Collaboration for Agriculture & Rural Development:" Development of clam culture for improvement and diversification of livelihoods of the poor coastal communities in Central Vietnam - Milestone 14 " pptx

Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development COLLABORATION FOR AGRICULTURE & RURAL DEVELOPMENT CARD Development of clam culture for improvement and diversification of livelihoods of the

Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development

COLLABORATION FOR AGRICULTURE & RURAL DEVELOPMENT (CARD)

Development of clam culture for improvement and

diversification of livelihoods of the poor coastal communities in

Central Vietnam (027/05VIE)

Project Completion Report

Milestone 14 May 2010

Table of Contents

1 Institute Information 4

2 Project Abstract 6

3 Executive summary 7

4 Introduction & Background 8

4.1 Objectives and Outputs of Project 8

4.2 Implementation Approach and Strategy 9

4.3 Implementation Methodologies 10

5 Progress to Date 11

5.1 Implementation highlights 11

5.1.1 Development of hatchery operation procedure and establishment of infrastructure 11

5.1.2 Establishment of new hatcheries and transfer of technology 13

5.1.3 Clam production technology development 13

5.1.4 Demonstrations 14

5.2 Smallholder benefits 17

5.2.1 Opportunity to utilize the brackish water ponds for clam production 17

5.2.2 Increasing in production and benefit from clam culture in the intertidal areas 17 5.2.3 Easily Applicable Farming Knowledge 17

5.2.4 Low Investment Risk 17

5.2.5 Maximizing Commercial Potential through Knowledge 17

5.3 Capacity Building 19

5.3.1 ARSINC and provincial staff 19

5.3.2 End-users 19

5.4 Publicity 19

Fig.8 Project completion workshop December 2009 at Thanh Hoa 20

5.5 Project Management 20

6 Report on cross-cutting Issues 21

Environment 21

Gender and Social Issue 21

Implications on other project 21

7 Implementation and Sustainability Issues 22

Issues and Constraints 22

7.1 Options 22

7.2 Sustainability 22

8 Next critical steps 22

9 Conclusion 23

10 Statutory Declaration 23

SARDI 23

ARSINC 24

10 APPENDIX A - Project Progress against Proposed Objectives, Outputs, Activities

and Inputs 27

11 Appendix B: Case study cum Demonstration 31

1 Design and data collection of demonstrations 31

2 Results 33

Clam monoculture in canal 33

2.1.1 Environmental parameters 33

2.1.2 Growth and survival parameters 34

2.1.3 Environmental parameters 37

2.1.4 Growth and survival rates 38

2.1.5 Clam and prawn production 40

Growth comparison of culturing M lyrata in polyculture (pond) and monoculture culture (canal) 40

2.1.6 Environmental parameters 40

2.1.7 Growth and survival rates 41

3 Conclusion 44

4 Appendix C: Brief if training and workshop 45

5 Appendix D: List of students’ thesis under supervision of ARCINC/SARDI 51

1 Institute Information

Project Name Development of clam culture for improvement and

diversification of livelihoods of the poor coastal communities in Central Vietnam

(Project No: 027/05VIE)

Vietnamese Institution Aquaculture Research Sub-Institution for North

Central (ARSINC)

Vietnamese Project Team Leader Mr Chu Chi Thiet (Project Director)

Australian Organisation South Australian Research and Development

Institution (SARDI)

Australian Personnel Dr Martin S Kumar (Project Leader)

Completion date (original) 2009

Completion date (revised) February 2010

Reporting period February 2006 - December 2009

Contact Officer(s)

In Australia: Team Leader

Position: Principal Scientist, and Program

Leader, Integrated Biosystems Integrated Resource Management and Biotechnology

Organisation South Australian Research and

Development Institution (SARDI)

Email: kumar.martin@saugov

sa.gov.au

In Australia: Administrative contact

Name: Lindy Macalister Telephone: +81 8 8303 7783

Position: Divisional Finance

Officer

Fax: +81 8 8303 7975

Organisation South Australian

Research and Development Institute

Email: Macalister.Lindy@saugov.sa.gov.au

In Vietnam

Organisation Aquaculture Research

Sub-Institute for North-Central

Email: arsinc_ria1@vnn.vn

2 Project Abstract

The aim of the project is to provide alternative income and food security by developing and extending the clam culture technology (hatchery and husbandry) to sustain livelihoods of poor coastal farmers in the North Central provinces This project played a key role in establishing a sustainable clam industry in the coastal area of North central Vietnam The extension of the clam culture techniques has made significant impact to poor coastal communities, by providing alternative livelihoods through clam culture in ponds and also increased productivity and income in tidal clam culture This project also extended much needed technology and infrastructure for artificial seed production by establishing clam hatcheries Overall, project achieved the key objectives in the development of clam production technology and hatchery operational procedures for mass clam seed production

