Nghiên cứu thực trạng nguồn nhân lực vùng dân tộc thiểu số (DTTS) và đề xuất các giải pháp phát triển nguồn nhân lực vùng DT& MN

2006/04 FAO/GOVERNMENT COOPERATIVE PROGRAMME FINAL REPORT ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL INFORMATION SHARING MECHANISM NISM ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GLOBAL PLAN OF ACTION GP

AG:GCP/RAS/186/JPN Field Document No 2006/04

FAO/GOVERNMENT COOPERATIVE PROGRAMME

FINAL REPORT ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL

INFORMATION SHARING MECHANISM (NISM) ON

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GLOBAL PLAN OF ACTION (GPA) FOR THE

CONSERVATION AND UTILIZATION OF PLANT

GENETIC RESOURCES FOR FOOD AND

AGRICULTURE IN VIET NAM

Plant Resources Center Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences

Written by Luu Ngoc Trinh, Nguyen Tien Hung, Hoang Gia Trinh

Pham Hung Cuong and Pham Thi Sen

October, 2006

Preface

Because of the country’s specific geographical location and due to its long history and complicated topographical, ecological and social features, Vietnam is recognized as one of the world’s most prosperous, rich an diverse in PGR countries While diverse climatic conditions have diversified the country’s flora with both tropical and temperate plants, thousands years of agricultural practice by 54 ethnic groups largely enriched its crop genetic resources with numerous local cultivars and land races possessing specially valuable agronomical characters In addition, the country’s location in one of the origin centers of various crops results in high diversity and richness of its crops relatives and wild plants of agricultural and social values

Together with increasing acknowledge of their importance and values, PGR of Vietnam have recently enjoyed significant attention for their conservation, development and use towards the global sustainable socio-economic development Among various national efforts spent for the effective management of these precious natural resources is the country’s participation to the implementation of the Global Plant of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of PGR for food and agriculture through taking part in the conduction of the project GCP/RAS/186/JPN entitled “The Implementation of the Global Plan of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture in Asia and the Pacific” Within the framework of this project, a national information sharing mechanism has been established, the current status of PGR activities in Vietnam accessed, and the most important priorities set up for the safe conservation and sustainable use of Vietnamese PGR in the interest of not only the present but also the future generations of the nation and the humankind as the whole The present final synthesis report of this project implementation in Vietnam demonstrates not only the common efforts of Vietnamese stakeholders but also international cooperative attention in the conservation and sustainable use of PGR worldwide

We would like to express our sincere thanks to the government of Japan for having funded this work, and FAO for provision of invaluable technical support Special thanks

to Dr N Quat Ng, the project’s Chief Technical Advisor, for his valuable assistance throughout the project implementation period, from preparatory phase through to data analysis and reporting Some editorial work by him is also really appreciated

Dr Pham Thi Sen Head of the Research Planning and International Cooperation Department,

and Prof Dr Luu Ngoc Trinh

Director, Plant Resources Center, Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences

List of abbreviations

FAO Organization for Food and Agriculture of the United Nations

FAO-RAP The FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

GPA Global Plan of Actions

ICE Information, education and communication

IPGRI International Plant Genetic Resource Institute

MARD Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

MONRE Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment

NFP National Focal Point

NGO Non-governmental organizations

NISM National information sharing mechanism

NISM-GPA National information sharing mechanism on the GPA Implementation PGRFA Plant genetic resources for food and agriculture

PGR-IZ Plant Genetic Resources Important Zones

PRC Plant Resources Center

PGR Plant Genetic Resource

PRGC Plant Genetic Resource Center

SC Steering Committee

SH Stakeholder

Table of Content

I INTRODUCTION 2

II OVERVIEW OF THE NISM ESTABLISHMENT PROCESS 6

II.1 PREPARATORY PHASE 7

II.2 IMPLEMENTATION PHASE 8

II.3 REPORTING PHASE 10

III DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 2

III.1 IN SITU CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT 10

III.2 EX SITU CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT 19

III.3 UTILIZATION OF PGR 22

III.4 INSTITUTIONS AND CAPACITY BUILDING 27

IV PLAN FOR MAINTENANCE AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE NISM 32

V LESSONS DRAWN FROM THE PROCESS OF NISM ESTABLISHMENT AND GPA MONITORING PROCESS 33

VI ANNEXES 34 Annex 1: List of the stakeholders

Annex 2: Report of the first SH workshop

Annex 3: Report of the second SH workshop

Annex 4: Report of the third SH workshop

Annex 5: Areas surveyed and inventoried for PGRFA

Annex 6: List of newly identified plants

Annex 7: List of cultivated plant species

Annex 8: List of threatened crops/varieties

Annex 9: List of the on-farm conservation sites

Annex 10: List of neglected crops and varieties

Annex 11: List of the national parks and their target plant species

Annex 12: List of the existing ex situ collections held by the various SHs in Viet Nam

and percentage of accessions characterized by the various types of traits/characters in breeding, production and storage of rice, bean, taro and others

Annex 13: List of sites where community participatory crop improvement promoted

Annex 14: List of raising public awareness activities/projects and the

stakeholders responsible for these

I INTRODUCTION

For effective coordination of the national efforts in the region towards the common goal of enhanced world's food security and socio-economic development, reduced poverty, and more sustainable agricultural systems through the conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA, a cooperative project (GCP/RAS/186/JPN) has been developed between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and seven Asian countries The member countries are Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam This GCP\RAS\186\JPN project is entitled “The Implementation of the Global Plan of Action (GPA) for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture in Asia and the Pacific” and works with the national partners in collaboration with regional and international organizations and networks It has the following purposes: (1) to promote the implementation of the twenty priority activity areas

of the Global Plan of Action for the conservation and sustainable utilization of PGRFA; and (2) to contribute to the establishment of a continuing monitoring framework of the GPA implementation at national and regional levels and a mechanism for gathering and sharing information, as well as for priority setting for the GPA implementation These objectives will be achieved through: (a) a thorough assessment of the present status of PGRFA in the country and the region for the identification of needs and effective strategies for conservation and utilization of PGRFA; (b) the establishment of a national information sharing mechanism on the GPA implementation (NISM-GPA) to enhance coordination of plans and activities on conservation and utilization of PGRFA amongst stakeholders (SH); (c) capacity building and training for National PGRFA Programmes; (d) sharing of experiences in PGRFA in situ conservation, and on-farm management; and (e) the improvement of regional cooperation

With the signing of the Letter of Agreement for establishing a NISM-GPA in Vietnam between the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, FAO (FAO-RAP), and the Plant Genetic Resource Center (PGRA), Vietnam Agricultural Science Institute (now Plant Resources Center, PRC, Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences) on the 4th of May 2004, Vietnam has become one of the first countries taking part in establishing a NISM-GPA This is of great importance for Vietnam, one of the world's 8 biodiversity origin centers, to develop its NISM in particular and to strengthen the national program in general towards conservation and

sustainable use of the country's diverse and rich PRGFA The funding support for this activity is generously provided by the Government of Japan, through the GCP/RAS/186/JPN project

PRC, Vietnam Agricultural Science Institute, has been appointed by the Government of Vietnam to coordinate the work for the NISM-GPA establishment

in Vietnam, with the following purposes:

• Increase the ability of the country to assess the current status of its PGR and monitor the GPA implementation, including changes in its PGRFA status over time and to identify needs and priorities for the future

• Improving the ability of the country on decision making on the conservation and sustainable use of its PGRFA, including priority setting and resources allocation

• Establish a national mechanism for gathering and sharing information on GPA implementation to enhance coordination of plans and activities on conservation and sustainable utilization of PGRFA amongst stakeholders at national and regional level, and for achieving the above mentioned objectives

• Increase understanding among stakeholders about the status of the PGR in the country and build stronger partnerships among stakeholders

