Báo cáo nghiên cứu khoa học " Developing Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) systems for dragon fruit producers and exporters in Binh Thuan and Tien Giang provinces - Milestone 8 " pdf

Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development 037/04VIE Developing Good Agricultural Practice GAP systems for dragon fruit producers and exporters in Binh Thuan and Tien Giang provinces

Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development

037/04VIE Developing Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) systems for dragon fruit producers and exporters in Binh Thuan and Tien Giang

provinces

Milestone 8 Southern Fruit Research Institute (SOFRI) staff competent in GAP

application and training

June 2007

Campbell J The Horticulture and Food Research Institute of New Zealand Ltd

HortResearch Nelson Region

PO Box 220 Motueka 7143 NEW ZEALAND

DISCLAIMER

Unless agreed otherwise, HortResearch does not give any prediction, warranty or assurance in relation to the accuracy of or fitness for any particular use or application of, any information or scientific or other result contained in this report Neither HortResearch nor any of its employees shall be liable for any cost (including legal costs), claim, liability, loss, damage, injury or the like, which may be suffered or incurred as a direct or indirect result of the reliance by any person on any information contained in this report

CONTENTS

Page

INTRODUCTION 3

1 A CADRE OF SOFRI, PPD AND OTHER PROVINCIAL AND NATIONAL STAFF COMPETENT IN TRAINING AND APPLICATION OF GAP AND EUREPGAP METHODS AND PRINCIPLES 3

Situation at the start of the project 3

Training programme 3

Current capability 5

2 STAFF OF PPD AND EXTENSION STAFF IN BINH THUAN EVALUATED AS TO THEIR AWARENESS AND UNDERSTANDING OF GAP AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR APPLICATION BY SMALLHOLDERS 6

Attempts for involvement 6

Ongoing level of activity and understanding 6

3 STRATEGY FOR APPLICATION OF GAP TO OTHER DRAGON FRUIT PRODUCERS OR OTHER FRUIT SECTORS DOCUMENTED AND TESTED 7

Pilot development, quality and sustainability 7

Pilot and project efficacy 8

Access to the pilot as an outreach tool 9

Delivery of the pilot model to other dragon fruit production areas 10

Benchmarking survey data 11

Manual development 11

End of project options 11

SOFRI company development 12

Vietnam quality initiative 13

4 FINAL DRAFT OF GAP/EUREPGAP MANUAL INCORPORATING FEEDBACK FROM TRAINING PROGRAMMES AND LESSONS LEARNT IN APPLICATION 14

Manual preparation 14

Translation of the document 14

Distribution 14

Copyright issues 14

Current manual status and future development and availability 15

APPENDIX 1 16

Specific training documentation table from Milestone #7 16

APPENDIX 2 19

Dragon fruit project environment Error! Bookmark not defined APPENDIX 3 19

So Tay San Xuat Trai Cay Theo Tieu Chuan Gap publication 19

APPENDIX 4 30

Dragon fruit quality manual cover and index 30

APPENDIX 5 35

BRC Copyright approval for the Dragon fruit Quality Manual 35

1 A CADRE OF SOFRI, PPD AND OTHER PROVINCIAL AND

NATIONAL STAFF COMPETENT IN TRAINING AND APPLICATION

OF GAP AND EUREPGAP METHODS AND PRINCIPLES

SITUATION AT THE START OF THE PROJECT

At the start of the dragon fruit GAP project many SOFRI staff had a significant understanding

of Good Agricultural Practice theory but very little experience in the practical application of quality systems With specific regard to the dragon fruit project, the combination of that lack

of practical experience and a dearth of knowledge about dragon fruit production meant that SOFRI personnel were not confident/knowledgeable enough to undertake project responsibilities

It was necessary for the project to overcome these constraints early, so training efforts concentrated on gaining acceptance of the project leader by the SOFRI project team, and enhancing their GAP and crop skills not only to implement the project but also to understand the GAP quality processes to a level that ensured project interventions would be completed and that they were sustainable at project end

Figure 1 Non-compliant on-the-floor Figure 2 Compliant packing

packing

TRAINING PROGRAMME

The training provided by the project firstly concentrated on the those SOFRI staff with the responsibility for implementing project initiatives and this was undertaken through strong mentoring and some presentations by the project leader during his periodic visits to Vietnam and intermittent communication and correspondence between visits