The key outcomes in terms of technological development are:

• For the first time in Vietnam, clam (M lyrata) was successfully cultured in ponds

On farm trials successful

• Mass production techniques of clam spats developed

• Clams were successfully reared in canals utilising nutrients from farm effluent

• Clam and prawn polyculture techniques developed

• Improved production in intertidal clam culture

Capacity building was one of the key objectives met at different level

(1) Technical training workshops for provincial technicians and small scale farmers about clam culture were conducted Technical training for young Vietnamese researchers in the use and application of advanced hatchery principles and techniques in clam culture improvement studies has been carried out in both Vietnam and Australia

(2) Successful demonstration of clam production models were conducted at provincial level

(3) Four new clam hatcheries were established for commercial supply of clam spat and one R&D facility cum clam hatchery was established at Aquaculture Sub Institute of North Central (ARSINC),Vietnam

The following report (Milestone 14, Completion Report 2009) presents the progress made

in completion of all milestones in Schedule 1, Scope of Services, and Annex of Schedule

2 Table of Milestones and in relation to the Objectives described in the Project Logframe

of the Project document All planned milestones have been completed to the satisfaction

of the CARD Project Management Unit (as judged by payment for all milestones achieved) The Project Leader Dr Martin Kumar, SARDI and Project Director, Mr Chi Chu Thiet, Vietnam gratefully acknowledge the support that CARD has provided in bringing this project to fruition

3 Executive summary

This report presents information on the final outcome of the CARD project,

“Development of clam culture for improvement and diversification of livelihoods of the poor coastal communities in Central Vietnam(Project No: 027/05VIE)” which was commenced in April 2006 and completed in December 2009 The goal of the project is

to make significant contribution to Government of Vietnam’s Comprehensive Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy (CPRGS), which are aligned with CARD program strategic framework Project aims to provide poor fisher community a sustainable alternative income and food security The following objectives were set for the Project: (1) Develop and extend clam hatchery technology using updated marine hatchery facility for mass production spats (2) Develop and extend grow out technology fitting to different environmental and ecological conditions (3) evaluate project impact on poor community

in the project area The Project operated over six provinces, namely Thanh Hoa, Nghe an,

Ha tinh, Quang binh, Quang trij, and Thua thien-Hue This report outlines the Progress made in achieving these objectives, and indicates the Milestone reports in which each of these objectives is discussed in detail There is no doubt that this Project has achieved all its aims and, in some aspects, exceeded expectations

The project had three distinct phases During the first year, work concentrated on the technology development through adaptive research in hatchery and husbandry technology In the second year, the work focused on farm trials which were conducted with farmer participation, which fine tuned the technology and facilitated formulation of production manuals In the third year, the work concentrated on extension of technology through expanded through training and farmer participation trials There was flooding due cyclone and heavy rain which affected coastal aquaculture in general This natural calamity interrupted our on-farm trials in some provinces However, work was successfully completed in forth year ( six months extension provided by CARD administration)

Project impact survey clearly indicated that this project has played a key role in significantly improving and expanding the clam culture industry within poor coastal communities of North Central Vietnam Clam culture practice is rapidly expanding in others areas of Vietnam The implementation of this project directly contributed to the improvement of productivity, income and the creation of additional employment This project provided an opportunity to utilize unused coastal land and transformed into a productive clam culture aquaculture venture For the first time in Vietnam, the practice of clam culture in ponds has been successfully introduced under this project This pond clam culture is a new concept which is gaining momentum in Vietnam This type of clam culture provides a new lease of life for coastal fish farmers who were heavily affected by the loss of prawn stocks due to disease The clam culture provides an alternative use for land and addition income through rotational crops in prawn farms

Capacity building activities focused on establishing infrastructure activities and training Clam seed production from hatcheries started in 2008 from the first government hatchery established at ARSINC research facility under this CARD project Since then following four hatcheries established

(i) Hoang Thanh Fisheries Seed Production Centre (Thanh Hoa province);

(ii) Hai Tuan Fisheries Seed Production Hatchery (Ninh Binh province);