• Enhance the capability of the country to meet international reporting obligations, such as GPA implementation, Second Report of the State of the World’s PGRFA, etc., and to publicize its activities internationally

The process of the NISM establishment, its outputs and findings are briefly discussed in this report

II OVERVIEW OF THE NISM ESTABLISHMENT PROCESS

The activities involved in the NISM establishment process were generally divided into three phases: preparatory, implementation, and reporting Their implementation involved a large number of stakeholders throughout the country The process was highly participatory as information from various stakeholders was included and their views consulted

II.1 Preparatory phase

After signing of the letter of agreement with FAO, the PRC, Vietnam Agricultural Science Institute, acting as the National Focal Point (NFP), started reviewing the data and information available It also made contacts with authorities concerned, such as the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) to raise their awareness to the importance of PGRFA and the GPA and, to seek their permission for carrying out the project's activities Discussions with relevant members from the national PGR system and governmental officials were also made for establishing guidelines and policy governing the information sharing in the country Following these discussions and contacts, an agreement on the implementation process of the NISM establishment was reached between stakeholders and the authorities concerned

An action plan for the NISM establishment was drafted by the NFP to be discussed at the first SH workshop in June 2004 A plan and an agenda for the first

SH workshop was also developed The project’s working group under the Department of PGR Data Management and Information, PGC translated the document Indicators and Reporting Format for Monitoring the Implementation of GPA and the Guide Towards the National Information Sharing Mechanism on the Implementation of the GPA and its Establishment into Vietnamese national language for distribution to the SHs This work was supported by the GCP/RAS/186/JPN project Based on the translation of the Indicators and Reporting Format, a Vietnamese version of the NISM-GPA computer application was customized with the assistance from FAO for use by the project

A total of about 60 national stakeholders working on PGRFA were involved in the NISM-GPA establishment and identification of priority activity areas of the GPA Needs of the SHs with respect to their participation in these activities were identified Within the resources available to the project, several equipment items and software were provided to some key stakeholders meet their minimum requirements for the NISM establishment The names, addresses and responsibilities of the SHs are given in Annex 1

II.2 Implementation phase

The implementation phase's activities involved organization of national SH workshops; data gathering, compilation, validation and analysis; reporting; and developing a website on the NISM.-GPA

The activities of the implementation phase were undertaken in several steps as presented below

First Step

To realize the plan developed in the preparation phase, the first national SH workshop was organized from 7 to 8 of June, 2004 at PGC, Vietnam agricultural Science Institute, An Khanh, Hoai Duc, Ha Tay with the participation of 67 representatives from 53 SHs, and 2 from FAO

The importance of the NISM was stressed, and the objective of the GPA project briefed by both Dr Luu Ngoc Trinh, the Director of PGC, Vietnam Agricultural Science Institute and Dr N Quat Ng, CTA of the project, during the first workshop Following active discussions, a strategy for the NISM establishment was agreed upon, and the action plan for the NISM establishment developed The roles and responsibilities of SHs for the NISM establishment were also defined A Steering Committee (STC) was estzblished to guide the work for the establishment

of the NISM-GPA The workshop's participants endorsed the appointment of PRC, Vietnam Agricultural Science Institute - VASI (now has become Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences - VAAS) as the National Focal Point of the project; and Dr Ta Minh Son, Director of VASI and Dr Luu Ngoc Trinh were unanimously selected as the Chair and Vice-chair of the Steering Committee, respectively The members of the STC are listed in the attached Annex I

The "Common Tables", Indicators and Reporting formats, as well as the computer applications of the NISM-GPA software for information gathering, managing and sharing, were introduced to SHs by the NFP's staff In order to survey the capacity and available facility of SHs for the NISM-GPA establishment, a questionnaire was provided to the participants of the workshop to answer Based on the results obtained, needs and solutions to the requirement of SHs were identified and appropriate actions taken to assist the SHs to gather and compile data and information, including individual training for SH on the use of computer software The report of the first workshop is detailed in annex 2

Following the first workshop and some individual trainings provided to some SHs, SHs started collecting and compilation of information for the "Common Tables", and some began filling information for the questionnaires of the Indicators and Reporting Formats All SHs were advised to provide the information on Common Tables to the NFP, two weeks prior to the second workshop scheduled to be held However, due to various factors, not all the SHs completed the work in time as scheduled at the workshop, and thus the NFP faced great difficulties in compilation, verification and analysis of the data In some cases, NFP had to gather information and data for the SHs itself

Second step

The second national SH workshop for training of SHs on the use of the GPA computer application to answer the questions to the Indicators on GPA implementation was organized at Vietnam Agricultural Science Institute, Thanh Tri, Ha Noi, from 23 to 24 th of November, 2004 Sixteen (16) SHs had provided information for the Common Tables to the NPF by that time The workshop's attendants shared their experiences and discussed the difficulties and problems they faced in information collecting and reporting The NFP staff provided further trainings on filling information for the “Common Table” and Indicators and Reporting Formats, and the use of the NISM-GPA software version 3.4 At this workshop a time schedule for the SHs to provide information/data to the NFP was agreed upon It was also agreed that the third workshop would be organized as the last national SH workshop to review and validate data provided by SHs, and to review and provide inputs to the draft synthesis report of the project to be prepared by the NFP

NISM-The detailed report on the second SH workshop is given in annex 3

Following the 2nd workshop, while many SHs actively worked to fulfill their tasks for collecting, submitting and validating information/data, some SHs faced difficulties in putting data/information in the tables and formats as required, and some were not sure what kind of data was required Many SHs could not provide data in time, and some provided incorrect/incomplete data The NFP therefore faced difficulties in compile and analyzing data for the synthesis report To overcome this problem, the NFP had to work together with many stakeholders, on

a one to one basis, to collect and validate the require information

Third Step

Following the first 2 steps, data collected and provided by SHs were compiled and analyzed by the NFP Based on the data and information available, the NFP prepared a draft synthesis report, which was presented to the SHs at the 3rd workshop for their review and comments

The 3rd national SH workshop was held at the Plant Resources Center, Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, An Khanh, Hoai Duc, Ha Tay, from 29-30th of March, 2006 A total of 60 participants representating various SHs attended this workshop, including the CTA of the project from FAO The detailed report of this workshop is given in annex 4

II.3 Reporting phase

The draft analysis report prepared by the NFP was extensively discussed at the 3rd

SH workshop.This final analysis report thus included the views and comments of the workshop participants, including numerously suggestions and comments made

by the CTA, prior to and after the workshop The analysis report was also reviewed and approved by the project’s Steering Committee The report on the state of Vietnam’s PGRFA,based on the information gathered through the NNISM-GPA and elsewhere, is under preparation This latter report would be prepared in a separate document “The State of Vietnam’s PGRFA for the Second Report on the State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.”

