon area of Thua Thien, Hue, Vietnam.” Both briefs identified the CARD project 025/05 VIE and points of contact in relation to the work These will be made available on the website and are provided below

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Policy Brief (1)

AusAID CARD Project 025/05 VIE

The Efficiency of Prawn Production in the Mekong Delta

of risk involved and particularly the risk of disease outbreaks The profitability of prawn farms depends to a considerable extent on their productivity

Economic efficiency has two components: technical efficiency and allocative efficiency (Farrell 1957) Technical efficiency reflects the ability of a farm to obtain maximum output from a given set of inputs using the available technology (Dey et al., 2000) The levels of technical efficiency of 193 prawn farms from Bac Lieu province were analysed A stochastic frontier model was used to determine the technical efficiency of each farm in the production of prawns Then, a second regression model was run, using the technical efficiency measures and data on the characteristics of the households and farms, to determine which factors were most likely to influence the level of technical efficiency for a household

Data from 193 households with prawn farms in Bac Lieu Province were collected in

2004 On average, the surveyed farmers (head of household) had completed five years

of education, and those operating intensive operations generally had a slightly higher level of education Those with intensive operations had smaller households The average farm area for intensive farms was 1.2 hectares and 1.74 hectares for the extensive farmers The average years of experience in prawn farming was 4 years and

5 years for intensive and extensive prawn farms respectively However, a large portion of intensive prawn farmers had very little or no experience in prawn farming The average net income of the intensive operators (VND 60 million) was much higher than that of the extensive operators (VND 10 million) This is the result of yield being about eight times higher and the production costs being about nine times higher

in intensive as compared to extensive operations Intensive prawn farming was more profitable on average; however, there was about 37 per cent of both types of farmers with negative profits A small number of the farmers (7 per cent) gained very high profits of over VND 200 million Intensive farming dominated both the categories of very high profits and very high losses

The average productivity of prawn farms in Vietnam was investigated in a recent survey, and was reported to be 150 kg/ha/year in extensive farming up to 6,000 – 10,000 kg/ha in the case of intensive farming practice (Estelles et al., 2002) This can

be compared to overall averages of prawn farm productivity levels in some of the major prawn producing countries like Thailand (3,116 kg/ha), Malaysia (1,500 kg/ha), China (800 kg/ha), Philippines (770 kg/ha) and India (635 kg/ha) (Kumar et al., 2004)

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Using the stochastic frontier approach, levels of efficiency were obtained and it was found that labour use, seed (fingerlings), and feed use were the important variables driving production The estimated technical efficiency ranged from zero to 90 per cent with a mean of 46 per cent Thus, on average prawn farmers were producing at about 46 per cent of their possible efficiency (intensive 35 per cent and extensive 48 per cent) These efficiencies were lower than those estimated in India (Kumar et al 2004) and the Philippines (Dey et al 2000)

Considering the factors that affect efficiency, it was found that the more experienced growers and the younger growers were generally technically more efficient, but that the higher educated were less efficient It is likely that better educated but much less experienced farmers are managing the intensive farms This type of operation requires greater skills to run and thus it is more difficult to achieve high level of efficiency and profitability

3 Prawn farming in the Mekong Delta is currently a risky business so that the

efficient management of inputs is important if the risk is to be reduced This will involve improved knowledge and skills in using inputs of feed, seed and labour so

as to avoid disease outbreaks and other risk factors

References

Dey, M.M., Paraguas, F.J., Bimbao, G.B and Regaspi, P.B., 2000, ‘Technical efficiency of Tilapia growout pond

operations in the Philippines’, Aquaculture Economics and Management, vol 4, pp 33-47

Estelles, P., Jensen, H and Sanchez, L., 2002, Sustainable Development in the Mekong Delta, Centre for

Environmental Studies, University of Aarhus, Denmark

Farrell, M.J., 1957, ‘The measurement of productive efficiency’, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A (General), vol 120, no 3, pp 253-290

Kumar, A., Birthal, P.S and Badruddin, 2004, ‘Technical efficiency in prawn farming in India: estimation and

implications,’ Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics; vol 59, no 3, pp 413-420

Email: t.ancev@usyd.edu.au

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Policy Brief (2)

AusAID CARD Project 025/05 VIE

Alternative Systems of Shrimp Culture in the Lagoon area of Thua Thien, Hue, Vietnam