(iii) Van Xuan Fisheries Seed Production Hatchery (HCM City); and

(iv) Aquaculture Research Sub Institute for North Central Vietnam (ARSINC)

A total of 19 staffs have been provided 4998 days working opportunity for different activities under this project 12 ARSINC technical officers were trained in clam hatchery and culture techniques during the period of the project implementation Six of the twelve technical officers received training from Australia Over 200 farmers including 36 farms participated in the demonstration and received technical training in clam farming ARSINC has the capability in designing, operating and managing aspects of both commercial grow-out and seed production In addition, communication skills of ARSINC staff have been improved through training provided in Australia and working with international experts On the other hand, 7 students from the University had completed their B.Sc thesis on clam hatchery production under supervision of ARSINC/SARDI and

2 students from local college had selected for internship program related clam culture activities in the experiment site These students successfully defended their thesis and achieved excellent results

4 Introduction & Background

The people in Northern Central coastal areas of Vietnam have very little productive land, and the marine aquatic resources that are an important part of people’s livelihoods in this area are overexploited About 80% of the households in coastal communities rely heavily

on income from fishing Almost all coastal communes rely on fish capture and associated activities for their livelihoods due to the lack of agricultural land In recent times natural marine resources have declined due to over fishing, destruction of mangroves and construction of large shrimp ponds1 Project aims to provide poor fisher community a sustainable alternative income and food security

Bivalve culture is a promising activity as it has a high total value despite a low production rate Clam culture is the most profitable activity However, clam culture has the disadvantage that it relies mainly on the capture of seed from nature Seed production and integration culture systems have been poorly investigated Currently, farmers are making total use of a flat tidal zone for clam culture This project titled “Development of clam culture for improvement and diversification of livelihoods of the poor coastal communities in Central Vietnam” was jointly undertaken by Aquaculture Research Sub Institute for North Central Vietnam (ARSINC) and South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) had attempted to address the technical issues in production clam seed for aquaculture and also improve the clam culture technique

4.1 Objectives and Outputs of Project

Project listed 3 main objectives which were planned to be achieved over the period from

2006 to 2009 These were as follows:

(1) Develop and extend clam hatchery technology using updated marine hatchery facility for mass production spats

Sustainable Aquaculture for Poverty Alleviation–1 SAPA Publishing house: Agriculture, Hanoi, 2001

(2) Develop and extend grow out technology fitting to different environmental and

ecological conditions

(3) evaluate project impact on poor community in the project area

In summary following are the key outcomes

• Development of Hatchery technology of hard clam (M.lyrata) in the North

Central Vietnam

• Development of aquaculture technology of hard clam in pond with 4 differences modals such as: clam cultured with prawn (polyculture), clam cultured in canals with prawn farm effluent, clam monoculture in pond and rotational culture with prawn crop

• Development of improved aquaculture technology of hard clam in intertidal areas with the difference sizes and densities of clam seed

• Over 200 farmers including 36 farms participated in the demonstration and received technical training in clam farming

• Four clam commercial hatcheries established

• one clam research development facility including clam hatchery established in ARSINC

• 19 technical officers were trained in clam hatchery and culture techniques during the period of the project implementation

• 7 students from the University had completed their B.Sc thesis on clam hatchery production under supervision of ARSINC/SARDI and 2 students from local college had selected for internship program related clam culture activities in the experiment site

Within each objectives there were a series of activities associated with milestones and expected outputs, and these log frame (Table of Milestones and Project Logframe) and provided in detail in following section The adoption rate and project impact details are provided in the validation report ( Milestone 13)

4.2 Implementation Approach and Strategy

The project had three distinct phases During the first year work focused on technology development through adaptive research in hatchery and husbandry technology In the second year, the work concentrated on-farm trials, which fine tuned the technology and facilitated formulation of production manuals In the third year, work focused on extension of technology through expanded farmer participation trials and training However, due to flooding ( cyclone and heavy rain) the expanded trials were interrupted

in some places which were successfully completed in the fourth year Project impact was also assessed during the fourth year

The stakeholder participatory approach enabled the development not only in enhancing the capacity of the research institutions but also all other key stakeholders This approach was aimed to benefit both rural economical development (by improving stake holder benefits) and improvement in environmental sustainability Institutional capacity building included improving the existing hatchery facilities and establish new hatcheries; local training for farmers in calm production models and hatchery technology; and

overseas training for the staff in the areas of live feed maintenance, data processing and database management