The project leader also gave presentations to the wider SOFRI staff during his visits It has been extremely pleasing to note that the leadership provided at SOFRI by the director and Project Champion Dr Nguyen Minh Chau has created an excellent environment for the advancement of GAP quality capability in Vietnam horticulture, which has proved to be a great base in which to manage and deliver this dragon fruit GAP project It has been Dr Chau who has drawn the project leader outside the specific terms of reference of the Collaboration for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) project on many occasions, to ensure the maximum benefit was gained from the project Some of those extra activities include:

• Presentations to SOFRI staff based on the project leader’s experience in quality systems (GAP)

• Project updates

• Formal presentation at the Can Tho International Agricultural Fair on GAP

• Introduction to Internal Auditing: presentation of training course for SOFRI staff

• Mentoring

From the project leader’s perspective, there have been two very significant contributions during the project that have enhanced the development in capability and confidence of the national project team

One was the implementation of the benchmarking survey, collection and processing of the data and the presentation of the findings to SOFRI personnel and back to the dragon fruit industry The knowledge gained during the benchmarking exercise enhanced the team’s understanding of the status of the commercial crop, production methods being applied and a realisation that they knew a great deal about the crop and could contribute very strongly to the support and improvement as intended during project intervention: Confidence gained!

The second, and major, contribution to national capability enhancement was the undertaking

of a study tour to New Zealand by Mr Nguyen Huu Hoang Ong Hoang’s study tour is detailed in the August 2006 project report The understanding from observing applied GAP/quality systems in a different environment, plus the formal training and confidence gained by Ong Hoang during the study tour has been immense It has been a delight for the project leader to observe how this knowledge is being delivered to all areas of the project, to other areas of his responsibilities at SOFRI, to other SOFRI staff and to those with other crop responsibilities

Figure 3 Packer management training Figure 4 First Aid certificates for trained staff

Figure 5 Packer senior staff training Figure 6 Packer/farmer linkage training

Figure 7 Farmer training

CURRENT CAPABILITY

The response to project training by the Vietnam project team at SOFRI has been fantastic The key Vietnamese project people of Dr Nguyen Minh Chau, Project Champion, Dr Nguyen Van Hoa, Project Leader and counterpart to the Project Leader, and Mr Nguyen Huu Hoang, Project Implementer, are leaders of the project initiatives that will ensure sustainability in the future All three have strongly supported the project and reports of the project exceeding expectations can be largely attributed to their efforts:

• Dr Chau for his setting up of the overall quality initiative at SOFRI and his respect and influence across other Institutes, Government Departments and the private sector and for creating the environment for successful project management and delivery and infrastructure development

• Dr Hoa for his leadership of the dragon fruit project, his role on the Agricultural Chemicals Board, his technical and technology transferring skills and his knowledge

of the crop and the GAP project initiatives to the level of the customers’ demands

• Ong Hoang for his thorough knowledge of the dragon fruit crop, his expertise, understanding and delivery of GAP, quality systems Ong Hoang fully understands the quality systems for horticulture, the standards as set by the customer; the practical application of those standards complete with documentation, auditing and improvement He is very skilful at delivering his considerable expertise to the

horticulture industry in general and the dragon fruit project in particular in both Vietnamese and in English

The training programmes of the project have developed over the two years of project delivery, from initially the project leader doing all the presentations in English to farmers/packers with translations, to a situation where the training is given in Vietnamese with the project leader providing a resource support role – very effective teamwork has developed! A table of project training was presented in the Milestone 7 report and reproduced here as Appendix 1

2 STAFF OF PPD AND EXTENSION STAFF IN BINH THUAN

EVALUATED AS TO THEIR AWARENESS AND UNDERSTANDING OF GAP AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR APPLICATION BY

SMALLHOLDERS

ATTEMPTS FOR INVOLVEMENT

At the commencement of project implementation, the team gave presentations to the senior and field personnel of Binh Thuan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) The presentations included an overview of the dragon fruit project scope, the proposed activities during the life of the project and an invitation for DARD staff to be closely involved with project implementation The project team highlighted the need for DARD personnel to contribute strongly to the project in the areas of farmer selection using local knowledge and to become proficient in GAP as being applied by the project to ensure sustainability following project completion

Channels of communication between SOFRI and DARD in Binh Thuan were set up by the project team and prior to each visit to the province by the project leader a formal letter requesting permission for the visit has been sent to Local Government Through the visit permission request letter, DARD personnel are warned of the project activities in advance