Purpose

To provide information on research work carried out to investigate alternative shrimp farming systems, their profitability, riskiness and cost structures in the lagoon area of Thua Thien area in Hue Province

Background

The lagoon area in Thua Thien province is over 22,000 ha and has a population of 350,000 people and 5,734 households There are both lagoon and coastal fisheries in the area About 79 per cent of the farms are producing shrimp The lagoon has been heavily exploited and there are now a number of resource management problems affecting the quality of the environment, the water quality and the ecology

Issues

• Different management systems for shrimp production have very different

environmental impacts and also different economic performance

• Many factors appear to underlie the choice of a management system for shrimp farming

• Rapid development of shrimp farming appears to have led to limited consideration

of the economic and environmental costs

Findings

Factors shown to affect shrimp productivity in Thua Thien province include (Phuc 2006):

• Density and variety of shrimp

• Use of industrial feeds

• Provision of fresh feed

• Pond settlement

• Disease prevention

• Labour inputs and costs

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• Culture forms

Profitability per hectare was as in Table 1 for each of the different systems

Table 1 Profit and productivity measures for Thua Thien Lagoon Area, Hue Province Farming system Profit per ha Productivity

(kg/ha) thousand VND Profit per

of turnover

Profit per thousand VND

Source: Survey of 171 farm households in October and November 2005 (Lien 2006).

It was also found that the intensive farming system has the highest productivity and profitability but also has the highest variability of profits and the highest production costs (both capital and variable costs) This implies that the intensive shrimp farming system is inherently more risky, especially when it is known that it requires highly skilful and experienced management Thus, even though the intensive farming system

is the most profitable, it is not a system that should be automatically chosen The choice of the shrimp farming system should be made based upon careful consideration

of the following constraints that face the farmer:

- capital and labour constraints,

- constraints on the capacity to service operational costs during the growing season,

- constraints on minimum required income for existence of the farmer’s family,

- farmer’s attitudes (preferences) toward risk,

- environmental (water quality) constraints

Currently, further research is being undertaken in the University of Sydney that aims

at putting all these constraints together and designing a decision support tool for making optimal choices of shrimp farming system The results from this research will

be publicly available and communicated through the website www.resman.edu.vn

Policy Implications

1) Poorer farmers generally are using the extensive method of production because of

a lack of capital and skills Training and education in shrimp farming techniques

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and good access to capital resources would seem to be a prerequisite for economic progress in this area

2) The choice of a shrimp farming system requires balancing a number of factors and

is dependent on the individual farmer’s circumstances and constraints, as well as their attitude toward risk In addition, the choice of a farming system will depend

on the environmental situation in a particular locality In areas where water quality

is a significant issue, the systems with lower environmental impact clearly will have an advantage

3) Given the range of factors that need to be evaluated the extension system could have a more substantial role in advising entrants in the shrimp farming industry about how to choose a farming system that suits best their circumstances, but which also conforms to the environmental situation in a given locality

References

Lien, L.T.K., 2006, Four Alternative Systems of Shrimp Culture in the lagoon Area of Thua Thien in Hue,

Vietnam, CARD Research Paper, Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Sydney, Sydney Phuc, N.T., 2006, Research on the Aquaculture of the Lagoon Area in Thua Thien, Hue Province, Vietnam,

Economics College, Hue University

More information may be obtained from: Dr Tiho Ancev, Agricultural and Resource Economics, Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, University of Sydney, NSW, 2006 and Ms Le Thi Kim Lien, Hue Economics University, Hue, Vietnam For further work in this area visit the website: www.resman.edu.vn

Email: t.ancev@usyd.edu.au

Signature

Signature

Date

a) something outside economics

b) something outside your country (an international impact)

c) an effect of one person’s or firm’s actions on another person or firm

d) a visitor from outside the region

b) A television broadcast that is “free to air” is an example of:

a) a rival and excludable good

b) a non-rival and excludable good

c) a rival and non-excludable good

d) a non-rival and non-excludable good

c) “Allocation by queuing (‘first come first served’) is not economically efficient.”

a) Contingent valuation is a way of assessing:

a) values in actual markets

b) va lues of special characteristics of a market good (like the premium value of a house because it has a prime location)

c) values when the future is uncertain

d) values is a hypothetical setting for a non market good

b) Net present value will allow us to measure:

a) a single period net price of a resource in a market

b) a capitalised value of a flow of income from a resource stock

d) how much profit is made from sales of the resource this period

e) the net amount the stock has grown by this time period

c) “Discounting is a method for expressing future dollar (dong) values in present terms.”

