Appendix 4 Why use legume inoculant on Groundnut! Using legume inoculant is a better way of adding nitrogen to your groundnut crop because it is: • cheaper than buying nitrogen fertilizer and • environmentally healthy G roundnuts belong to a group of plants known as legumes. Legumes have the special ability to produce their own nitrogen through a special (symbiotic) relationship they have with certain soil microbes or root-nodule bacteria. The bacteria, commonly called rhizobia invade (infect) the roots of the plant and form nodules (nodulation). Rhizobia in the nodules nourished by the plant ‘fix’ or convert atmospheric nitrogen (N 2 ) into compounds which the plant utilizes for growth and grain production. Root nodules become visible after about 2-3 weeks. In Vietnam you now have access to these rhizobia in the form of peat inoculants. You can purchase and apply these inoculants to your seed (inoculation) at sowing time, and benefit from this chea p source of nitrogen. By using legume inoculants on seed yo u will: • grow healthy green plants withou t having to add nitrogen fertilizer • achieve profitable grain yield • contribute to higher availabl e nitrogen for any subsequent cro p such as rice as legumes leav e fixed nitrogen behind in the soil • save money by using biologica l nitrogen instead of chemica l nitrogen • be contributing to healthier, goo d farming practices which are bein g encouraged and implemented i n Vietnam. For further information about legume inoculants contact: Tran Yen Thao at: Oil Plants Institute, District 1, HO CHI MINH CITY phone: 84 8 9143024 How to inoculate your groundnut seed with legume inoculant It is very important to use the correct legume inoculant for your groundnut seed. There are different inoculants for different legumes. Legume inoculants made using peat contain a very high number of rhizobia bacteria. The rhizobia are living organisms and very sensitive to high temperature and sunlight. Great care should be taken when handling and storing them to prevent the rhizobia from dying. The rhizobial strain in each inoculant has been carefully chosen by researchers to ensure good nodulation and effective nitrogen fixation in your crop. Nitrogen fixed from the atmosphere can be as high as 100 kg/ha Inoculation of seed o Select the inoculant for groundnut and calculate the weight of inoculant you need for the amount of seed to be sown. (about 1 kg / 100Kg of seed) o Place the inoculant (1 kg) in a clean bucket and slowly add up to 4 litre of clean drinking water. Continue to stir until a smooth slurry is formed o Add a small amount of water to your seeds to dampen the surface, and then pour the wetted seeds into the bucket containing your inoculant slurry. o Keeping the bucket out of direct sunlight, carefully mix together until the seeds are evenly coated with the inoculant. o The inoculated seed should be sown immediately or within 5 hours after inoculation into moist soil. o Check roots for nodules after 4 weeks o Nodules should be pink inside when cut in half. This indicates that nitrogen fixation is occurring For further information about legume inoculants contact: Tran Yen Thao at: Oil Plants Institute, District 1, HO CHI MINH CITY phone: 84 8 9143024 Appendix 5 Visit to Cu Chi Bio-Chemical Fertilizer Joint Stock Company 27/02/2008 This Company was the first of 2 visited by staff from NSW DPI (Elizabeth Hartley and Greg Gemell), Dr Roz Deaker of Sydney University and Tran Yen Thao of Oil Plants Institute HCMC (Vietnam Project leader). The location is just over 1hr from Ho Chi Minh City. We met with the Vice Director of the company for about 1 hr and discussed the purpose of our visit; technology transfer and the potential for commercial collaboration and production of legume inoculants in Vietnam. We discussed a proposal whereby project staff would supply legume inoculants and extension material to farmers through the Cu Chi company’s distribution network, after calculating how big the farming area is. General information would be provided first then more details later. The Company distributes mineral fertilizer (N, P and K) mixed in ratios according to the crop’s requirements at different stages of growth and its own make of bio-fertilizer using Azotobacter, Trichoderma and another microorganism. The bio-fertilizer is mixed in with the NPK. Chemicals are imported form places such as Israel and China. Soybean and groundnut are grown in many regions in the Mekong Delta area, South East and up through the Central Highlands. Some groundnut farmers in the Cu chi area are expanding into vegetables. The Cu chi company could easily meet the requirement and supply their peat to produce legume inoculants of more than 100 tonne. Based on the response from farmers and the profitability of the venture the company will decide whether or not to invest into legume inoculants. At this stage they could only be involved in free distribution of legume inoculants along with their chemical and bio-fertilizers. If farmers respond positively to using the rhizobial inoculants the company would be more interested in investment. There is a problem in getting feedback from farmers as all are not connected by phone and are not easily contactable. Without seeing the facilities, it was imagined that project persons could prepare starter broths of rhizobia for inoculation of the fermenter to produce a test run for addition to peat in packets. The peat is used to make bio- fertilizer inoculants. It is high in S content and requires neutralisation. The pH is approximately 3.00 and toxic to microbial inoculant organisms. The peat is ground to a Appendix 5 3mm powder, stacked in large piles (tonnes) and later a water slurry of ammonium sulphate, lime and molasses is added. The microbials (Azotobacter, Trichoderma and 1 other) are also added at this stage. Incubation is 12 days during which time the peat gets very warm (about 45º) as it ferments. The final product has a pH of around 6.5 – 7.0. The microbials are cultured in a large open concrete vat of humic acid (extracted from