Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development CARD Project Progress Report 004/04VIE: Improving the safety and quality of Vietnamese vegetables through research and capacity building in
Trang 1
Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development
CARD Project Progress Report
004/04VIE: Improving the safety and quality of
Vietnamese vegetables through research and capacity building in quality assurance, postharvest management and high technology protected cropping systems
MS3: SECOND SIX-MONTHLY REPORT
Trang 21 Institute Information
Project Name Improving the safety and quality of Vietnamese vegetables through
research and capacity building in quality assurance, postharvest management and high technology protected cropping systems
Vietnamese Institution Research Institute of Fruits and Vegetables (RIFAV)
Trau Quy, Gia Lam, HANOI
VN Project Team Leader Associate Prof Dr Tran Khac Thi
Australian Organisation NSW Department of Primary Industries
Gosford Horticultural Institute Centre of Excellence in Market Access and Greenhouse Horticulture Incorporating the National Centre for Greenhouse Horticulture
Australian Personnel Dr Vong Nguyen; Dr Suzie Newman
Dr Sophie Parks; Mr Joseph Ekman
Date commenced 30th September 2005
Completion date (original) 30th September 2007
Completion date (revised) 30th November 2007 (to take into account delay in signing of contracts) Reporting period 2nd Six monthly report
Contact Officer(s)
In Australia: Team Leader
Name: Dr Vong Nguyen / Dr
Suzie Newman
Telephone: +61 2 4348 1927
+61 2 4348 1934
Position: Special Research
Horticulturist
Fax: +61 2 4348 1910
Organisation NSW Department of
Primary Industries
Email: vong.nguyen@dpi.nsw.gov.au
suzie.newman@dpi.nsw.gov.au
In Australia: Administrative contact
Name: Graham Denney Telephone:
Position: Administrative officer Fax:
Organisation NSW Department of
Primary Industries
Email: graham.denney@dpi.nsw.gov.au
In Vietnam
Name: Associate Prof Dr Tran Khac Thi Telephone: 84-4-8276316
Position: Deputy Director Fax: 84-4-8276148
Organisation Research Institute of Fruits and
Vegetables (RIFAV), Trau Quy, Gia Lam, HANOI
Email: vrqhn@hn.vnn.vn;
tkthi@vnn.vn
Trang 32 Project Abstract
Chemical residues left by fungicides and insecticides are among the major problems causing
contamination of vegetables in Vietnam The development of safe food production methods was fostered by the previous NSW Department of Primary Industries project (CARD-0016; 2001-2003) but this can only be realised with further research and development This project addresses the issues
of food safety and food quality from production to market to encourage the economic viability and sustainability of the Vietnamese vegetable industry This project seeks to: 1) Facilitate the wider implementation and adoption of protected cropping systems of low to medium technology that require fewer chemical inputs through targeted research and extension activities 2) Examine current supply chain constraints and utilise quality assurance principles to implement targeted system improvements and 3) Enhance Vietnamese research, development and extension capacity in the areas of protected cropping systems, postharvest management and quality assurance systems This project has begun to address these objectives through: 1) research demonstration trials in Hanoi and Lam Dong to identify the most suitable media for greenhouse cucumber and tomato production; 2) training workshops in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh attracting 150+ researchers, extension officers, growers and supply chain partners; and 3) providing advice to greenhouse high technology facilities in Hanoi and Hai Phong
3 Executive Summary
Protected cropping provides vegetable growers with an opportunity to enhance
product quality and improve food safety The overall objective of this project is to
provide Vietnamese scientists and extension specialists with the training and tools to
implement and foster regionally feasible improvements to current vegetable
production practices and supply chains The project is led by the Research Institute of
Fruit and Vegetables with Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry and the
Institute of Agricultural Sciences for South Vietnam as the Vietnamese project
partners NSW Department of Primary Industries is the Australian partner
Key achievements during this 2nd six monthly period include:
• The successful development and delivery of two training workshops in Ho Chi
Minh and Hanoi in February 2006 attracting 150+ participants including
growers, wholesalers, retailers, researchers and extension officers The
program included presentations from Vietnamese and Australian project
partners on protected cropping systems, supply chain management and good
agricultural practice (GAP) Proceedings were produced from each workshop
• Two research demonstration trials investigating the effect of different growing
media on plant growth and development for tomato and cucumber were
completed in March 2006
• The establishment of a research trial at Gosford Horticultural Institute to