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3 Policy

a) A subsidy for water use in irrigation systems will most likely:

a) lead to an inefficient overuse of water

b) be in the national interest by helping only poor farmers

c) will increase water availability to individual farmers in the long run

d) lead to environmentally healthier rivers

d) Putting a tax on output from the aquaculture industry will most likely:

a) increase the output from the aquaculture industry

b) improve water quality in the aquaculture regions

c) attract more entrants to the industry

d) make the government richer by impoverishing farmers

c) “Extension activity (providing information) is appropriate for resolving most resource management and environmental problems?”

True/False?

d) Which of the following concepts/methods do you use in your work environment ( including teaching)?”

b) Compounding and Discounting Yes/No?

f) Consumer and producer surplus Yes/No?

e) What do you see as the five most important resource management and environmental problem in Vietnam today (just 2-3 words for each)?

a)………

b)………

c)………

d)………

e)………

4 Personal information a) Occupation (eg academic, public servant, etc)………

b) Age category (please circle) under 20, 20-30, 30-40, 40-50, over 50 c) Academic qualifications (eg degrees)………

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Annex—2 Farmer Survey Report

The farmer survey was conducted as a part of the CARD project with the aim of identifying the key concerns and needs that the farmers have in relation to their use of natural resources The farmer survey has been completed with a total of 90 respondents, with 15 participants each interviewed from Bac Giang, Bac Lieu, Hung Yen and Soc Trang regions and another 30 participants were interviewed from Ha Tinh region The survey was conducted in Bac Giang province (an upland area in the north of Vietnam) from 18-22 October 2006, in Hung Yen province (Red River Delta

in the north of Vietnam) from 26-29 October 2006, in Ha Tinh province (the Central region of Vietnam) from 21-26 November 2006, in Bac Lieu province (the south of Vietnam) from 8-9th November 2006 and in Soc Trang province (the south of Vietnam) from 10-11th November 2006 A purposefully stratified sample was chosen, based on the main criterion of achieving a range of farm incomes that reflected the approximate percentages of low, average and above average incomes that occurred in the commune Other criteria that influenced sample selection were production activities (natural resource management of the commune) and the capacity of the farmers to give information The survey was conducted in the form of face-to-face interviews The survey questionnaire is attached with the report The main results from the survey are summarised below

General Information

With respect to the level of income, 67 out of the total number of respondents belonged to medium income families, 14 to rich and 9 to poorer income family groups About 60 per cent of the respondents were reported to be solely dependent upon farming as their source of income while the other 40 per cent had some form of off-farm employment

Regarding the characteristics of the surveyed households it was reported that the head

of household was male in 88.8 per cent of the sample households On average, about

58 per cent of the household heads were reported to have attained an education up to secondary schooling and 20 per cent to have completed high school The average experience of the participants in agriculture was 21.9 years (Table 1) Aquaculture

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was found to be the main source of income for the greatest percentage of the survey participants (33.1 per cent) followed by crop farming, animal raising, trade and services, forestry, non-farm activities and hired labor respectively (Table 2) More then 90 per cent of the sample households in Bac Lieu and Soc Trang regions reported aquaculture to be their main source of income

Household resources and resource use

On average, 28.9 per cent of the farmers had rented in agricultural land (3467.7 m2) and 5.6 per cent had land for renting out (1448.0 m2) (Table 5) The average number

of plots on a farm was reported to be 5.9 plots (Table 6)

More than 68 per cent of the households were found to be practicing rice monoculture farming, i.e following a rice-rice type of cropping pattern (68.7 per cent) while a very small number of farmers followed other copping patterns with crop rotations including rice and vegetables/other cereal crops/legumes Examples include: peanut-rice-maize; rice-rice-maize; spring peanut-summer rice; rice-other cereal crops; etc Thus, rice is the most important and most regular crop in the areas of study The average ratio of households changing the cropping pattern within the last 5 years was 28.2 per cent (Table 6) Irrigation was present on around 80 per cent of the land operated by the surveyed households (Table 6)

Input Use

According to the survey data, the level of input use (e.g land, seed, labor, water surface, aquaculture feed) over the last 5 years had not changed significantly for most

of the farming households However, some of the households have increased the use

of inputs like chemical fertilizers, pesticides, machinery, industrial feed (in animal husbandry) and aquaculture feed to some extent (Table 27) More than 50 per cent of the respondents perceived that the level of pesticides and chemical fertilizers being used in their area was high while 22 per cent reported it to be very high (Table 28)