The project has developed a website on the NISM-GPA in Vietnam and the database has been placed on the website for access by SHs and other interested users, with the assistance of Dr N Quat Ng, CTA of the project and Mr S Diulgheroff, Plant Genetic Resources Information Officer, AGPS/FAO The information can be assessed through the Internet address:

http://www.pgrcvietnam.org.vn

III DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

III.1 In situ conservation and development

The country's attempts spent for in situ conservation of PGRFA expressed in a significant number of projects undertaken during the last years As reported by SHs these attempts were focused in one or some of the followings:

1) Surveying and inventorying PGRFA: 50 projects/activities by 25 SHs, covering many areas throughout the country (Annex 5)

Due to its complicated topographical features, and because of the lack of both financial and technical resource, PGRFA in Vietnam have not been adequately and systematically surveyed and inventoried The preliminary survey and inventory data however can still demonstrate the country's high diversity and richness in PGRFA distributing in diverse ecosystems throughout its territory Not only rich

in species diversity Vietnam is also granted with high genetic diversity level, and

is recognized as one of the origin centers of various crops such as rice, taro, banana, jack fruit, mango, coconut, tea, local anion and some citrus trees A significant number of species recently discovered (Annex 6) proves also the abundance of PGR in the country

According to the preliminary survey data, there are more than 800 plant species cultivated in largely diversified agro-systems throughout the country, of which the most popularly are 41 starchy food, 95 non-starchy food, 105 fruit, 55 vegetables,

44 oil, 16 fiber, 12 beverage, 181 medicinal, 39 spice, 29 cover and bare hill greening, 50 ornamental, 49 woody and 5 shading (Annex 7) The number of species described as crop relatives amounted to more than 1300, among them many have been neglected Also, numerous plants of agricultural values are being under-studied and under-utilized Results also show that there is a large and increasing number of threatened plant species (the Red Book of Vietnam, and the Annex 8)

re-As reported by SHs, the causes of threats to PGRFA are numerous, and the followings most important:

- high speed of new crop varieties' introduction and of agriculture modernization;

- other human interfaces, including destruction and non-rational exploitation

of forests and lands, urbanization, modernization;

- development of the market-oriented economy

- natural disasters, and biotic and abiotic stresses;

- negligence and insufficient management

Recognizing the importance of comprehensive study of PRGFA, the government

of Vietnam has put in its national biodiversity vision to 2020 and 5-year action plan 2006-2010 a priority for survey and inventory of PGR in general, and of

PGRFA in particular, in order to identify plant species that need to be conserved, and towards developing strategies for their conservation and development for sustainable use

2) Supporting on-farm management and improvement of PGRFA: 23 projects/activities by 16 SHs with the participation of about 15,000 local cadres and farmers Activities were focused on the following main objectives:

Strengthening Scientific Basis of on-farm Conservation of Agro-biodiversity through 3 intermediate objectives: (1) to support the development of a framework

of knowledge for farmers’ decision-making processes that influence in situ conservation of agricultural biodiversity; (2) to strengthen national institutions' capacity for the planning and implementation of PGRFA conservation programs; and (3) to broaden the use of PGRFA, and strengthen the participation of farming communities and other groups in PGRFA conservation

For this end, surveys were conducted, and based on the survey data 'macro-sites' representing country's different ago-ecosystems were selected for developing models of on-farm conservation of PGRFA In each ‘macro-site’, ‘micro-sites’ i.e communes within districts and villages within communes with agricultural, social, economical and natural characteristics representing most of the formers, were selected In turn, in the ‘micro-sites’ farming households were chosen to study the biological and socio-economical aspects relating to PGRFA for developing on-farm conservation models As the final outputs, models for on-farm conservation

at farmer household level for rice and taro were established in the selected sites, as listed below:

• Northern Mountainous areas:

- Tat village of Tan Minh commune, and Cang village of Doan Ket commune, in Da Bac district, Hoa Binh province;

- Sapa, Lao Cai province

• Northern highlands

- Yen Minh village of Yen Quang commune, and Quang Mao village of Thach Binh commune in Nho Quan district, Ninh Binh province

• Northern delta (Hong river delta)

- Dong Lac village of Nghia Lac commune, and Kien Thanh village of NghiaLoi commune in Nghia Hung district, Nam Dinh province

• Southern delta (Mekong river delta)

- Tra Kha and Rong Lon villages, Dai An commune, Tra Cu district, Tra Vinh province

• Central highlands

- Phu Vang district, Thua Thien - Hue province,

- Krong No district, Dak Lak province

Under several projects, farmers were also provided with technical assistance and incentives to do recovery, tests, pilots, propagation and development of improved other than rice crops' varieties, and as result many valuable traditional crop cultivars were not only maintained but also recovered and developed For instance,

a significant number of local rice, maize, vegetables and legume cultivars of special characteristics and high preference have been recovered and produced at large scale for meeting the increasing consumption requirements Attempts were also made to study the traditional knowledge relating to on-farm conservation and development of PGR

Promoting contribution of home gardens to in situ conservation of PGRFA through: (1) documentation of species and genetic diversity in household gardens, and the biological, cultural and social factors governing the distribution and maintenance of this diversity; (2) development of methods and approaches for home gardens to become a component of in situ conservation of agro-biodiversity; and (3) development of “conservation through use” strategy as a complement to crop in situ and ex situ conservation

For the best outputs, sites representing different agro-ecosystems were selected where households with highest garden PGR diversity and best gardening practices were selected as the project's study subjects Plant species with the widest distribution in household gardens throughout the country, and with endemicness, high genetic diversity, high social and cultural values, significant importance to household livelihood, high probability of being maintained and sustained, and wide range of use purposes were selected as key species of the project's concern, including banana, pomelo, luffa and taro The gender issues relating to garden PGRFA and production were also studied

The sites selected included:

- Thuan An district, Binh Duong province, representing Southern lowlands

- Giao Thuy district, Nam Dinh Province, representing Northern lowlands

- Nho Quan district, Ninh Binh province, and Yen Chau district, Son La province, representing Northern highlands

- Phu Quy district, Nghe An province, representing Central highlands

The studies subject crops included:

- vegetables: luffa, eggplants, pumpkins, beans, amaranth, asparagus bean, bottle gourd, bottle gourd, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, ceylon spinach, common onion, curette, cucumber, hyacinth, bean, kohlrabi, lettuce etc.;

- spices: Balm-minth, coriander, creeping mint, enydra, fennel, gagnepain, garlic, lizard tail, minth, paederia, parsley etc.;

- fruit pants: litchi, longan, banana, mango, papaya, mandarin, citrus, jack fruit, kaki, kumquat, lime, melon, mulberry, peach, plum, pomelo,

- root and tuber crops: taro, yam, canna, potato, sweet potato ;

- medicinal plants: betel, aromate des javanais, blinding tree, bitter gourd, blinding tree, ginseng, mother wort, mugwort, nutgrass , and

- ornamental plants: amarante, banyan, jasmina, lotus, night lotus,

ornamental fig, rose

On-farm conservation of rice genetic resources at community through: (1) collecting local and indigenous rice germplasm for conservation for preventing them from being lost due to agricultural modernization; (2) creating initiatives for conservation and development of rice genetic resources by farming communities; and (3) supporting farmers to conserve local rice varieties on their farms

Only from Mekong River Delta, around 1000 accessions of local rice cultivars were collected After elimination of the duplicates, 812 ones have been conserved and evaluated by Can Tho University, of which 517 were re-introduced for cultivation and evaluation by farmers in different growth conditions Farmers in selected areas were also supported to grow/conserve local rice varieties in their fields As a consequence, various local cultivars have been not only conserved but also developed, and the "conservation through use" approach initiated

Promoting community based on-farm management of plant genetic resources through survey of agro-biodiversity in selected areas; restoration of diversity of different target species for environmental protection in different agro-ecological conditions; increase of species diversity in cropping systems; and diversification

of cropping and ecological systems Through facilitating communities to access traditional and local cultivars' seed sources as well as to exchange their indigenous knowledge, farmers’ participation in conservation and utilization of PGR with low household economical values, but of high community benefits, was promoted This could serve as the basis for in situ conservation and development of PGRFA, including also that of crops' wild relatives Outstanding achievements were successful introduction of appropriate propagation methods for some fruit plants,

and extension of improved cultivation techniques for some traditional cultivars Farmers in the project's areas were therefore able to preserve and develop valuable genetic materials on their lands while could still improve their household income Also, experimental-catalogue fields (Community Nursery) were established, where disease-free fruit plant rootstocks were produced and provided to farmers

As started by SHs, the total number of on-farm PGRFA conservation sites amounted to 21 The list of these sites is given in Annex 9

Despite the above mentioned achievements there are limitations of on-farm conservation and development of PGRFA in Vietnam, and the following are the most significant:

- The models established for on-farm conservation and development of PGRFA are limited in number, un-diversified and not well multiplied; except the sites established under certain projects no additional site was developed or established afterwards either by communities or local institutions Moreover, some sites established were not well sustained