4.3 Implementation Methodologies

A detailed implementation method including experimental design was approved by

CARD technical committee and presented in the project proposal An outline of the

implementation method is presented in this report

(i) Hatchery technology development

Key scientific information required to fill the gap for the development of hatcheries was obtained though conducting appropriate experiments and trials The main objective was

to produce M lyrata seed through artificial propagation Specific objectives were: to

determine optimum conditions in particular temperature and water quality, optimum feed requirements; optimum larval density and resettlement density The hatchery experiment was carried out at the marine hatchery in Cua lo town, Nghean province The hatchery obtained brood stocks from natural waters The brood stock was held in conditioning water temperatures to (temperatures which stimulate active gametogenesis) and fed supplementary algae until their gonads matured Properly conditioned adults were stimulated to spawn by subjecting them to a rapid increase in water temperature The first year focused on the development of a viable clam hatchery technology for mass production of clam spats A hatchery manual was prepared for clam culture

(ii ) Culture type development:

The main research in pond culture type was concentrated on the suitability of substrate, optimum stocking density, and stocking size All experiments were conducted in triplicate Water quality parameters, nutrients, biological parameters were also monitored

at regular intervals Clam growth measurements such as weight (g) and size (mm) will be recorded fortnightly A total of 36 farmers (6 farmers from each province) participated in the on farm trials The outcome of the second year (from on farm trials) was production calm models in ponds and intertidal area Towards the end of 2009 a total of 200 farmers received clam culture training in ponds and intertidal area The following clam culture types were developed

(a) Clam culture in intertidal area: The Inter tidal area is divided into three zones based

on the tidal influence for clam culture (b) Shrimp and clam polyculture: Simultaneous culture of prawn and clams was undertaken with a view to generate additional income (c) Alternative/rotation crop: Clam culture was under taken after the pawn harvest as a rotational crop (d) Clam monoculture ponds (e) Clam culture in canals using prawn farm effluent

(iii) Evaluation and analysis: The socio-economic data was collected from the families

involved in the project trials before and after the trials for comparison and impact assessment was carried out The results of this investigation was included in the validation report (Milestone 13) and submitted

5 Progress to Date

Milestones 1-13 reports presented a detailed project progress and were submitted to the CARD PMU and payments made against the Progress made Copies of these Reports and PMU Comments are held in the CARD Office in Vietnam The present completion report

is listed as Milestone 14 against which a final payment for services will be made

Comprehensive reports of the outcomes from each Project activity have been recorded in each Milestone Report, and only broad outcomes in relation to Project Objectives is listed

in this report

5.1 Implementation highlights

The principal achievements including highlights for the project are provided in this section

5.1.1 Development of hatchery operation procedure and establishment of

infrastructure

In accordance with the experimental design proposed in the proposal and approved by the CARD technical committee, hatchery experiments were conducted at ARSINC laboratory

at Cua Lo. Based on the hatchery experiment design the facility of ARSINC’ hatchery had

upgraded for stable production at least 4 marine algal species: Nanochloropsis,

Isochrysis, Tetraselmis and Chaetoceros, which was the major factor, assisted in

successfully conditioning broodstock and spat production The infrastructure such seas water supply, filtration systems, larval rearing modules and also the lab for biological and

chemical analysis had also been upgraded as result a modern hatchery for clam (M lyrata) spat production has been established at Aquaculture Research Sub-Institution for

North Central (ARSINC) with all necessary infrastructure facilities Artificial

conditioning of clam brood stock has been successfully completed The results showed that the clam can mature better with sandy bottom Clam larvae rearing were successfully carried out in the ARSINC hatchery, which was reported in the MS6 and MS7 Several successful batches of clam spats were produced using these facilities At the send of the second year over 6.5 million spats were produced and supplied to farmers This hatchery could be utilised for both commercial production of spat and research and development After two years operation, based on the successful larval rearing experience opened the possibilities for mass production of spats The technologies in producing spat (such as: criteria for the selection and establishment of a clam hatchery, live feed production, larval rearing) have reported in the MS7 The innovative parts in the hatchery are:

(1) Determining the suitable technical parameters at various stages of the larval rearing; Based on project findings following key technical parameters for rearing clam larva is recommended

• Stocking density: 10 larvae per ml of water

• Salinity: hard clam M.lyrata can adapt wide vary salinity condition, but the

optimum rang is from 10 to 25 ppt

• Exchange water and washing larval : Water in rearing tanks should be changed of 100% volume with every 2 days of frequency These tanks also cleaned and