Change in crop productivity and resource quality

The greatest increase in productivity was reported in forestry over the past 5 years, followed by rice, corn, vegetables, non-timber products and fish However, it was found that the productivity trend for non-timber products, fish, and particularly

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artemia, were declining in some cases (Table 7) According to the survey data, the availability of water resources (quantity and quality), forest resources, and land resources have improved, whereas fish stocks (natural and household managed) were reported to have declined substantially (Table 8)

Labor division and decision-making

Regarding the division of work and decision making for different activities, both males and females were involved in carrying out almost every activity, except for harvesting and selling the wood which was reported to be done only by males (Table 9) Activities like fertilizer and manure application, and feeding, involved a higher percentage of females and other operations like pesticide/herbicide spraying, pond preparation, breed selection, fish feeding, selling and water pumping featured greater involvement by males (Table 9) Decision making for most of the activities involved decisions of only males; however, some activities like fertilizer and manure application, feeding and animal breed selection were found to be decided by a higher percentage of females than males (Table 12)

Information sources and their importance

The respondents were asked to rank different sources of information (extension) according to their accessibility and their importance to them It was found that information sources in the form of friends and neighbors were the most accessible sources of information followed by Vietnam TV (VTV), extension agents, loudspeakers, local leaders, radio and books/magazines/newspapers, respectively (Table 15) Ranking the information sources in terms of their importance, extension agents were the most important followed by friends/neighbors, VTV, loudspeakers and radio (Table 16)

Agricultural extension and training

All of the sample households (100 per cent) in Hung Yen and Ha Tinh and 93.3 per cent in Bac Giang reported that they had access to agricultural extension Some 6.7 per cent in Soc Trang and Bac Lieu region had access to agricultural extension For the whole sample, 67.8 per cent, on average, reported that they had access to agricultural extension (Table 20) About 24 per cent of the sample respondents reported that they had never met and worked with any extension agent while only 2.6

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per cent reported meeting extension staff once in 2 weeks Others reported as meeting once in a month (15.8 per cent) or 3 months (25 per cent) or 6 months (23.7per cent) and there were some reporting meeting extension staff once in a year (9.2 per cent) (Table 20)

The respondents were found to have attended, on an average, 2.8 training courses in the last three years Close to 53 per cent of the sample respondents reported that only husbands participated in such training and about 29 per cent reported only the wife attended (Table 20) According to the respondents the basic reason for the farmers to not attend the training or to attend a limited number of training courses appeared to be

a lack of properly organized training courses Another reason was reported to be that only the village head and their staff are sent for such courses (Table 21)

All of the respondent farmers (100 per cent) reported they had attended the training courses related to farming techniques (Table 22) Thus, it appears that either the farmers are not interested or there have not been adequate steps taken to organize training courses related to other topics like post-harvest product maintenance, marketing, resource management, etc Most of the training courses seemed to be held

at the commune level as around 63 per cent of the respondents reported they had attended such courses at the commune level, while some were also conducted at district and hamlet level The most important training organizers were found to be the extension agents, as 74 per cent reported they had attended training courses organized

by the extension agents (Table 22)

The survey respondents were asked to rate agricultural extension agents and other related organizations on the basis of some of the services they provided using terms such as ‘providing useful services’, ‘quick reaction to farmers requirements’,

‘providing useful training’, ‘accessibility’, ‘presence of skilled staff’, ‘providing services at a reasonable charge’, ‘reliability’, etc It was found that on average 63 per cent rated agricultural extension and 47 per cent rated other organizations to be very good However 27 per cent rated agricultural extension and 49 per cent on average rated other organizations to be in the neither good nor bad category (Table 23)

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Regarding the perception of farmers on the adoption levels from the training courses, 75.6 per cent of the respondents reported it to be useful and they could apply the knowledge gained through the courses on the farm The average rate of adoption of the training was estimated to be 58 per cent (Table 24) Most of the survey respondents (97 per cent) said that they were interested in further training courses Some of the training topics that attracted greater numbers of respondents were, in order of priority, cropping techniques, animal raising techniques, aquaculture raising techniques, disease prevention techniques, and forest planting techniques (Table 29)