examine the chemical and physical properties of Vietnamese cocopeat and to
determine the water usage of different media (including coir) for greenhouse
cucumber and ornamental production
• Visits by the Australian team in February and May 2006 facilitated the
planning of up-and-coming workshops, research, training and extension
activities
Trang 44 Introduction & Background
Protected cropping systems provide vegetable farmers with the opportunity to produce high yielding, good quality crops with reduced pesticide inputs Our previous
AusAID-CARD project (0016) focussed on development of a low-tech greenhouse system to enhance the productivity and sustainability of the Vietnamese vegetable industry The nethouse with run-to-waste cocopeat system was shown to be an
effective and cost effective model, however further optimisation and extension of this technology is required to facilitate successful adoption This project focuses on
providing the tools for optimising vegetable production in low-medium technology greenhouses and delivering high quality product to market This will be achieved through formal and informal training initiatives including in-country workshops,
intensive Australian based training programs for research and extension staff and a series of research demonstration trials This project uses a participatory research approach
to foster uptake by both Vietnamese institutions and key stakeholders (farmers, extension agents, supply chain partners)
The objectives of this project are to:
1 Facilitate the wider implementation and adoption of protected cropping
systems of low to medium technology (greenhouses/nethouses) that require fewer chemical inputs through targeted research and extension activities;
2 Examine current supply chain constraints and utilise quality assurance
principles to implement targeted system improvements;
3 Enhance Vietnamese R&D capacity in the areas of protected cropping
systems, postharvest management and quality assurance systems
4 Fostering links between growers, wholesalers, traders and researchers to
increase the productivity and competitiveness of Vietnamese smallholder
agriculture and related rural enterprises
5 Progress to Date
5.1 Implementation Highlights
Training workshops and visits by Australian project partners
Two visits have been undertaken by Australian staff during this reporting period The first visit took place in February 2006 with Drs Nguyen, Newman and Parks and Mr Ekman visiting project partners in Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi and collaborators in Lam Dong province and Hai Phong Highlights from this visit included:
1 Organising and delivering two workshops in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh These workshops entitled “Improving the Safety & Quality of Vietnamese Vegetables’ included presentations on protected cropping systems, postharvest management, quality assurance and implementing GAP (Good Agricultural Practice) The workshops featured presentations from Vietnamese and Australian scientists The workshops attracted around 100 extension and plant protection horticulturists and 50 vegetable traders and growers Workshop participants came from 35 provinces throughout North and South Vietnam One of the highlights of the workshops was the discussion forums and it is recommended that they be extended in future workshop programs
Trang 52 Visiting demonstration trials, greenhouse centres and farmer properties in Hanoi, Hai Phong and Lam Dong
3 Developing collaborative links with the High Technology Greenhouse Centres
in Hanoi and Hai Phong and supply chain partners such as Metro
The second visit by Dr Nguyen took place in May 2006 and focused on reviewing the results from the research demonstration trials and preparing for the up-and-coming training period for Vietnamese project personnel This trip also provided the
opportunity for reviewing the project and developing future directions
Travel reports were produced covering these trips and are available on request from the Australian project team
Vietnam Research Demonstration Trials
Research demonstration trials have been completed in Hanoi and Lam Dong province comparing the effectiveness of different media on cucumber and tomato production
Hanoi
This trial was carried out at the Research Institute of Fruit and Vegetables (RIFAV) The trial compared the suitability of 4 different media for tomato (VL2500) and
cucumber (Status) production The design was a randomized block design with 5 replicates The 4 media were:
• Media 1 - Sugar cane waste & peanut husk & soybean
• Media 2 - Sugar cane waste & peanut husk & peat
• Media 3 - Sugar cane waste & peat & volcanic rock
• Media 4 - Cocopeat
The trials were sown in November (tomato) and December (cucumber) During the workshop in Hanoi participants were invited to inspect the trial and this provided an opportunity for more informal discussion on protected cropping systems
Ho Chi Minh
This trial was organized on a farmers property in Don Duong, Lam Dong province where tomato is the major vegetable crop Tomatoes (ManilLa and 386) and
cucumbers were sown in November 2005 on 4 different media:
• Media 1 – Cocopeat and sand and cow manure
• Media 2 – Cocopeat
• Media 3 – Coffee bean husk and cow manure
• Media 4 – Peat and cow manure and NPK
The trial was set-up as a randomised complete block design with 3 replicates
Trang 6Data from both these trials are currently being prepared for analysis
Cocopeat Research (Dr Sophie Parks and Dr Ross Worrall)
Characterising cocopeat
Work has also commenced at Gosford Horticultural Institute comparing the physical and chemical characteristics of Vietnamese sourced coir with other products on the market
Qualities measured will include:
• pH
• salinity
• colour
• water holding capacity
• air filled porosity
• moisture retention curves
• profile of particle sizes
• lime requirement
• wicking ability
• water use
Australian and European standards for measuring the physical and chemical
characteristics of growing media will be used to evaluate coir
Quantifying the variation of products over time is important being commercially relevant We currently have about 6 samples of coconut fibre from Vietnam obtained
at different times Each sample constitutes an experimental unit Variation within each unit (sample) will also be important to quantify Variation between samples will determine an ideal number of samples to carry out (if practical)
Greenhouse media water usage
A trial has also been established at GHI to compare the water usage of different media (including coir) for cucumber and flannel flower production
Two species that differ in water requirements were chosen These include cucumber having a high water requirement and an ornamental, flannel flower, as the low water requiring comparison
A low technology system is being used to determine the daily water use of plants growing in a greenhouse Water wicks up into the substrate from the base of the pot fed by an individual tank As the plant uses water the level in the tank drops and can
be measured Pots without plants have been included to allow estimation of the
evapotranspiration of units
Two substrate mix types, one including coir will be compared
Mix 1: 25% sand 25% perlite 25% pine bark 25% coir
Mix 2: 25% sand 25% perlite 50% pine bark
Trang 7The inclusion of coir is expected to increase the wicking ability of mix 1 The effect
of the two mixes on plant growth and water use will be determined
Measurements:
• Physical and chemical characteristics of mixes before and after the experiment
• Daily water use
• Leaf area (at weeks 3,6,9 & 12)
• Flannel flower number
• Cucumber fruit number/weight
• Plant dry weight
• Daily solar radiation and temperature will be monitored using sensors and
related to water use (providing a predictive model)
5.2 Smallholder Benefits
The workshops in Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi provided a training opportunity for the 15 farmers that participated Linkages with these farmers will be fostered throughout the life of the project to facilitate rapid adoption of project outputs
5.3 Capacity Building
Capacity building has been the focus of much of the project activities during the last six months Activities undertaken include: in-country workshops; furthering collaborative links with the High Technology Greenhouse Centres in Hanoi and Hai Phong and preparing for the intensive training program for Vietnamese scientists in Australia
Regional workshops
Regional workshops (as detailed in section 5.1) were held in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh
in February 2006 Table 1 summarizes the participants at each workshop
Table 1 Workshop invitees
Ho Chi Minh 14th and 15th
February
Research Institutes and Universities
7
Provincial
Agricultural Officers
38
Agricultural
companies/supply chain partners
11
Hanoi 21st and 22nd
February
Research Institutes and Universities
33
Trang 8Agricultural Officers
growers
12
Workshop proceedings were produced for each workshop and provided to participants The workshop program featured presentations from Vietnamese and Australian scientists and Metro supermarkets A copy of the program for each workshop is attached in Appendix 1 The discussion forum provided the opportunity for workshop participants and speakers to discuss and exchange ideas GAP systems, supply chain management, postharvest technology and protected cropping systems It
is recommended that next two workshops in Hue and Can Tho provide more opportunities for round table group discussion The field trip at the Ho Chi Minh workshop to the central market (Thu Duc) and Metro supermarkets also enabled more informal discussion to take place on supply chain management and quality assurance
Vo Van Nam (An Phu Distribution Center Manager) and Thai Hong Xuan Nguyet (Supply Chain Manager) provided the workshop participants with an overview on Metro’s approach to supply chain management from farm to store Whilst it is recognized that Metro represents only a very small proportion of the vegetable market (the top-end), their supply chain model represents current best practice in Vietnam and was of considerable interest to workshop participants
5.4 Publicity
Both workshops were covered by the local television networks (HTV and VTV) with stories running in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh
A Vietnamese paper published an article by Dr Vong on safe vegetable production, GAP and Vietnam’s joining the WTO (Nguyen Quoc Vong, 2006 Can cai “bat tay” giua ban nha (A necessary “hand-shade” of three experts) Quoc Te Vol 2, 2006: 12
– 18 January: Page 13 (in Vietnamese))
An article was also produced on the project for the first issue of the CARD newsletter (CARD 004/04 VIE: Improving the safety and quality of Vietnamese vegetables through research and capacity building in quality assurance, postharvest management and high technology protected cropping systems CARD Newsletter June 2006 Page 5)
As mentioned in the previous milestone report, the delayed start date of September
2005 (8 months later than the original proposal) will require some modification to
project milestones It is requested that the following adjustments be made to project milestones:
Trang 97 April 2007 July 2007
Despite the delayed start date the project remains on-track, however some activities have had to be compressed into a shorter period of time
In September 2007, there will be a change in Australian team leader when Dr Vong Nguyen retires Dr Suzie Newman will take over as Australian team leader but Dr Nguyen will continue to be involved with the project and participate in the workshops next year
6 Report on Cross-Cutting Issues
6.1 Environment
The training workshops in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh focused on GAP (Good Agricultural Practices), providing participants with some insight into what is required under the various GAP systems This is timely given the imminent release of the ASEAN GAP guidelines At the present time the Vietnamese vegetable industry falls short of the environmental requirements under many GAP systems with use of non-composted farm manure, unregistered chemicals and inadequate with-holding periods Providing plant protection officers and extension specialists with knowledge on GAP systems and how they are
implemented should assist Vietnam with the uptake of these systems over the next few years
Greenhouse production provides farmers with the opportunity to use less
fertilizer and pesticides, which ultimately is better for the environment
However to achieve this requires a high level of management and maintenance
of a clean greenhouse environment In some of the protected cropping
structures we have visited growers were having problems controlling diseases This seems to be primarily due to either poor greenhouse hygiene or where the greenhouse design does not provide sufficient ventilation to reduce the humidity within the house This increased disease incidence is likely to lead to an
increased number of sprays being applied During the visit by the Australian team they provided advice on how disease problems may be reduced inside the greenhouse and hopefully this will lead to less disease problems and ultimately less chemicals being applied
6.2 Gender and Social Issues
This CARD project will continue to address gender and social issues as they arise throughout the project.
Trang 107 Implementation & Sustainability Issues
7.1 Issues and Constraints
The geographic spread of the institutes involved in this project (Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Hue) results in the Australian team only visiting some of the regions each trip This places greater reliance on communication by e-mail to ensure that trials and workshop preparations are going smoothly It also makes it not feasible for the entire project team to meet as a group, requiring separate planning activities for each region
7.2 Options
The visits to Australia by Vietnamese scientists from each region at the same time have promoted team development It is also proposed that the Vietnamese project leader and one of the IAS project team be invited to the workshop in Hue to enable a project meeting to take place and facilitate closer collaboration
7.3 Sustainability
A number of the demonstration trials will take place on farm, facilitating greater uptake of results by farmers The comparison of field and greenhouse production should clearly demonstrate whether or not greenhouse production is economically viable in each region
8 Next Critical Steps
The following activities will take place in the next six months:
• Intensive training period for 3 Vietnamese project personnel at Gosford Horticultural Institute
• Planning and development of workshops in Hue and Can Tho
• Design and implementation of further research demonstration trials in Hanoi, Hue and Lam Dong
• Continued research on cocopeat at GHI
9 Conclusion
Highlights from the last six months include:
• Holding 2 workshops on ‘Improving the safety and quality of Vietnamese vegetables’ in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh
• Completing phase 1 of the research demonstration trials in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh
• Commencing work at GHI on characterising the chemical and physical properties of Vietnamese cocopeat
The project is currently on-track and so far there have been no major constraints
to project implementation