• Food and feeding frequency: clam larvae fed a composition of three marine algae:

Isochrysis galbana, Nanochloropsis oculata, Chaetoceros sp, with feed ration at

density of 100.000 cells/ml in every 4 hours a day

(2) Introduction of tray system during the larval settlement stage and feeding from algal blooming pond When larvae become settling stage and metamorphosis stages, they are moved to tanks (rectangle shape) for culture until they are of sufficient size to transfer to nursery systems, which is part of the hatchery This tray system in which water with feed supplied from blooming pond The system is not only one of step to make juvenile acquaintance with natural condition, but is also reducing the cost of intensive algae production under laboratory condition

Hatchery experiments were conducted at Aquaculture Research Sub-Institution for North Central (ARSINC) Based on the success of the experiments, project has developed the Technical Guidelines for clam hatchery operations (reported in the MS8) titled:

Hatchery protocol for clam (Meretrix lyrata) at Aquaculture Sub-Institute Aquaculture for North Central

Fig-1 Farmer visit to newly established clam hatchery

5.1.2 Establishment of new hatcheries and transfer of technology

ARSINC has collaborated with some private hatcheries to produce clam spat for

demonstrating and dissemination the technology that developed by ARSINC/SARDI The

technologies in producing spat (such as: criteria for the selection and establishment of a

clam hatchery, live feed production, larval rearing) had been reported in the MS7 In

collaboration with some private hatcheries, approximately 20 million spats (refer MS10)

of clam had been produced to meet the target of the project’s expected output to supply

for farmer participated grow out trials Following clam hatcheries were established

(i) Hoang Thanh Fisheries Seed Production Centre (Thanh Hoa province);

(ii) Hai Tuan Fisheries Seed Production Hatchery (Ninh Binh province);

(iii) Van Xuan Fisheries Seed Production Hatchery (HCM City); and

(iv) Aquaculture Research Sub Institute for North Central Vietnam (ARSINC)

5.1.3 Clam production technology development

Key objectives in this sector were to improve traditional intertidal clam culture ( using

wild clam seed) and introduce new clam culture technique in ponds Inter tidal areas

were limited and farmers were finding extremely difficult to

an intertidal area for entering into clam culture

Fig.2 showing intertidal clam culture monitoring

Special plots were prepared for conducting trials with a view to improve clam production in the intertidal culture model

Several prawn farms abandoned due to disease issues and unused/unproductive coastal areas which can be converted for aquaculture production

Development of clam culture technique in ponds had given genuine opportunities for the

farmers to use abandoned aquaculture ponds and other used areas

Pond production trials were conducted in especially constructed/modified ponds with

view to collect accurate scientific data and also enable the result to relate with

commercial scale production

Production experiments produced excellent results Experiment and subsequent trial

results indicated that clam can be successfully cultured in pond systems and further

improvement can be made in clam production from intertidal areas Following production

models were developed under this project

a Clam culture in ponds

o Clam culture as rotational crop in prawn farm: successful production of clam as a rotational crop in prawn farms provided new opportunity for the farmers to utilise the prawn ponds which normally used only for 4 months per year for prawn culture

o Clam culture as single crop in ponds

o Clam and prawn polyculture

b Improving clam culture productivity in the Intertidal area

The results also provided suggestions for appropriate stocking density and substrate to optimal growth and production of clam culture in pond Based on the success of the experiments, Project has developed the Technical Production Guidelines (reported in the

MS 11): Production model of clam (Meretrix lyrata) in pond, intertidal and rotational

crop with prawn

Fig 3 Specially built pond system for the cal culture experiment

Experiments were conducted using specially built pond system with replicates Based on the experimental outcome demonstration trials were designed and conducted in farmer’s ponds

5.1.4 Demonstrations

On-farm trial started in May 2008 Total

36 farmers participated on demonstration

trials involving 3 models (intertidal

culture, rotational clam and prawn

culture and polyculture with prawn),

divided into 2 periods: there were 24

farmers participated in the initial

demonstration trials in two models of

clam production including pond culture

and inter-tidal clam culture and 12

farmers afterwards participated on

rotational pond clam-shrimp culture

modal Prawn farming in Central

Vietnam normally occurs in April to

September each year Clam rotational

MarchFebruaryJanuaryDecemberNovemberOctoberSeptemberAugustJulyJuneMayApril

Clam culture period

Prawn culture period

MarchFebruaryJanuaryDecemberNovemberOctoberSeptemberAugustJulyJuneMayApril

Clam culture period

Prawn culture period

Fig 4 Prawn and clam culture cycle

culture is an alternative crop in prawn farms during October to March and can reach the appropriate size for the short-term culture Clams must reach marketable size within the period available before the start of prawn culture season The demonstration program was well supported by ARSIC and Provincial extension staff by providing technical support and monitoring