Use of new technology

Farmers reported their adoption of different types of new technologies on farms in the last 5 years The use of industrial feed in aquaculture and animal husbandry seemed to

be the most popular More than 71 per cent of the sample households were using industrial feed Similarly, other new technologies that were being used on the farm, given in the order of the number of households using them, were: new plant varieties, herbicides, new animal breeds, bio-fertilizers, integrated pest management (IPM), irrigation canal lining, water treatment, forest growing and erosion control techniques, respectively (Table 19)

Problems

Some of the problems that the aquaculture farmers were facing in their farms and which a majority of them rated to be serious were: exhausted fish stocks, water pollution as a constraint for shrimp farming, lack of drainage systems (intake and drainage canals) Uncontrolled grazing of ruminants and soil degradation seemed to

be serious problems that the farmers were facing (Table 25) In terms of water use, lack of proper irrigation systems was reported to be one of the most serious problems, similarly, other problems reported to be serious were pollution, natural disasters and calamities, lack of safe water, diseases, lack of sources of fish feed, low soil fertility, and so on (Table 26) Farmers suggested that the following measures should be undertaken, in order of priority, to solve the problems were as follows (Table 29): a) Increase investment for irrigation

b) Provide good quality inputs

c) Loan facilities

d) Land accumulation

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e) Provide training courses

f) Build drainage systems

g) Input subsidies

h) Output subsidies

i) New technologies

Possible Key Interventions

Water issues appear to raise serious concerns among the sampled farmers, suggesting that improvements in irrigation and drainage systems were high on the list of key interventions (Where irrigation systems exist, high fees have been raised as a concern.) Water quality is also an issue, with water pollution being identified as a constraint on shrimp farming Water treatment facilities may be a possible area for policy intervention Declining fish stocks were also identified as a major problem, meaning that regulatory intervention in the (open access) fishing industry may be called for

Regarding terrestrial farming, unclear farm boundaries and uncontrolled ruminant grazing suggest the importance of clarifying property rights, so that use of on-farm resources can be more efficiently (and sustainably) managed by the property owner

It is also notable that in two surveyed provinces (Soc Trang and Bac Lieu) less than

10 per cent of sampled farmers had access to agricultural extension services The issue of availability of extension services in those areas should be addressed

Conclusion and Recommendations

Aquaculture was reported to be the main source of income for the greatest percentage

of the survey participants (33.1 per cent), especially in the south Thus, with the decreasing productivity of fish production in some places, along with a decline in fish stocks (natural and household managed) in the study areas, the income levels of a large number of households are being endangered Moreover, water pollution is a constraint to shrimp farming and was reported as one of the serious problems Therefore, steps should be taken to stop this trend through proper planning regarding technology development, dissemination of information and proper funding of facilities

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Farmers in the study area appeared to be quite satisfied with the extension services that they are receiving currently However, extension services should be further strengthened and made more accessible to farmers through various means This should be designed to help the farmers keep up-to-date with new technologies and their use, as well as updating the agencies concerned regarding farm related problems Extension agencies should consider thinking about providing training courses in various fields like: post harvest handling, marketing, farm economics, etc, rather than concentrating effort on the technical aspects of production Extension should be designed to improve the overall understanding of the farmers regarding complete farm business activities from production to marketing and post-harvest handling

It was found that females are left far behind in attending training courses and in making farm activity decisions Since both males and females are involved in the farming activities, equal opportunities should be provided for both in respect to attending training courses and other decision-making processes Thus, programs to eliminate gender discrimination should be promoted in order to encourage females to increase their involvement and interest

Increased use of pesticides and fertilizers has been realized as one of the more serious issues challenging the health of mankind and the environment Excessive use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers should be controlled A proper understanding and knowledge of optimal use and the side effects of the chemicals to both humans and the environment should be developed and where possible environmentally friendly substitutes should be promoted Improved educational facilities and training should be arranged so as to enhance the personal as well as technical ability of the farmers and also to build up a proper understanding regarding use and preservation of natural resources and the prevention of environmental degradation