- Limited efforts spent for capacity building and awareness raising for farmers, local cadres and institutions in related issues resulting in high cost and poor spreading/sustaining of the activities

- Lack of a strong policy support at national level makes on-farm management of PGRFA hardly promoted

- The government has recently paid sufficient attention to in situ conservation and development of PGRFA, nevertheless due to various difficulties its actual resources spent for this is far from enough For instance, farmers have not been given enough incentives and opportunities

to access to training, awareness raising, information and experience sharing etc., and this is the main cause for their limited participation in in situ conservation and development of PGRFA

3) Assisting farmers in disaster situations to restore agricultural systems: Farmer's participation in restoring agricultural systems has been also promoted through various activities of different projects implemented by local or governmental institutions with supports from various donors, including local and international organizations, governmental and national or international NGOs Most significantly were activities implemented under the project for recovery of watersheds near to Hoa Binh Hydroelectric Plant and the project supporting

farmers in the flooded areas in the country’s Central Coastal region to restore their agricultural systems In the areas with high risk of biodiversity erosion, certain efforts have been given to raise awareness of communities in the importance of PGRFA diversity, crop diversification, and protection of threatened landraces and local cultivars Activities focused on diversification of farming and cropping systems have also been undertaken under several projects As consequence, in some locations the speed of monoculturing high yielding varieties, and of replacing traditional plants and local varieties with modern ones was significantly slowed down, while community awareness on related issues significant improved

Successes, nevertheless, were very limited and restricted to only few locations Very often agricultural systems were under threats without being aware of or paid any attention for their protection/restoration, especially in the deltas of Hong and Mekong rivers and the Northeast areas where economical development, agricultural modernization and intensification and construction activities reach high speeds In various cases, various valuable landraces have been long neglected and eventually lost or replaced by modern high yielding varieties (Annex 10) The following are the main reasons:

- Insufficient resource allocated for trainings, awareness raising and promoting participation of communities and local cadres

- Insufficient supports provided to farmers; e.g inadequate provision of genetic materials necessary for restoration of agro-systems, and limited technical support for them to develop local varieties

- Inadequate study of PGRFA and agricultural systems, and local varieties could not be collected before their disappearance

- Poor information gathering, management, and sharing

4) Promoting in situ conservation of crop wild relatives and wild plants for food protection: 8 projects

In the national action plan on biodiversity approved in 1995 (1996 - 2005), crop relatives and wild plants of agricultural values were given high priority to be inventoried, protected, conserved and sustainably used Since then, some efforts have been made and certain successes achieved Protection of crop wild relatives and agriculturally valuable plants in natural protected areas has been somehow strengthened The total number of natural protected areas increased, and according

to IUCN classification system for reserves management, they are classified into 4 levels

- National Parks: 27

- Nature Reserves: 46

- Species/ habitat management protected areas: 11

- Protected landscapes or seascapes: 37

The list of the national parks, their areas, locations and target plants is given in Annex 11

Some research projects also set in situ conservation of crop wild relatives and wild plants of agricultural values one of their objectives For example, the project for in situ conservation of native landraces and their wild relatives in Vietnam, funded

by UNDP and technically supported by IPGRI, aimed to conserve globally significant agro-biodiversity of 6 important crop groups (rice, taro, litchi-logan, bean, citrus and tea), including their native landraces and wild relatives, at 11 sites

in 7 provinces: Hai Duong, Hung Yen, Ha Tay, Cao Bang, Ha Giang, Tuyen Quang and Lang Son Agro-biodiversity of these six crop groups was protected through mitigating their loss threats in the selected sites The strategy was to promote sustainable community-based Plant Genetic Resources Important Zones (PGR-IZ) The project's activities involved: (1) establishing PGR-IZs; (2) promoting operation of PGR-IZs through capacity building, training, and removal

of barriers; (3) doing targeted researches, information management and analysis in support for PGR-IZ establishment and operation; and (4) public awareness raising including training and dissemination of information

One of the most important constraints to in situ conservation of crop wild relatives and wild plants with agricultural values is insufficient inventory and assessment of PGR diversity in the country Indigenous knowledge has also not been well studied Thus, various crops relatives or plants of agricultural values may have not been included in the list of plants to be protected and developed for sustainable use

Another limitation is that only small number of natural protected sites was established despites of the country's largely diverse topographical, ecological and other natural conditions Moreover, the existing sites have not been properly managed due to both technical and financial limits

Poor databases development and documentation is also an important limitation Information sharing is very limited between institutions involved

Recommendations/priorities

1 On-farm conservation and development of specialty local varieties of rice, maize and vegetables through promoting their production, consumption and commercialization There are various rice cultivars of special quality and upland indigenous glutinous maize cultivars of mountainous minorities with specially good grain quality, and local vegetables of high nutrition values but have not been enjoyed much attention for their on-farm conservation and development This can be a good “follow-up” of the project “Strengthening scientific basis of on-farm conservation of agrobiodiversity” which was successfully implemented with the support from IPGRI / SDC

2 Establishment of in situ/on-farm conservation sites of specialty fruit plants: mandarin in Bac Kan; pomello in Doan Hung (Phu Tho), Dien (Ha Noi), Phuc Trach (Ha Tinh) and Nam Roi (Vinh Lonh); orange in Canh (Ha Noi) and Bo Ha (Nghe An); banana (chuoi Ngu) in Ninh Binh; and mango in Yen Chau (Son La) These special fruits have economical, social and cultural values, but due to ignorance have been degraded and eroded

3 Restoration of mixed home gardens in Hong river delta, Thai Binh province

in particular, where due to extremely intensive efforts to increase rice production for hunger eradication during the 80s most of traditional mix gardens were destroyed This caused delta provinces face great problems of malnutrition although the local food shortage eliminated; farmers normally

do not spend their limited household budget to by fruits and substance foods while home gardens - the stable source of fruit and vitamin rich foods

- no longer exist Local people diet therefore has become very monotonous and nowadays contains mostly rice The erosion of home garden genetic recourse in the area has also resulted in increased environmental problems and culture erosion, as some fruits and garden products were in close relation with some traditional festivals

4 Development of digital map on the PGRFA distribution in Vietnam Such a map will be of great values for developing appropriate strategies and approaches for the conservation of PGRFA

III.2 Ex situ conservation and development

During the last 20 years ex situ conservation and development of PGRFA has enjoyed significant attention, and in 1995 the national biodiversity action plan was developed with an emphasis on strengthening of ex situ conservation of PGR, especially those for food and agriculture As reported by SHs significant achievements have been obtained in the following areas:

5) Sustaining existing ex situ collections: 56 projects/activities by 29 stakeholders

The total of about 40,000 crop accessions belonging to a 200 species have been collected and conserved ex situ in field collections, in vitro collections or seed collections (Annex 12) These include valuable genetic materials of economically important plants, and many of them have been used effectively for crop varietal improvement Especially, in the seed genebank at the PGRC, Vietnam Agricultural Science Institute, more than 11000 accessions (6423 of rice and other graminaceous, 1937 legumes, 2187 vegetables, and 725 others) including also those of local varieties, landraces and wide relatives, are being conserved The field collections of taro, banana, sweet potato, yam, citrus, mango, longan, permission, etc maintained by PGRC and different stakeholders also contain germplasm of great values for crop improvement Each year, as estimated, around 1,000 accessions from ex situ collections are used for breeding and research purposes (see also III.3)

The most important shortcomings in sustaining the existing ex situ collections are:

- Improper management in terms of both documentation and material storage Not rarely, accessions, and even whole collections, were reported

to be lost due either to contaminations or negligence Monitoring genetic variations and disease freedom is often poorly performed Characterization

of accessions has not been undertaken properly and systematically, and so their assessment for valuable characteristics This, together with poor documentation and information management resulted in high numbers of replications within and between collections contributing to low cost-effectiveness of the conservation activities, and preventing effective use and development of materials conserved