In general, the total average income of clam culture households of both tidal and pond culture farming was about 129.6 million VND per ha, with a minimum of 32.2 million VND per ha and a maximum of 189 million VND per ha The difference in income levels in tidal and pond culture groups was significant The average tidal and pond culture income is 148.4 and 90.7 million VND/ha respectively The current CARD project played an important and essential role in increasing tidal clam productivity and introduced new calm culture techniques in ponds The pond culture practice at the initial stage started after the implementation of this project The income levels from pond cultures will further increase as farmers gain more experience in this practice The income levels for tidal clam farmers increased from 121.6 to 148.4 million VND per ha

Fig.5 Clam grading and sorting Females participation in post harvest and marketing of clam is dominant

An additional case study cum demonstration was carried out in Quang Binh for 4 months with following objectives :

(a) compare the production performances of L lyrata species with other local species

M meretrix ;

(b) clam monoculture in canals using prawn farm effluent; and

(c) compare the productivity of both species by applying polyculture method

The results of this special demonstrations are described in the appendix B

Higher levels clam production was reported when cultured in canal In addition to ponds, canal systems are ideal resource for utilising clam culture

Fig 6 Clam culture in canal

The results clearly indicated that Meretrix lyrata is better candidate for aquaculture compared to Meretrix meretrix Trials also indicated that M lyrata is also a better

candidate for ployculture with prawn

Fig.7 Farmer and ARSINC staff recording clam growth during culture demonstration trials

Clam and prawn ployculture production model increased the income and profitability of the farmers The polyculure model also increased productivity of prawns and at the same time provided additional clam crop However, the trials also indicated that, clam productivity could be improved through further investigation The clam placement in the upper layer will provide more accessibility to food and also better environmental conditions for clam culture

5.2 Smallholder benefits

5.2.1 Opportunity to utilize the brackish water ponds for clam production

The success that clam can survive and grow in pond opens opportunity for farmers to utilize the brackish water ponds where the shrimp industry recently has been collapsed due to bad management In addition, success of clam culture as alternative crop will provide new opportunity for the famers in to utilise the prawm farm which normaly used only 4 months per year for shrimp culture and thus provide more livehood for the

communities in the North Central coast

5.2.2 Increasing in production and benefit from clam culture in the intertidal areas

The success of intertidal trials provides data base and primary knowledge to build a

technical guideline for clam grows out Appropriate stocking density and stocking size will provide higher productivity, reduce the operation cost and bring in higher benefit

5.2.3 Easily Applicable Farming Knowledge

Factors such as stocking density and salinity are within the capabilities of smallholder end-users to monitor and manipulate By focusing upon the research and understanding

of the impact of such factors on survival and growth of M lyrata and its larvae, the teams

at ARSINC are building the knowledge base for farming practices that can be applied by smallholders

5.2.4 Low Investment Risk

The focus on low-cost, reliable production and hatchery techniques and infrastructure provide for low investment risk to the smallholder and smallholder communities

5.2.5 Maximizing Commercial Potential through Knowledge

The following table summarizes the implications of the knowledge generated by this project for the smallholder’s commercial production potential

Table Technology Implications for M lyrata Commercial Production

Farming

Component

Knowledge Implications for Commercial Production

Production Density • Farmers need to know optimum stocking

density that provide for maximum productivity per m2 pond area

substrate clam can be grown on as this may affect farmers of different regions where there

is different soil type Influent / Effluent /

Polyculture Pond System

• An influent pond system may be useful for water treatment prior to prawn culture use in places where water quality is not good enough for prawn culture

• An effluent pond system may be useful for prawn culture to reduce pollution and enable more sustainable prawn culture

• A combination of both pond systems (polyculture) would be useful to supplement farmer income (both prawn and clam) as well

as provide for sustainable aquaculture and/or bio-remediation of prawn farming areas Hatchery Spat Production