ONGOING LEVEL OF ACTIVITY AND UNDERSTANDING

One person on the DARD staff was nominated as the liaison person between the project team and DARD The nominated person accompanied the project team on several occasions during the benchmarking survey, farmer selection for project input and for some of the training sessions

However, it has been disappointing that DARD involvement to the level required by the project’s customer-driven quality standards has not reached expectations Private sector packers and farmers, through the receipt of project initiatives, have a far greater understanding

of GAP and its application to the level of the customer-driven standards than do the DARD extensionists

3 STRATEGY FOR APPLICATION OF GAP TO OTHER DRAGON

FRUIT PRODUCERS OR OTHER FRUIT SECTORS DOCUMENTED AND TESTED

PILOT DEVELOPMENT, QUALITY AND SUSTAINABILITY

As has been previously reported, the project has established a pilot group of exporter/packer and farmers to provide a working model, firstly to show the viability of GAP production of dragon fruit to high value markets and secondly to be able to demonstrate the commercial model to the wider dragon fruit production areas of Binh Thuan, to Tien Giang and also to other fruit crops

Every effort has been made to establish the commercial model so that it is of a high standard that exceeds the quality levels required by the customer-driven quality standards, is sustainable through ongoing good management, has staff that completely “understand” their areas of responsibility, and can operate at a profit

Figure 8 High quality dragon fruit

PILOT AND PROJECT EFFICACY

Indications that the dragon fruit pilot has responded to the project’s intensive training programme to a level of achievement close to meeting the quality standards of British Retailers Consortium (BRC) and EUREPGAP include:

• Product traceability, a major component of the quality system, from the farm through the packer and exporter to the market is clear and robust At any time, product identified in the market can be traced back through the supply chain to the farm, production block, date of harvest/packing/despatch and all associated documentation (e.g spray diary etc.) The packhouse administrator responsible for the development, operation and maintenance of the traceability system has a complete understanding of traceability requirements and importance and the system’s integration with the packhouse and quality system management

• Farmer diaries are accurate and complete, signed off by the trained and certificated operator and are available to be evaluated by the appropriate authority to give clearance for product to be exported

• Internal auditing of the pilot entities has developed from the formal training through to the practical application Formal Internal Auditing trained capability has been passed

on to other stakeholders, greatly enhancing their understanding of quality systems and the customers’ needs

• Word of the project aims, intentions and potential have reached high value export markets and enquiries for supply of dragon fruit that meet the selected standards are being received

• TESCOs have already employed a third-party auditor to undertake an ethical audit of the pilot packhouse The audit report showed the packer to be close to the expected standards The packer implemented the recommendations for improvement immediately, with most being completed during the audit The third-party audit greatly assisted the project quality initiative, by demonstrating to the pilot leaders how seriously the standards are interpreted by high value markets such as TESCO

Figure 9 Farmer spray diary audit, Figure 10 Farm documentation: e.g spray

improvement and training diary, fertiliser application records

Figure 11 Farm location and planting Figure 12 Farm block identification

maps

ACCESS TO THE PILOT AS AN OUTREACH TOOL

The project, in its negotiations during the dragon fruit project pilot establishment, has ensured that the commercial working pilot model will be available to be used as an extension tool when developing GAP systems to the wider dragon fruit industry and for other crop quality improvement A memorandum of understanding between the pilot packer and the Project Champion formalises this close association between the pilot and the project team

It is intended that initially only the project team will be responsible for the outreach programme and interaction with the pilot However, as extensionists become proficient, they too will have access to the pilot Indeed, as more commercial units modelled on the pilot become certified, it is expected the burden of the outreach programme on the initial pilot will become less, especially when the initiative shifts to other regions/crops

Figure 14 Compliant fertiliser storage

Figure 13 Compliant agrichemical storage

Figure 15 Packhouse staff cloak room and Figure 16 Packer purchase order and

protective clothing export presentation of product

DELIVERY OF THE PILOT MODEL TO OTHER DRAGON FRUIT PRODUCTION AREAS

Project delivery was intended for both the Binh Thuan and Tien Giang Provinces It was important for the project to establish the pilot to demonstrate viability and a working quality system model for replication As the pilot nears the standard that will achieve Certification by the selected Certifying Body, outreach activities are becoming more active Networking between the pilot and other dragon fruit farmers and packers has commenced, as have study tours by small groups visiting the pilot from Tien Giang