Lack of a proper irrigation system has been reported as one of the most serious problems in the study area Thus, technical and financial aids should be provided so as

to construct efficient irrigation canals and proper drainage systems

a) By income………….1: High income 2: Medium income 3: Low income

b) By occupation: 1 Farming 2: Mix farming and non-farm

6 Name of household head:………7 Age:………

8 Gender: ……….(1 Male 0 Female)

9 Education: …………1 Primary school 2 Secondary school

3 High school 4 University 5 Higher level

10 The number of the household’s member:………

11 No of labourers:… ………

12 How many years have you been involved in farming:……….years

13 If HH has involvement in non-farm activities, how long……….years

14 In which activity: 1 Handicraft 2 Trade 3 Agri Processing 4 Hired out labor

5 Others

15 Main income sources of the HH

1 Crop and animal raising

1 Which of the following does your household own? (Multiple response)

Land Classification (c)

fed (d)

Irrigated/rain-Ownership (e)

Cropping pattern at present (h)

(d): 1: Irrigated 2: Rain fed

(e): 1: Own 2: Rent in 3 Rent out 4 Bidding

4 Compared to 5 years ago, have you changed the type of crops that you grow or

Not at all Declined a

husband Mostly wife Approximately equal

Land rent in/rent out

Animal breeding selection

Feeding

Selling

Pond preparation for fish raising

Fish breed selection

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2 Who makes decision about activities of farm?

husband

Mostly wife

Approximately equal

Land rent in/rent out

Animal breeding selection

Feeding

Selling

Pond preparation for fish raising

Fish breed selection

Irrigation canal cementation Forest growing

Others

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3 Do you have an extension agent in your hamlet/commune? Yes/ No

4 How often do any members of your household meet the extension agent in order to

work with him/her?

Once in 2 weeks (1) Once in a month (2) Once in 3 months (3)

Once in 6 months (4) Once a year or less often (5) Never (6)

5 How often, if ever, do you participate in extension training courses?

Once in 2 weeks (1) Once in a month (2) Once in 3 months (3)

Once in 6 months (4) Once a year or less often (5) Never (6)

6 Who usually attends the training courses?

1 Husband 2 Wife 3 Other members of family

7 Why have you never/do you never attend extension training courses?

Training courses are not organized (1) FOR WOMEN: Only men go to training (2)

Only village head/staff go to training (3) Only rich farmers go to training (4)

The requested fees are too high (5) The content is not really relevant (6)

The training course is too theoretical (7) The training course is not oriented to my needs (8)

Others (SPECIFY) ………

8 Write down training course participated during the last 3 years?………

training course

Organizer/ Agency

Place: 1 In district 2 in commune 3 at hamlet

Who attend: 1 Husband 2 Wife 3 Other members

Organizer: 1 Extension agents 2 NGOs 3 Research Institutes/University

4 Company/Enterprise 5 Others

9 Rate the extension agent and other organizer/agencies on various factors How you

would rate the agency on that factor Please use this scale to rate on various factors as

follows:

Excellent 1 Very good 2 Neither good nor bad 3 Quite poor 4 Very poor 5

Agency Extension agent

1 Provides services that are useful for Farmers 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

2 React quickly to farmers requirements 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

3 Provides services regardless of size of farm 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

4 Provides useful training to farmers 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

5 Helps farmers to increase income 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

6 Located near my home/is accessible 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

8 Provides services at reasonable charge 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

9 Help farmers regardless of gender of farmer 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

10 Cares about opinion of farmers 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

12 Has a good reputation in the commune 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

VI What are the main problems regarding to natural resource in your farm?

1 Please rank problems of each natural resource based on a five-point:

1 Very serious 2 Serious 3 So so

4 Not very serious 5 Not serious at all

High salinity in soil and lack of irrigation system 1 2 3 4 5

c) FOREST

Management of community forest not effective 1 2 3 4 5

Lack of awareness of some farmers about

Unsustainable harvesting of forests

Lack of knowledge on forest management and

Lack of awareness for investment on forestry 1 2 3 4 5

d) FISH

Water pollution as a constraint for shrimp farming 1 2 3 4 5 Aquaculture: bad water quality for shrimps; 1 2 3 4 5 Lack of water systems (intake and drainage canals) 1 2 3 4 5

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2 Choose the 4 most serious problems

from training course?

4 In your opinion, the level of pesticides/herbicide used nowadays in your area

is………1 Very high 2 High 3 Normal 4 Low

5. In your opinion, the level of urea fertilizer used nowadays in your area

is………1 Very high 2 High 3 Normal 4 Low

VII Expectation and need

1 Do you want to attend in the training course? Yes/ No

2 Which type of training course?

3 Do you have any suggestion for solving problems in your farm?

Name of surveyor………