Technology for M lyrata clam culture

• Easy to use, low-cost indigenous (developed

by ARSINC) system that can be implemented

on farms or in regional cooperatives

• Reduce collection of spats from wild so as to reduce ecological impact along Vietnam coastline

Hatchery /

Broodstock

Conditioning

Algae feed composition

• Enable hatcheries and regional cooperatives

to culture feedstocks (using pure cultures from ARSINC and other government suppliers) for hatcheries to use in their spat production

• Enable farmers to create their own broodstock Hatchery /

Larvae Rearing

Stocking density survival / growth rates

• Enable regional hatcheries to achieve optimal larvae rearing productivity

growth rates

• Enable regional hatcheries to achieve optimal larvae rearing productivity, controlling salinity if necessary

Days to Settlement

• Enable regional hatcheries to know how many production cycles can be achieved per season and how to increase frequency of spat

production Breeding /

Spawning

Breeding / Spawning Inducement Factors

• Enable regional hatcheries to know what factors induce breeding and spawning, that can be controlled by the hatchery

5.3 Capacity Building

5.3.1 ARSINC and provincial staff

In order to build competency following three primary modes were applied

• Training and study tour: both overseas and in-country

(1) Overseas training has been provided to a total six staff: (1) four staff

attended the training course on live feed production, data processing, nutrient and water quality management as well as to see integrated aquaculture system using waste water and other aquaculture farms using bio-recirculation system in South Australia; (2) two staff attended the training course on the statistic data analysis and techniques in writing the journal article for publication which regarded as weak point of scientists in ARSINC

(2) Education: There were 2 students from University of Vinh to do their BSc thesis and 3 students from Aquaculture College No.4 were selected for their Internship on grow-out production of clam under the supervision of ARSINC/SARDI:

5.3.2 End-users

• Training and study tour: Total 170 farmers from 6 provinces attended the training course/technical workshop during the period of the project from 2007 to 2009 About 12 farmers attended the study tour to the clam hatchery in Lynhan, Ho Chi Minh City

• Extension: farmers participating in farm trials and demonstrations will be engaged as trainers for training programs for other farmers

• The workshops were well received by the farmers, extension department and local government officials and others who are associated with clam farming

5.4 Publicity

• Research presented at Asian Fisheries Forum in Cochin, India in November, 2007 (Nhu Van Can, Chu Chi Thiet and Martin S Kumar)

The research paper entitled “Effects of stocking biomass on growth, survival and

production of the two sizes of clam Meretrix lyrata cultured in the intertidal areas”

• Clam ( Meretrix lyrata) hatchery manual (Chu Chi Thiet and Martin S Kumar)

The manual reports collaborative research between the South Australian Research and

Development Institute (SARDI) and Aquaculture Research Sub-Institute for North Centre (ARSINC) The publication is intended for a wide readership, in particular for farmers, researchers and students in Vietnam

• Lecture of clam (Meretrix lyrata) culture technology (Clam culture in pond -

Clam culture in inter-tidal) for training courses:

• Technical guidelines were prepared and presented for participants of the introduction workshop in March, 2008 (Refer to MS9)

• Workshops conducted: There were three workshops conducted during the project, with total 200 participants (farmers and staff) benefited These workshops are:

o Workshop to introduce the primary results of the project on clam hatchery and clam husbandry work and to discuss the plan for developing collaboration of on- farm trials was held in Cua lo, Nghe an on 22nd-24th

September, 2007 (Refer to MS 9 & 12)

o Workshop to formalise the collaboration for ‘on farm’ trials was held at Giao Te Hotel in Cua Lo Town, Nghe An Province from 24 - 28 March

2008 (Refer to MS 9)

o Final workshop was held at Thanh Hoa province from 19-20 December

2009 to summarize the successful results from demonstration trials and to give technical knowledge to all stakeholders who contribute to the successful project (the program and the list of participants in Annex 2)