- Inadequate classification of existing collections into short-, medium- or long- term, and in working, active or core ones

- Unclear designation of responsibilities amongst the institutions involved

6) Regenerating threatened ex situ accessions: 41 collections by 19 stakeholders Achievements in this activity area were very limited and far from meeting the actual requirements Because of such reasons as infrastructure change, institutional re-organization and poor management, in addition to a significant number of ex situ accessions reported as lost, a rather large number of others were stated as threatened Due to various constraints, mainly limited budget and negligence, only small portion of them have been properly regenerated Estimated, only at the National Crop Genebank about 3000 accessions require urgent and moderately urgent actions for regeneration Moreover, preliminary survey data also show that there are still a large number of threatened local cultivars (see also Annex 8) and their relatives which need to be urgently collected, conserved and developed ex situ; and the number of lost or difficultly found valuable landraces and indigenous cultivars constantly increased This is true for all the cultivated plants, including such most important ones as rice and corn The situation is even worse for legumes, taro, cassava, yam, many fruits and vegetables Significant number of local vegetables rich in vitamins and proteins has been neglected and faced erosion threats Similarly, various indigenous fruit plants with special morphology, test and nutritional values have not been studied and paid any attention for conservation and development These invaluable genetic materials can easily be lost if no urgent attempts made

7) Supporting planned and targeted collecting of PGRFA: 28 projects/activities

A significant number of activities have been undertaken for inventory, collecting, characterization, assessment and establishment of ex situ germplasm collections of such plants as rice, banana, cassava, sweet potato, yam, taro, citrus and so on Nevertheless, due to shortage of adequately trained technical staff, financial input and appropriate methodology and because of inadequate inventory and survey of PGRFA, plans were not always good and certain activities not properly targeted, e.g significant efforts were spent for collecting and conserving exotic introduced varieties while local cultivars, landraces and threatened materials neglected

8) Expanding ex situ conservation activities

Several attempts have been made to extend ex situ conservation activities, such as assignment of responsibilities to larger number of SHs for conducting such activities, and promotion of participation of communities and local authorities in this work Applying the strategy of "conservation through use", local varieties of

different crops, namely taro, rice, soybean, some indigenous vegetables and ornamental plants were re-introduced to farmers for further development Recognizing the importance of ex situ conservation, in the its draft 5-year national biodiversity action plan supposed to be approved in 2005 for 2006-2010, the government of Vietnam set up a priority for further collecting and establishing of

in vitro, field and seed collections of important crops' germsplasm, including capacity building and facility up-grading for the institutions involved

2 Collecting of PGRFA from construction site of Son La and Cua Dat hydroelectric generation plants, and along Ho Chi Minh road Both Son La (North mountainous area) and Cua Dat (in Central mountainous province of Thanh Hoa) have been recognized as having high diversity of plant genetic resources On the other hand, along the Ho Chi Minh road, the speed of modernization and industrialization process constantly grows causing rapid erosion of biodiversity, among which PGRFA Thus if not urgently collected PGR in these locations will soon be permanently lost, and this will be a great loss for the present and future generations

3 Collecting and conservation of hybrid rice and maize varieties and parental lines Ex situ conservation is the only option for the conservation these valuable genetic materials containing valuable gene/s useful for crop improvement

4 Collecting, evaluation and conservation of coconut gremline in Con Dao,

an island of Vietnam known to be diverse in coconut cultivars and types which have never been collected and evaluated

5 Collecting, evaluation and conservation of wild soybeans in Hau Giang It

is known that there are different hairy soybeans with high resistance to insects and diseases but have not been collected and studied

6 Development and application of software(s) for analysis of morphological traits towards definition of duplicates/assessment of diversity among accessions maintained at the National Genebank

III.3 Utilization of PGR

PGR can be effectively conserved only when their utilization promoted, and thus conservation and utilization of this valuable natural resource can not be separated from each other Some achievements in utilization of PGR for increasing agricultural production and ensuring food security were already mentioned dispersedly in the section III.1 and III.2 above The present status of PGRFA utilization, its achievements and limitations, are given in greater details below

9) Expanding the characterization, evaluation and number of core collections

to facilitate use: 41 projects/activities covered 23 plant species

In all the projects concerning establishing of PGRFA collections, the characterization and evaluation of accessions were focused on as one of the main activity The effort however were spent mainly for morphological characters, while such traits as resistance/tolerance to abiotic and biotic tresses, product quality enjoyed insignificant attentions Moreover, because of various factors such

as limitations in financial resource, lack of appropriate equipments and well trained staff, a rather large portion (a.30 %) of all accessions maintained ex situ have not been properly characterized, and only a little number of accessions evaluated in term of the most important agricultural characters such as grain/seed quality, resistance to some pests and tolerance to drought (see Annex 12) Moreover, in many cases, characterization and evaluation data were not properly documented and systematized The collections rather well characterized and

evaluated account for only a small portion of the existing ones, and belonging to the most important crops, namely rice, banana, cassava, and sweet potato

Improper characterization and evaluation cause difficulties in the classification existing collections, as well as in expanding the number of core collections As stated by SHs, only 14 core collections established in Vietnam Poor planning and unclear designation of SHs, as well as shortage of trained staff, are also obstacles for expanding characterization, evaluation and number of core collections

10) Increasing genetic enhancement and base-broadening efforts: 12

of them developed into new commercial varieties For example, the taro variety KS-4 and the Alpinia flower variety Duoi Chon Do were recognized as national varieties Also, the mung bean variety NTB-01 was developed by the South Central Cost Agricultural Research Center from the mung bean germplasm provided by the National Crop Genebank Many other lines/varieties were recovered, selected and tested towards their large scale production, such as taro varieties KMC-1, KMN-1 and KS-5, specialty glutinous rice variety Nep Quyt, aromatic rice variety LT-3, early maturing aromatic rice variety NT-96, the Curcuma flower variety Uat Kim Tia etc

Under several projects, community participation in crop varietal development have been promoted Most notable achievements were obtained with rice In some locations, notably in Hai Hau district of Nam Dinh province, Ky Son and Da Bac districts of Hoa Binh province, in Can Tho and so on farmers were trained in this

crop hybridizing, evaluation, propagation, and production and storage of seeds for next seasons They were also trained in, and successfully practiced, techniques of elite plants' selection and population improvement for recovery of degraded traditional rice cultivars Similar achievements were also obtained with other crops such as beans, taro and some fruits trees in Ninh Binh, Nghe An, Hai Hung, Hung Yen etc.(Annex 13)

The main constraints to enhancing/broadening of genetic base are:

- shortage of well trained staff in biotechnology and advanced breeding techniques;

- luck of appropriate strategies and feasible plans for crop breeding;

- Shortage of budget

- inadequate participation of communities and local institutions; and

- over-use of high yielding varieties, especially the imported hybrid

11) Promoting sustainable agriculture through diversification of crop production and broader diversification in crops: 27 projects/activities

Monocroping is a great obstacle for conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA, and undermines the sustainable development of agriculture Nevertheless, only recently diversification of crop production and cropping systems has enjoyed significant attention As said before, under several projects, attempts were spent for collecting, recovering and re-introducing of local crop varieties and landraces Also, studies were carried out in order to promote the production of some neglected plants/varieties, including both local and exotic introduced, such as local

or specialty varieties of rice, mango, beans, maize, vegetable, mandarin, pomelo, litchi , and plants such as strawberry, taro, grape and different local vegetables

In many locations the proportion of agro-production other than rice greatly increased during the last 10 years or so Moreover, in several areas, such as in some communes of Hanoi suburb, Huu Lung (Lang Son), Hung Yen, Hai Duong,

