Báo cáo nghiên cứu nông nghiệp " Improving the safety and quality of Vietnamese vegetables through research and capacity building in quality assurance, postharvest management and high technology protected cropping systems " ppt

Institute Information Project Name Improving the safety and quality of Vietnamese vegetables through research and capacity building in quality assurance, postharvest management and high

5.2 Smallholder Benefits _ 13 5.3 Capacity Building _ 13 5.4 Publicity _ 14 5.5 Project Management 14

6 Report on Cross-Cutting Issues 14

6.1 Environment _ 14 6.2 Gender and Social Issues _ 14

7 Implementation & Sustainability Issues _ 14

7.1 Issues and Constraints _ 14 7.2 Options 14 7.3 Sustainability _ 15

8 Next Critical Steps 15

9 Conclusion 15

1 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 Fruit and Vegetable Research Institute

(FAVRI) Trau Quy, Gia Lam, Hanoi

Vietnamese Project Team Leader Associate Prof Dr Tran Khac Thi

Australian Organisation Industry and Investment, NSW (formerly

NSW DPI) Gosford Primary Industries Institute Centre of Excellence in Market Access and Greenhouse Horticulture

Incorporating the National Centre for Greenhouse Horticulture

Australian Personnel Dr Suzie Newman (Australian Project

Date commenced 30th September 2005

Completion date (original) 30th September 2007

Completion date (revised) 31st May 2008

Reporting period Final Report

Contact Officer(s)

In Australia: Team Leader

Name: Dr Suzie Newman Telephone: +61 2 4348 1934

Position: Project Leader,

Research Horticulturist

Fax: +61 2 4348 1910

Organisation Industry and

Investment, NSW (formerly NSW

Email: suzie.newman@industry.nsw.gov.au

Department of Primary Industries)

In Australia: Administrative contact

Name: Mr Graham Denney Telephone:

Position: Manager External

Name: Associate Prof Dr Tran Khac Thi Telephone: 84-4-8276316

Position: Project Leader, Deputy Director,

Head of Vegetable and Spice Department

2 Project Abstract

3 Executive Summary

Vietnamese consumer demands for safe and high quality vegetables, have led to a examination of current production methods Protected cropping including rain shelters, net houses and greenhouse structures, provides one alternative system that can not only improve quality out-turn, facilitate counter-seasonal production but also lead to reduced pesticide usage and associated food safety concerns This project was designed to build capacity in the design and utilisation of such systems and the components of such systems eg hydroponic systems in a Vietnamese context The overall objective of this project was 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 was led by the Fruit and Vegetables Research Institute (FAVRI) with Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry (HUAF) and the Institute of Agricultural Sciences for South Vietnam (IAS) as the Vietnamese project partners NSW Department of Primary Industries (now Industry and Investment, NSW) was the Australian partner

re-Key achievements of the project have included:

• A series of trials (10 replicated and 4 on-farm demonstration trials) were undertaken looking at a number of production aspects (including variety, growing media, method

of nutrient application and irrigation) and comparing field and greenhouse production

of tomatoes and cucumbers in Hanoi, Lam Dong and Hue This has enabled recommendations to be made regarding appropriate varieties and growing media for protected cropping systems

• Vietnamese cocopeat quality was characterised (pH, salinity, colour, water holding capacity etc.), the water usage of different greenhouse media including coir was compared and recommendations were made for the improvement of QA procedures at

a Vietnamese cocopeat supplier

• Seven scientific and conference papers were published in Vietnamese and International journals

• Supply chains were mapped for 1) tomatoes and tomato seedling production and 2) Metro vegetable supply chains from Dalat

Protected cropping provides vegetable growers with an opportunity to enhance product quality and improve food safety The overall objective of this project was 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 This was achieved through: 1) greenhouse replicated experiments and demonstration trials in Northern, Central and Southern Vietnam; 2) four in-country workshops and 3) two Australian study tours for research and extension personnel Key highlights of the project have included: 1) Adaptation of technologies by both farmers and researchers to Vietnamese conditions; 2) Utilisation of hydroponic systems in both a research and demonstration trial context; 3) Enhanced capacity of Vietnamese research and extension personnel and 4) Economic analysis of protected cropping systems for tomatoes and cucumbers

• Capacity building of research and extension personnel particularly in the use of hydroponic systems, greenhouse design, postharvest management and GAP systems This included training in-country, ‘hands-on’ trial work, but also 8 personnel undertook 4 week study tours in Australia