Fig.8 Project completion workshop December 2009 at Thanh Hoa

5.5 Project Management

Staff movement to different positions was a major challenge for the management team However, Dr Martin Kumar, Project Leader, SARDI, Australia regularly interacted with

young project team lead by Dr Nhu Van Can, Project Director and Mr Chu Chi Thiet, Project Manager and guided in difficult situations Dr Can completed his PhD studies during the course of the project and in his absence Mr Thiet provided strong local

leadership and support for the implementation of this project Excellent co-operation is being found between Provincial Fisheries Extension Department and Provincial

administrative staff and the lead farmers involved The co-ordination of activities in each Province was skillfully managed by ARSINC team and Provincial staff, and without their enthusiastic participation, this project would not have achieved the successes it has Each visit to Vietnam by Dr Martin Kumar, Project Leader, and Australia was planned to coincide with the planning and implementation of new initiatives A summary of the outcomes and decisions taken during each visit was prepared by Dr Martin Kumar for circulation among project staff This brief provided an on-going record of the discussions and decisions taken so that there was no dispute about what has been planned All

milestone reports were submitted except milestone 14 (this final report) The CARD PMU has efficiently managed the review and approval of Project milestones, and monies have been issued in a timely manner Mr Keith Milligan, Mr Nguyen Van Kien, Nguyen

Ha Hue, Mrs Nguyen Thi Khoa have all provided good support for the Project team, and

we are grateful to them for their understanding and advice over the past 3.5 years

6 Report on cross-cutting Issues

Gender and Social Issue

Clam aquaculture is a family or household activity in the coastal area of Vietnam Women undertake 50-60% of the work including husbandry, harvesting and marketing The tidal and pond clam aquaculture development increased income for households (Refer to MS 13 - Project Validation Report) Development of clam aquaculture also increase the opportunity of employment and associated with development of local infrastructure (Refer to MS 13)

The technological and socioeconomic study conducted by project team indicated that farmers received low prices for clam due to exploitation by middle men Cooperatives need to play a major role in marketing the clams

Study further confirmed that prawn and clam culture systems are seen as the backbone of the coastal community Clam culture is making more profit than prawn culture because of less capital cost as well as reducing risk

Implications on other project

Findings from this project provides valuable information for developing strategic plan and guidelines for coastal aquaculture development in the region

7 Implementation and Sustainability Issues

Issues and Constraints

The implementation of the project has been complicated by the movement of staff These problems have been overcome by accessing the services of other personnel or in some cases increasing the time commitments of nominated staff

7.1 Options

Project implementation was carried out strictly following the project design However, natural calamity (storm and heavy rain) affected final part (demonstration) of the project With 6 months extension time provided by CARD administration, all activities were successfully completed

7.2 Sustainability

No major issue identified

8 Next critical steps

The next steps are:

(1) To ensure the dissemination of the results and findings to the full range of stakeholders and partners, especially poor coastal communities in the North Central

b) Clam culture with other bivalves such as oysters and mussel culture Clam is a bottom dwelling species However, mussel and oyster live in the water column attached to substrate Therefore this type of polyculture could be efficient in terms of productivity

c) Integrated clam culture with other aquaculture species should be researched and improved on to take advantage of the clam’s natural filtering abilities to process waste water in an aquaculture culture systems

d) Process of nursing clam seed from juvenile to stocking size in the pond should

be further improved and implemented The current technique which is being

followed by Thanh Hoa province has provided very good results

(5)It was clear from the survey that calm farmers are not receiving an appropriate price

due to lack of organized marketing Therefore their is a strong need for establishing

an improved marketing campaign to further establish clams in the market place and

increasing their demand and the price paid to clam farmers

9 Conclusion

Performance of this project has been excellent and almost all objectives established for

the project have been met or exceeded This project played a key role in establishing a

sustainable clam industry in the coastal area of North central Vietnam Establishment of

this new clam industry has provided a new lease of life in the coastal aquaculture sector,

which has slowed down due to disease and environmental issues associated with

unplanned development of prawn farming

10 Statutory Declaration

STATUTORY DECLARATION COLLABORATION FOR AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

PROGRAM

CARD Project Title: Development of clam culture for improvement and diversification

of livelihoods of the poor coastal communities in Central Vietnam

CARD Project Number: 027/05VIE

We, the undersigned, hereby declare that during the period April/2006 to

December/2009, delivered the following inputs to assist in implementation of the above

Other Australian Staff in

collecting references and

assisting with literature review:

Belinda Rodda, Sandy Wyatt

30

1 Mr Chu Chi Thiet 693

3 Ms Nguyen Thi Mai 252

16 Ms Nguyen Thi Hanh 210

18 Ms Nguyen Thi Thuy 315

19 Mr Le Duc Giang 126

EQUIPMENT AND OTHER SERVICES

Equipment and other services description Budged limited (A$)

Operation cost (electricity, nutrients, disinfectants etc) 28,129

Signed for the Australian Institution by o

duly authorise officer in the presence of