It has been a high priority for the project to prepare both the pilot and key personnel to a high level, so that the effect of quality dilution during the replication process is minimised It is also believed by project personnel that industry control will be needed in the future, to avoid the quality momentum being damaged by insincere operators

Figure 17 Transfer of quality farmer Figure 18 New dragon fruit

practices to other farmers development

Figure 19 New compliant packhouse Figure 20 Field visit to almost

being constructed compliant farmer during expression of interest

(EoI) preparation

BENCHMARKING SURVEY DATA

The benchmarking survey undertaken by the project was very thorough and covered an excellent cross-section of the small-holder dragon fruit farming community Survey data were very robust and as well as determining the “status” at project start, they have also been used a technology transfer tools, and used by researchers involved with other crops

MANUAL DEVELOPMENT

The project has published a Dragon fruit Quality Manual The manual has a small section covering the exporter and sections for the packer using the BRC Global - Food Standard and for the farmer the EUREPGAP Standard The manual is appropriate for use throughout the dragon fruit industry, with minor modifications for each specific application, and can easily

be adapted for other horticultural crops

The quality systems being applied by the project to enable the pilot access to the high value markets of Europe and the United Kingdom are at a higher level than the standards currently being set under AsianGAP Indeed the AsianGAP initiative is an excellent foundation from which to develop into the BRC/EUREPGAP/Customer specific standards The progression of quality systems in Vietnam’s horticulture is seen to commence with AsianGAP, continue on

to the BRC/EUREPGAP standards and to be fine-tuned for specific customer needs/demands This quality system evolutionary process will increasingly improve the safe, legal and quality horticultural products for local markets through to high value export markets The Dragon fruit Quality Manual provides the basis of each unit’s documented quality system for each standard

END OF PROJECT OPTIONS

It is expected that, at project completion, most areas of the project objectives will have been completed, with many exceeding expectations It is clear to the project leader that the dragon fruit practical initiative that has been stimulated and supported by the project is at a vulnerable stage and further appropriate/compatible support would ensure long-term sustainability in the future

Key personnel from the dragon fruit project, SOFRI, HortResearch, dragon fruit packers and farmers developed an expression of interest for a new two-year project, which was presented

to Hassall and Associates International (HAI)/CARD on 22 May 2007 (Appendix 2) The proposed scope for the new project is very ambitious and complex and would cover the continuation of the current project initiative to ensure sustainability and delivery to the wider dragon fruit areas and other crops The proposed project would also address high value market linkages, appropriate infrastructure development and the development of industry specific/dependent/supported research, development and promotion

Figure 21 Stakeholders develop the

Expression of Interest for a new project

SOFRI COMPANY DEVELOPMENT

During the dragon fruit project period, there has been a directive for Vietnamese Institutes like SOFRI to transform from government departments to profitable companies There is a similarity in this transformation process in many ways with that of HortResearch over recent years A study tour to New Zealand and Australia by selected senior Vietnamese officials visited HortResearch on 28 February 2007 for prepared presentations and discussions with key personnel The project leader gave a dragon fruit project presentation to the delegation and has frequently discussed the HortResearch model with Dr Chau during visits to Vietnam

The SOFRI Company is seen by the project leader to be an important component in the future Vietnamese quality-driven horticulture industry for its skills, services and problem solving ability

VIETNAM QUALITY INITIATIVE

As part of Vietnam’s drive to expand good agricultural practices in horticulture, the Government directed SOFRI in mid 2006 to publish a 400-page GAP book with an intended distribution of 1,000 copies (A copy is included with this milestone report – printed only in Vietnamese) The project leader was requested to contribute a chapter for the book based on a case study of the CARD dragon fruit GAP project (Refer to the February 2007 project report, Appendix 2 The English version of the contribution: A case study of the project: Developing GAP systems for dragon fruit producers and exporters in Binh Thuan and Tien Giang provinces – Viet Nam; authors John M Campbell & Nguyen Huu Hoang is contained in Appendix 3 of this report)

As well as the inclusion of the chapter in the publication, extended use of material from the dragon fruit manual was also made