Ha Giang, Nho Quan (Ninh Binh), Yen Chau (Son La) and Ha Tay different vegetables, maize, soybean, species, mandarin, orange, pomelo and even such introduced crops as potato, strawberry and grape, have become ones of the areas' most important plants Monocroping of rice or some food crops however still occur in large land areas, and the reasons for this include:

- undeveloped market system; and little and unstable market demands for products other than rice;

- poorly developed post harvest processing and difficulties facing storage of agro-products other than rice;

- lack of good varieties of crops other than rice; and

- customs of culturing rice or some other plants as the main and stable food crops

12) Promoting development and commercialization of under-utilized crops and species: 13 projects/activities

As mentioned before, there are various crops and plant species of high potential values but under-developed and utilized (see also Annex 10) Promoting their development and commercialization has been of insufficient concern This is because of the lack of appropriate long-term plans/strategies and visions, and also

of suitable policies While farmers focused their attention mainly on the plants that bring them immediate and clearly foreseen income, scientists are in short of resources to carry out researches and demonstrations to farmers the benefits of growing under-utilized plants In addition, there is very limited good quality seed source of these plants; institutions did not spend their limited budgets for production of, and trade in, low demanded seeds Marketing of under-utilized crops' products is also of great difficulties, requiring not only time and effort but also significant financial inputs

13) Supporting seed production and distribution: 30 projects/activities

Each year about 1.000 germplasm accessions from ex situ collections were used for plant breeding purposes Under several projects farmers were trained and could practiced line and population selection for recovery, testing, propagation, seed production and expansion of local varieties, especially of rice Success in the development of the propagation procedure and transfer on improved cultivation techniques for some fruit and traditional plants also helped promoting the PGRFA conservation and sustainable use, and crop seed production and supply, As a result, some local plants and varieties have been recovered, propagated and re-introduced into production For example, a glutinous rice cultivar, Nep Tu Le with special values such as specific aroma and good test have been recently recovered and re-introduced to production This is true for other local cultivars of rice, notably Tám Thơm, Nàng Hương, Nếp Cẩm, Nàng Thơm Chợ Đào, Nanh Chồn ; fruit plants such as pomelo of Diễn, Phúc Trạch, Đoan Hùng, Nam Roi, Buoi Da Xanh, mandarin of Canh, orrange of Bố Hạ, and other traditional plants Some nurseries called "community nurseries" were established under certain

projects where disease free rootstock of fruit plants are produced and provided to local farmers Indigenous knowledge relating to PGRFA has also been somehow studied in some projects sites for use in promoting PGRFA conservation, use and for crop seed production

Improving the crop seed production and supply systems is still problematic in Vietnam due to numerous factors, notably the lack of an reliable and restrict seed certification procedures and of appropriate policies, improper management, inappropriate subsidies, and inadequate participation Although farmers have been provided with some supports to produce seeds but this was restricted only to few main crops and several locations, and local seed producers and communities often face difficulties in selling their seeds as bigger producers normally have more advantages

14) Developing new markets for local varieties and 'diversity-rich' products

In parallel with the development and open-market orientation of the country's economy, there are increasing in-door demands and export opportunities for products of high or special quality of local varieties This is an advantage for developing new markets for local varieties Trade mark have been given to some products such as rice of Tam Thom, Nep Tu Le, Nang Huong varieties; pomelo fruits of Nam Roi and Doan Hung cultivars, mandarin of Duong Canh landrace and so on Nevertheless, due to poorly developed post harvest processing technologies and because of difficulties in transportation, and also of consumers' preference to uniform products, it is still problematic for expanding the markets and promoting consumption of local varieties and 'diversity-rich' products Various plants of high values such as longan, litchi, blue dragon, local tea, taro, mandarin are still under-developed

2 Develop post harvest technology for plant products, especially those of local varieties and traditional plants, such as litchi, longan, banana, and taro

3 Evaluate accessions of rice, maize, citrus and legumes in drought and saline tolerance and resistance to the most important pests This is of great importance to enhancing their use and development for a sustainable agriculture

4 Development of neglected and under-utilized plants such as local vegetables (luffa, some brassica, amaranth), root and tuber crops (taro, yam, canna and kudzu), starchy plant (arenga), and fruit trees (citrus, star apple, grape, strawberry, blue dragon)

5 Development of a database on the relationships between the morphology - origin of the crop accessions maintained in the national genebank

genotype-6 Development of an indigenous knowledge relating to PGR conservation and use database

7 Development of ATLATs of the most important crops genetic genplasm colections

III.4 Institutions and capacity building

15) Building strong national programmes

In 1994, the project for strengthening of the national PGR program in Vietnam was successfully completed, and the first national workshop organized for this purpose As outputs of this workshop the national network for PGR coordinated

by the PGRC, Vietnam Agricultural Science Institute, was established; recommendations for the government to develop relevant policies on PGR proposed; a national action plan on PGR developed; and especially the importance

of conservation and sustainable use of PGR widely recognized

Following this workshop, various activities have been undertaken to realize the national action plan, and the government supports for this significantly increased Capacity of institutions involved have been strengthened, their facilities improved, and so their contribution to PGR conservation and development Although there are still shortcomings, the activities by different institutions have been much better coordinated in a common network, and consequently overlapping and duplications largely reduced Workshops and meetings were organized for information sharing

and exchange; trainings and consultations provided for capacity building of institutions involved The participation of communities, and of provincial and district institutions has also been improved

Main shortcomings/limitations:

- limited number of workshops, trainings courses and study tours organized;

- lack of a strong legal framework; and

- shortage in trained staff and appropriate equipment and facilities

16) Promoting network for PGRFA

In addition to increased national budget for PGR conservation and sustainable use, the government of Vietnam has taken numerous measures for promoting the PGRFA network It has facilitated implementation of various activities, such as organizing trainings and workshops, information dissemination, technology transfer, material exchange, institutional re-organization and so on In 1995 the government approved the national first 10-year action plan on biodiversity, in which PGRFA was one of the main focuses In 2005 after reviewing the implementation of this plan, in order to overcome the shortcomings and to further strengthen the conservation and sustainable utilization of the country's rich biodiversity, the national 5-year biodiversity action plan (2005 -2010) was developed, also with an important emphasis on PGRFA More recently, the government made an important decision for the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to establish the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and to found Plant Resources Center (PRC) as one of this Academy's institutions In realization of this decision, the PRC was founded with the former PGRC, Vietnam Agricultural Science Institute, as the precursor with the mandates and responsibilities adjusted for more efficient coordination of the national PGR network

Main shortcomings/limitations:

- inactive cooperation from several SHs and organizations;

- inefficient information management and sharing;

- lack of appropriate policies;

- inadequate participation and poor socialization; and

- shortage in trained staff and appropriate equipment and facilities

17) Constructing Comprehensive Information System for PGRFA

Although certain attempts were made before, the implementation of this GCP\RAS\186\JPN project 's activities for the establishment of the NISM-GPA was the first effective step towards constructing a comprehensive information system for PGRFA in the country Before this project’s implementation, no information system for PGRFA existed in the country; most SHs poorly manage data by different means irrelevant for sharing and systematized; and information exchange was not at all promoted As said above, this is one of the important obstacles for promoting PGRFA conservation and sustainable use Under this project, some equipments have been provided to key SHs for information gathering, analysis, compilation and reporting Through using the "Common Tables" and Reporting Formats provided by the project, dada collected can be better standardized, systematized and managed Also, the roles and responsibilities

of SHs have been clearly defined to ensure the successful establishment of the NISM-GPA

Main shortcomings/limitations:

- inadequate capacity and facilities for the SHs to collect and manage information;

- lack of relevant policies;

- lack of trained staff

- lack of information sources; and

- poor cooperation from some SHs

18) Developing monitoring and early warning systems for loss of PGRFA One of the most important weaknesses in PGRFA conservation and sustainable use belongs to this activity area; not any monitoring and early warning system for PGRFA loss has ever been developed