• Adaptation and application of new technology and practices by Mr Nguyen Hong Phong, vegetable farmer and seedling producer from Lam Dong province By the end

of the project this lead farmer was influencing the practices of others through the formation of a farmer group selling into Metro and the Saigon Co-opmart

• Technical expertise and assistance was also provided to a number of entrerprises including a cocopeat supplier, high technology greenhouse centres in Hanoi and Haiphong and farmer groups in Hue and Can Tho

• Four workshops attracting a total of 275 participants (research and extension personnel, provincial agricultural officers, farmers and other supply chain partners) were delivered in Ho Chi Minh, Ha Noi, Can Tho and Dalat The workshop covered protected cropping systems, supply chain management and Good Agricultural Practice (GAP)

4 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 was required to facilitate successful adoption This project focused on providing the tools for optimising vegetable production in low-medium technology greenhouses and delivering high quality product to market This was 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 were to:

1 Facilitate the wider implementation and adoption of protected cropping systems of low to medium technology (greenhouses/net houses) 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

Whilst details of achievements have been previously highlighted in milestone reports, this section revisits and summarises those key achievements

A series of replicated and demonstration trials were undertaken by researchers and extension project personnel in Hanoi, Hue and Lam Dong to compare protected cropping and traditional field based systems Experiments were undertaken to evaluate growing media, tomato and cucumber variety performance and the use of hydroponic systems This work produced 7 publications in international and Vietnamese scientific literature (refer Milestone 7) The results from these trials also enabled recommendations in extension publications produced regarding the application of protected cropping systems (refer Milestone 8) Not only were tangible outputs in terms of both scientific papers and extension resources produced but research and extension personnel’s ability in undertaking robust, independent and well designed trial work was enhanced

Photo 1: FAVRI hydroponic lettuce trial Photo 2: Demonstration trial Lam Dong

Australian and European standards for measuring the physical and chemical characteristics of growing media were used to evaluate Vietnamese coir and compare it to other samples in the Australian marketplace Table 1 shows the results from the heavy metal analysis undertaken for a range of different samples A commercial operation in the Mekong Delta was also visited and recommendations provided on how they could improve the QA aspects of their business Developing the market share for Vietnam coir products for use in the greenhouse and hydroponic industries requires an understanding of product use demands and focus on process management to consistently achieve product performance characteristics

Sample type Source origi n Colour

Colour code Aluminium mg/kg

Arsenic mg/kg Cadmium mg/kg Chromium mg/kg Copper mg/kg Nickel mg/kg Lead mg/kg Selenium mg/kg Zinc mg/kg

Sample of unknown

origin Unknown

Greyed Orange 166 D 1100 <3 <0.9 3.6 3.6 <1.3 <1.7 <6.6 19 Peat Exceed Vietnam

Greyed Orange 177 B 800 <3 <0.9 1.8 4.2 1.7 <1.7 <6.6 19 Galuku Coco Peat easy

Greyed Orange 166 C 1100 <3 <0.9 5.6 5.6 1.8 <1.7 <6.6 16 Plant Best soil sponge Vietnam

Greyed Orange 166 C 440 <3 <0.9 2.9 3.6 6.1 <1.7 <6.6 21 Mekong company Vietnam

Greyed Orange 177 B 520 <3 <0.9 3.6 3.7 1.4 <1.7 <6.6 13 Mekong company Vietnam

Greyed Orange 165 B 370 <3 <0.9 2.6 3.3 <1.3 <1.7 <6.6 11 Richgro India

Greyed Orange 165 A 240 <3 <0.9 4.5 4.3 1.5 <1.7 <6.6 9 Brunnings Easy Wetta Sri Lanka

Greyed Orange 177 B 500 <3 <0.9 7.1 4.4 <1.3 <1.7 <6.6 13

Table 1: Heavy metal analysis of eight samples of compressed coir bricks of different origin

* - limits of detection)

The Mekong company currently produces a range of coir finished products for domestic and

export customers The business is equipped to produce a range of products including coir

bricks, seed pots, coir pots in different shapes and coir bricks of different size Coir seed pots

and bricks/blocks would be products selected for targeting greenhouse and hydroponic

industries Some quality characteristics beyond the specification for size and shape of the

products would include issues of uniformity in the size of fibres and assuring low

concentrations of salt contaminants

Photo 3:Coir brick samples Photo 4: The coir dust is watered down to

remove salts

End product sample blocks shown to the project team varied markedly in their fibre size and

colour, giving the appearance of high variability in the type of end product that would target

the greenhouse and hydroponic industries Other products used the longer fibres so it

appeared that the blocks were constructed from the remnant quantities This may lead

unacceptable variability in end product because of physical variability in the processing

material The process workflow is relatively labour intensive but simple and production has

evidently expanded in time

A quality management approach is required to minimise the variation in product

characteristics destined for greenhouse hydroponics Key actions to improve quality

management could include:

• assessment and profiling of raw material inputs to establish the degree of variability

Other issues that may require consideration are diseases and biosecurity concerns

This was a key focus of the project and was achieved in a number of ways including 1) working collaboratively with Australian colleagues on joint protected cropping trials; 2) participating in Australian study tours to look at what can be learned from the Australian industry and how this could be modified and adapted to Vietnamese conditions and 3) the introduction and trialing of simple low-tech innovations An example of this was the hydroponic systems detailed in Milestone 5 (and included as an example here)

Study tours to Australia were undertaken by 6 Vietnamese scientists and extension personnel (Ms Ngo Thi Hanh (RIFAV), Mr Vu Tuan Minh (HUAF), Mr Ngo Xuan Chinh (IAS), Mrs Nguyen Thi An (FAVRI, formerly RIFAV), Mr Ngo Minh Dung (IAS), Mr Nguyen Dinh Thi (HUAF) ) for a 4 week period in 2005 and 2006 Travel reports were produced by the Vietnamese team and included in Milestone 5 On the 2006 study tour, participants from the research institutes were also joined by vegetable grower and nursery specialist, Mr Nguyen Hong Phong from Lam Dong province His inclusion on the study tour particularly assisted the team in looking at how Australian technology may be modified to enable it to be utilised

in Vietnam Training focused on both field and greenhouse vegetable production, postharvest and supply chain management and implementing Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) Field visits to low tech (Sydney Basin) and high tech (Yanco, Gosford) greenhouses and farms also encouraged training participants to consider how they could adapt such technology to Vietnamese conditions In addition to visiting numerous farms, training participants also visited Sydney Wholesale Markets, and an importing and export business to enable them to understand Australian supply chains and quality requirements Visits to research stations at Gosford and Yanco provided the visitors with an insight into the types of research and extension projects undertaken by NSW DPI and how R&D programs are managed in Australia

Photo 5 Study Team 1 - Ms Ngo Thi Hanh

(RIFAV), Mr Vu Tuan Minh (HUAF), Mr

Ngo Xuan Chinh (IAS) visit greenhouse

vegetable producers in Sydney Basin,

together with Dr Vong Nguyen, Dr Suzie

Newman and Dr Ho Dang

Photo 6 Study Team 2 -Mrs Nguyen

Thi An (FAVRI, formerly RIFAV), Mr Nguyen Dinh Thi (HUAF) and Mr Nguyen Hong Phong (farmer, Lam Dong) learning how to measure postharvest quality attributes of fresh produce

The uptake and development of hydroponic systems by Vietnamese Research Institutes

All four Vietnamese Research Institute partners in this project have successfully implemented hydroponic growing systems Training periods in Australia have enabled them

to learn how to build and run the systems successfully in both a research and commercial context Visits to Australian hydroponic farms such as Pacific Hydroponics, Gosford and Atkinsons, Griffith have demonstrated how these systems are used commercially in Australia Training by Dr Parks and Worrall has focussed on getting the best out of these systems including management of EC and appropriate growing media Crop management practices have also been central to this training During this project we have seen the successful development and adaptation of these systems to Vietnamese growing conditions The group at IAS has also undertaken on-farm trials testing these systems During visits by the Australian team we have provided advice on how system and crop management can be improved During our visit in February 2006, we also visited the Hanoi Seed Company in Hanoi and a high technology greenhouse park in Hai Phong to address problems that they were having with their growing system in their greenhouse complex Following our visit Dr Parks also provided additional information and advice on how they could improve their production practices

Photo 7 Ms Anh (FAVRI) with the

hydroponic system she has constructed This

is her second crop using this system April

Photo 10 The hydroponic system at HUAF

being tested by Mr Thi – April 2007

Photo 11 Dr Ba and her hydroponic system

at Can Tho University – May 2007 (Dr Ba

undertook part of her PhD studies at Gosford

Horticultural Institute with Drs Parks and

Nguyen)

Photo 12 Testing hydroponic systems at

Can Tho University –May 2007