Figure 22 Field spray filling station with Figure 23 Block identification and

clean water, spill containment, appropriate caution signage

drainage and bunding and staff wash-up

facilities

Figure 24 Deep well protective cover

4 FINAL DRAFT OF GAP/EUREPGAP MANUAL INCORPORATING FEEDBACK FROM TRAINING PROGRAMMES AND LESSONS

LEARNT IN APPLICATION

MANUAL PREPARATION

As reported previously, the Dragon fruit Quality Manual (Appendix 4, cover page and index) was prepared by the project The 270-page English version has been written to provide the documented quality system for the project’s pilot exporter, packer and farmers as required by the project’s selected quality systems of BRC Global – Food and EUREPGAP The manual was due in the draft form by the end of March 2006 (Milestone #4) and final draft by July

2007 (Milestone #8) However, because the project has progressively developed the final and working version of the manual for the pilot, the document has been submitted as a final version and earlier than required

Verification that the manual fulfils its intended purpose will be confirmed during the external inspection and pilot certification process when conducted by the Certifying Body

TRANSLATION OF THE DOCUMENT

Translation of the manual has been undertaken by the SOFRI project team and is almost completed – the position descriptions of the packer section are all that remain to be done

DISTRIBUTION

At the time of writing only a small number of manuals have been distributed Those receiving the manual include the project donor HAI, CARD, the project implementing agencies of SOFRI and HortResearch, the pilot, another packer being developed and farmers (farmer section only)

COPYRIGHT ISSUES

When developing the manual for the pilot, the project team wanted the manual to be a high quality tool for training all stakeholders of the pilot as well as describing the documented quality system Some copyright issues arose following project management’s desire to include the BRC “Fundamental Statement” in the manual, to give those using the manual a better understanding of the scope and purpose of each requirement in the standard Negotiations with BRC resolved the issues and the project is free to include the Fundamental Statement providing a new standard is purchased for each subsequent packhouse facility established (refer to Appendix 5)

CURRENT MANUAL STATUS AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENT AND AVAILABILITY

The Dragon fruit Quality Manual has been written specifically to fulfil the documented quality system requirements of the standards being applied in the pilot For the pilot, the manual is a living document and as such is always being updated and improved as part of the quality systems implemented in the pilot

Besides specific changes to the manual to suit the needs of the pilot, the project highlights other ongoing manual change needs:

• When adapting the manual to other packhouses

• When adapting the manual to other farms

• When adapting the manual to other crops

• To update as required by the existing quality standards (e.g EUREPGAP from version 2.1 to 3.0)

• To include the standards requirements of customer-driven needs

• To prepare the manual so that it is suitable for inclusion on the CARD website

At this early stage of quality development of the horticultural crops of Vietnam, it is recommended that the project personnel provide the lead in manual changes and adaptation

The manual developed as an output of the dragon fruit project is freely available to those implementing quality improvement in dragon fruit

APPENDIX 1

SPECIFIC TRAINING DOCUMENTATION TABLE FROM MILESTONE #7

mentoring, presentations, team interactions, etc

feedback

Internal Auditor Course

implementation to the level of the adopted standards

strong quality environment at the institute

scope of the project document

environment within SOFRI for project delivery and management

application/support

establishment of the project’s commercial “Pilot” and

a start to national infrastructure development to support the quality dragon fruit industry

2 Project

delivery

survey

understanding and skills

observing

farms in relation to the EUREPGAP Standard

SOFRI and DARD staff

GAP intervention

GAP project intervention

trainers with the necessary understanding and skills

the benchmarking survey

discussions, Microsoft® Office

dragon fruit farmers

previously selected through the benchmarking survey

Stage Area Component Prerequisite Training Outcome

principles

resources to make the physical changes needed

and implement GAP

PowerPoint® presentations, demonstration, etc

through discussions, farm mapping, and requirements needed to meet the standards, etc

documentation

and DARD personnel

commitment to take their level of GAP to the customer driven standards of EUREPGAP

GAP intervention as they increasingly become committed

production of dragon fruit following proof of viability

as demonstrated by the project pilot

development

Prerequisites for a dynamic quality driven dragon fruit industry include:

soil, leaf, water analysis

in this area

the quality needs of the dragon fruit industry to the standards demanded by the customer – BRC and EUREPGAP

ensure costs to the farmer are kept to a sustainable minimum

packer/exporter to follow on its path to quality compliance – to work closely with the project team

selling to the packer/exporter –

an education/negotiation process

project quality intervention – farmers include large-holders and well as small-holders – an education/negotiation process

and train for changes necessary

cooperate with the project

particularly with the packer

fruit Quality Manual” in English and Vietnamese written and presented to pilot

fruit quality manual e.g Product traceability, quality