Reasons:

- insufficient funds and labour source;

- insufficient survey and assessment of PGRFA;

- incomplete documentation and poor information management;

- inadequate participation;

- inactive cooperation from some companies and organizations;

- lack of an appropriate legal framework, e.g environmental impact assessment is often not required before implementation of possibly threatening to PGRFA activities

19) Improving education and training

Most SHs reported that their capacity in PGRFA conservation and sustainable use has been significantly improved during the last years The number of scientists/technicians trained up in related areas was significantly increased, and the types of training and education diversified Except at universities and colleges, staff has been given with training opportunities at research institutes, through training workshops and study tours Scientists from the PGRC, Vietnam Agricultural Science Institute, have also delivered trainings to targeted groups Moreover, there is a plan set up for including in some universities and colleges the study discipline of PGR conservation

Nevertheless, due to inadequate budget and training facilities, both training/education quality and quantity remain insufficient to meet the actual requirements for well educated and trained staff To partly overcome this problem, staffs have been encouraged to take opportunities to study abroad Still however,

as already mentioned, there is an important shortage of well-trained staff for implementing successfully all the activities necessary for the country's PGRFA conservation and sustainable use

20) Promoting public awareness

Together with recognition of the importance of socialization of the PGRFA conservation and development, several SHs have spent efforts for raising public awareness on the related issues, especially through implementing projects for promoting in situ and on-farm conservation, as already mentioned above (see also Annex 14) Also, workshops and training course organized under the GCP/RAS/186/JPN project significantly contributed to promoting public awareness in the country for PGRFA conservation and sustainable use Nevertheless, as already said, limited public awareness remains still a great constraint to most PGRFA activities

The main cause for this is the limited effort and concern spent for community trainings and awareness raising Very limited number of forums were organized on the related issues, and no trainings at all offered to farmers and communities; up to now most of the awareness raising activities were carried out under projects

funded by foreign donors, there is no sustainable and strong national projects for this aspect Also, very few information, education an communication (IEC) materials were produced and introduced/distributed to the public Moreover, the PGR issues have been very limited mentioned on both the central and local governmental mass communication channels

Inadequate study and use of indigenous knowledge for PGRFA conservation is another important cause This is not only problematic for public awareness raising, but in many cases also an obstacle for implementation of many other activities, as already mentioned before

2 Socialize PGRFA conservation through production and distribution of IEC materials, such as leaflets, videos, CD, and through addressing the issues on mass communication channels (e.g once a week)

3 The National PGR Network to frequently organize workshops/seminars, each with special focus on certain crop/s or issue/s so that participants can better share information and experiences

4 Production of a journal on PGRFA; at the beginning it can be in the form of newsletter published once every 3-4 months; and gradually upgraded to a monthly journal

5 Organize short training courses, e.g twice a year, for people involved in PGRFA conservation, use and development

6 Propose the government to adopt supportive policies and to issue legal documents governing PGRFA conservation and sustainable use

7 Complete and launch the NISM-website

8 Clear designation of duties among members of the national network on PGRFA and stakeholders, especially for the ex situ conservation of different crops, followed by good networking and coordination This is of

special importance for Vietnam to effectively spend the country’s limited budget allocated for PGRFA

9 Development of the structure of a national information system on PGRFA and a monitoring and warning system for loss of PGRFA This has become

an urgent task for Vietnam, as upto now not any system has ever developed while the erosion threats to PGRFA constantly increase

10 Recommend the government to increase its budget for PGRFA conservation

IV PLAN FOR MAINTENANCE AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE NISM

Based on the above mentioned analysis and discussions, the following activities have been put in the plan for maintenance and improvement of the NISM

1 Widely introduce the NISM and its website, make the information available and easily accessible

2 Provide relevant trainings for the people concerned so that they can actively participate in the mechanism's maintaining and improvement

3 Improve and diversify communication means, preferably through network connection, and a local area network (LAN) to be established together with equipment/facility updating for SHs, especially for the NFP

4 All the SHs to regularly update information and to actively participate in developing partnerships

5 The NFP to maintain and frequently update the information on the website

6 Organize regular meetings to review the activities undertaken in last period and planning for the next one

7 Strengthens cooperation with regional and international organizations and networks

8 Socialization of PGRFA conservation and sustainable use

The most important foreseen obstacle for maintaining and improving the NISM is inadequate budget For overcoming this, the NFP is to develop and submit a project applying for the national regular budget for maintaining and improving the NISM as part of the national PGRFA program Also, fund seeking from different

sources, such international and regional institutions, organizations and NGOs to be promoted

Another obstacle is limited cooperation from SHs, as some of them meight consider this less necessary compared to other duties The so called strategy of

"marinating through use" can be of good values for overcoming this problem; effective data management and making the information easily accessible can help change stakeholders' behavior and improve their commitment

V LESSONS DRAWN FROM THE PROCESS OF NISM ESTABLISHMENT AND GPA MONITORING PROCESS

Achievements obtained during the NISM establishment and GPA monitoring

- For the first time a national mechanism for information collecting and sharing has been established in the country to facilitate the implementation

of the GPA for conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA

- Partnerships and collaboration between SHs strengthened

- Awareness on PGRFA conservation and sustainable use improved

- Capacity of the NPF and SHs improved

- The present situations of PGRFA activities in the country reviewed, their achievements and limitations identified

- Data on PGRFA collected, systemized and made available widely to people interested

- Recommendations and priorities set up for strengthening 20 priority activity areas of GPA

Constraints encountered

Although SHs highly appreciated the project and the usefulness of the NISM, they mostly are engaged in many other activities and projects, and thus could spend very little time for this project’s implementation This, together with the following obstacles caused problems to data gathering, validating and systematization:

- inadequate cooperation from several SHs

- limited capacity and facilities of SHs

- limited available information

- lack of local area network

Usefulness of the Indicators, Reporting Format, and the computer software

In general, the indicators and reporting formats are suitable and useful for

information collecting and systematization, and the computer software is useful Nevertheless, there are still some weaknesses as below:

- The software requires good computers with high configuration, which can not be meet by various SHs

- Low speed of the software’s running

- The software was still in its Beta version, and thus had some limitations

Usefulness of the guide for establishment and operating the NISM

The guides were very useful

Strength and weakness of the technical assistance

The technical assistance was good and always in time

VI ANNEXES

Annex 1: List of the stakeholders

Annex 2: Report of the first SH workshop

Annex 3: Report of the second SH workshop

Annex 4: Report of the third SH workshop

Annex 5: Areas surveyed and inventoried for PGRFA

Annex 6: List of newly identified plants

Annex 7: List of cultivated plant species

Annex 8: List of threatened crops/varieties

Annex 9: List of the on-farm conservation sites

Annex 10: List of neglected crops and varieties

Annex 11: List of the national parks and their target plant species

Annex 12: List of the existing ex situ collections held by the various SHs in Viet

Nam and percentage accessions characterized by the various types of traits/characters in breeding, production and storage of rice, bean, taro and others

Annex 13: List of sites where community participatory crop improvement

promoted

Annex 14: List of raising public awareness activities/projects and the stakeholders

responsible for these

Annex 1: List of stakeholders

Department of Science, Technology

and Environment, Secretariat of

Parliament

x

No 35, Ngo Quyen street, Hanoi city

2 Agricultural Department, Secretariat of

4 Department of Legislation, MARD Number 2, Ngoc Ha street, Ba Dinh

district, Hanoi city

5 Science Planning Department, MARD Number 2, Ngoc Ha street, Ba Dinh

district, Hanoi city

6 Department of Agriculture, MARD Number 2, Ngoc Ha street, Ba Dinh

district, Hanoi city

7 Deparment of Co-Operative and Rural

Development, MARD

Number 2, Ngoc Ha street, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi city

8 New Plant Variety Protection Office x Room 17, A3 Build, No 2, Ngọc Hà

Street, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi city

9

Department of Science and

Technology, Ministry of Science and

Technology

x

39 Tran Hung Dao Str., Hanoi

10 Finance Planning Department, Ministry

of Science and Technology 39 Tran Hung Dao Str., Hanoi

11 Agricultural Economy Department,

Ministry of planning and Investment

x No 2, Hoang Van Thu street, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi city

12 Department of Environment, Ministry

of Natural resources and Environment

x No 83 Nguyen Chi Thanh street, Hanoi city

13

Department of Environment Protection,

Ministry of Natural resources and

Environment

Nguyen Cong Tru, Ha Noi

14 Vụ KHCN, Bộ TN - MT 83 Nguyễn Chí Thanh, Hà Nội

15

Department of Science and

Technology, Ministry of Education and

Training

x

No 2, Dai Co Viet street, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi city

16 Administrative Service, Ministry of

II local institutions

17

Agriculture and Land Management

Department of Nho Quan district, Ninh

Binh province

x Nhoquan town, Nhoquan district, Ninhbinh province

18

Agriculture and Rural Development

Department of Da Bac district, Hoa

Binh province

x Tu Ly town, Da Bac district, Hoabinh province

19

Agriculture and Rural Development

Department of Nghia Hung District,

Nam Dinh province

x Lieu De town, Nghia Hung district, Namdinh province

III Member of National PGR Network for Food and Agricultural

20 Plant Genetic Resources Center, VASI x An Khanh commune, Hoai Duc

district, Hatay province

21 Tea Research Institute of Vietnam x Phuho commune, Phutho town,

25 Pasture and Forage Department,

National Institute of Animal Husbandry x

Thuy Phuong commune, Tu Liem district, Hanoi city

26 Agricultural Genetics Institute x Pham Van Dong street, Tu Liem

district, Hanoi city

27 National Institute for Soils and

29 Food Crops Research Institute x Gia Loc district, Haiduong province

30 Viethung Mulgerry Experimental

31 Phu Quy Fruit Research Centre, Fruit

and Vegetable Research Institute x

Phu Quy commune, Nghia Dan district, Nghean province

32 Cotton Research and Development

Institute, Nha Ho, Ninh Thuan x

Nha Ho village, Nhon Son coommune, Ninh Son district, Ninhthuan province

33 Western Highlands Agro-Forestry

Sciences and Technology Institute x

Hoa Thang commune, Buon Ma Thuot city, DacLac province

34

Potato, Vegetable and Flower Research

Center, Southern Agricultural Science

Institute

x Thai Phien, 12 road, Dalat city, Lamdong province

35 Lam Dong Agro-Forestry Research

36 South-East Fruit Reserch Centre,

Southern Fruit Research Institute x

Hacdich commune, Tan Thanh district, Ba Ria Vung Tau province

37

Sugar Cane Research and Development

Center, Southern Agricultural Science

No 121 Nguyen Binh Khiem, Distr 1,

Ho Chi Minh city

39 Southern Fruit Research Institute x Longdinh, Chauthanh, Tiengiang

40 Cuu Long Rice Research Institute x Thoi Thanh, Co Do, Can Tho

IV Non-member institutions of National PGR Network for Food and Agricultural

41 Informatics Center of Agriculture and

Rural Development

Number 2, Ngoc Ha street, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi city

42 National Center for Variety Evaluation

and Seed Certification

x No 6, Nguyen Cong Tru street, Hanoi city

43 Agriculture and Forestry University,

Department of Plant Genetics and

Breeding, Hanoi Agricultural

University

x Trau Quy commune, Gia Lam district, Hanoi city

46 Western Highlands University Hoa Thang commune, Buon Ma Thuot

city, Daclac province

47 National Institute of Medicinal

Material

No 3b, Quang Trung street, Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi city

48 Research Centre for Cultivation and

Processing of Medicinal Plants x

Ngu Hiep commune, Thanh Tri district, Hanoi city

49 National Institute of Plant Protection x Dong Ngac commune, Tu Liem

district, Hanoi city

50 Tobaco Economic - Technical Institute No 235 A, Nguyen Trai road, Thanh

Xuan district, Hanoi city

51 Tamdao National Park Tam Dao town, Vinhphuc province

52 Bavi National Park x Tan Linh commune, Ba Vi district,

Hatay province

53 Oil Plant Institute x No 171- 175 Ham Nghi, District No

1- Ho Chi Minh city

1- Ho Chi Minh city

54 Soutnern Seed Joint-Stock Company x No 282, Le Van Sy, Tan Binh district,

Ho Chi Minh city

Km 1760, National Road 1A, Phongnam, Phanthiet, Binhthuan province

56 Agricultural Systerm Department An Khanh commune, Hoai Duc

district, Hatay province

57 Hybrid Rice Research and

An Khanh commune, Hoai Duc district, Hatay province

58 Legume Research and Development

Vinh Quynh commune, Thanh Tri district, Hanoi city

59 Root Crop Research Center, VASI x Vinh Quynh commune, Thanh Tri

district, Hanoi city

60 Technology Transfer and Agricultural

Vinh Quynh commune, Thanh Tri district, Hanoi city

61 Rice Breeding Research Center, VASI x Vinh Quynh commune, Thanh Tri

district, Hanoi city

62 North Central Agricultural Research

and Development Center, VASI x

Hung Dong, Vinh city, Nghean province

63 Agricultural Research Center for

Coastal South Central Vietnam, VASI x

317 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Quy Nhon city, Binh Dinh province

V NGO

65

IUCN (International Union of

Conservation of Nature and Natural

Resources)

39 Tran Hung Dao, Hanoi

Members of the Steering Committee

2 Prof Dr Luu Ngoc Trinh Director, PGRC the NFP Deputy

chairman

3 Dr Trinh Khac Quang Deputy Head of the Department of Science

4 Dr Phan Huy Thong Deputy-Director, Department of

5 Dr Le Minh Sat

Deputy Director, Department of Science and Technology Management, Economic and Technical Branches, Ministry of Science and Technology

Member

6 Dr Ninh Duc Nhan

Deputy head of Department of Scicence and Technology, Ministry of Education and Training

Member

7 Mr Nguyen Van Thuc Deputy Director of Department of Finance

administration, Ministry of Finance Member

8 Mrs Huynh Thi Mai

Senior expert of Department of Environment, Ministry of Resources and Environment

Member

9 Nguyen Tien Hung

Head of PGR Data Management and Information, Plant Genetic Resources Center, VASI

Secretary

Annex 2: Report of the first stakeholder workshop

1 GENERALITY

1.1 The first stakeholder (SH) workshop on consultation with SHs involved in

conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA establishment of National Information Sharing Mechanism (GPR-IFS) on monitoring the implementation of GPA in Vietnam, was held at PGRC-VASI, Ankhanh, Hoaiduc, Hatay, Vietnam during 7-8 June, 2004

1.2 Dr Ta Minh Son, GD of VASI, had the opening ceremony speech spoken Dr

Nguyen Van Viet, Head of Dept of Research Planning and International Cooperation Introducted to the workshop participants Then, Dr Trinh, Director

of PGRC, Project Focal Point of Vietnam, introduced in briefly the workshop goals

1.3 Dr Luu Ngoc Trinh, in his speech, spoke of the reasoning basis of the formation

of National Information Sharing Mechanism on implementation and monitoring

1.4 Dr Luu Ngoc Trinh also referred to the major objectives of the workshop and

GPA-IFS concluding the institutions and national capacity building; as well as the collaboration of SHs on management of national PGRFA; strengthening the SHs' awareness on their PGRFA status; Dr Trinh spoke of the improvement of the information quality on the status and motive force can do change the PGRFA; improving the assessment and information sharing of PGRFA in national, regional and global level; and the enhancement of the national capacity to meet