soaked peat). The finished product is then bagged for sale. Moisture content of the peat starts at 30-40% but drops to around 25%. Random samples are sent to the government testing lab for certification. It was decided after seeing the fermentation of the microbials and the production of the bio-fertiliser inoculants that this company would not be suitable to produce legume inoculants through its processes. However, the company can be utilised as a possible source of distribution of legume inoculants to farmers in the south of Vietnam. Photos: Previous page: • Peat stockpile This page top to bottom • Peat is sieved and stockpiled • Microbes are cultured in an open concrete vat • Culture plus other ingredients are trickled on and through the peat stockpile and allowed to ferment for 12 days • The product is rolled into prills • Bio-fertilizer and other nutrients are bagged for sale Appendix 5 Visit to Thien Sinh Corporation “KOMIX” Bio-fertilizer Company 28/2/2008 The visit had been pre arranged by Tran Yen Thao (Research Leader in Vietnam) via a letter of introduction. The meeting began with Yen Thao explaining the objectives of the project, the purpose of our visit and the future prospects of an inoculant industry in Vietnam. The meeting was arranged in 2 parts: 1. Introducing a new product: Given that Vietnamese farmers traditionally use bio- fertilizer and chemical fertilizers, what is the best way to introduce new rhizobial inoculants for application to soybean and groundnut. What is the best way to promote and gain feedback on the use of rhizobial seed inoculants? We discussed fundamental questions; regarding the carrier, can the rhizobia be supplied in un- sterile peat? Sterilization costs would be very high if it was deemed necessary to pre-sterilize the peat carrier. We discussed that the merit of using a sterile carrier was to allow the slow-growing rhizobia to populate the peat without competition from other organisms. Maintaining good survival within the peat enables a high rhizobial number to be applied on seed at sowing. If un-sterile peat has to be used then the rate of application would need to be determined. Currently Vietnamese farmers apply up to 3t/ha bio-fertilizer, so a low application rate of 250g to 1kg/ha of legume inoculant is a good saving on resources. We also discussed the prospect of combining rhizobia with existing bio-fertilizer products. We suggested that the addition of an antifungal agent in bio-fertilizer might be an option to assist the slow growing rhizobia to survive, but for now we agreed that working with rhizobia as a single product was the best way for demonstrating the advantages of inoculation and nitrogen fixation, this would reduce the need for farmers to buy fertilizer N. What is the benefit of residual N after the crop? The upshot is that when farmers adopt the practice of inoculating their legumes they would rely less on costly fertilizer nitrogen for crop growth. 2. Collaboration framework with OPI: We discussed the best way to work together to promote the new rhizobial product, to gain feedback through farmer demonstration trials. Working through KOMIX’s extension agronomists they will collect data on farmer interest and finally plan methods of distribution. KOMIX already has distribution in place throughout Vietnam for their bio-fertilizers. (See map). It would be easy to distribute samples of rhizobial inoculant with the bio-fertilizer. KOMIX would arrange for selected farmers to answer a few questions in terms of their impressions of the response to inoculation by using legume inoculants and their willingness to use the rhizobial inoculants to replace fertilizer N in the future. Can a pilot program to produce rhizobial inoculants be started immediately? We discussed a proposal that the task be done in 2 phases. Appendix 5 Phase 1 – demonstration and feedback for potential of new rhizobial product. OPI will produce and supply sample batches of soybean and groundnut inoculants for distribution by KOMIX. OPI in the short term will use sterile Australian peat as the inoculant carrier. Using these inoculants KOMIX will arrange demonstration field trials to obtain feedback from farmers at selected regions throughout Vietnam (about 7 regions x 4 trials in each = 28 trials) on the response to the use of inoculants and inoculation. Phase 2 - technology transfer. OPI staff will take the technology to KOMIX. OPI staff will prepare legume inoculants at KOMIX using the company’s equipment. KOMIX will send batch samples back top OPI for quality control tests and then distribute the inoculants for a second round of field trials for further feedback on the benefits of using rhizobial inoculants. The basis of the feedback would compare Farmer standard practice (i.e bio-fertilizer + chemicals N, P and K) vs. rhizobial inoculation minus nitrogenous fertilizer (i.e rhizobial inoculant + bio-fertilizer + chemicals P and K). When the costs of production are calculated, the viability of KOMIX producing legume inoculants commercially and the savings to the farmer by not having to buy fertilizer nitrogen will be known. In the mean time R&D at the 3 institutes (IAS, OPI and SFI) will continue to determine a suitable source of peat obtainable in Vietnam (e.g. 3 types have been identified as possible carriers from KOMIX) to be used as a carrier to promote growth and survival of rhizobia. After the meeting, we inspected the company facilities. KOMIX has a preparation room, inoculation room, sterilization facilities, fermenter room and laboratory, adequate for the production of legume inoculants. Photo opposite from left to right: the Chief extension officer of KOMIX – KS Pham Van Hai ; AusAID CARD Project Leader Vietnam -Tran Yen Thao; Deputy manager of technology KOMIX Ms Diep; Manager of technology of KOMIX Ms Huong; KOMIX technology consultant Nguyen Huu Ta and NSW DPI ALIRU staff Ms Elizabeth Hartley. Photos: Clockwise from the left: 1. Autoclave for sterilizing media 2. Ms. Houng, Tran Yen Thao and Elizabeth Hartley discuss the opportunities for producing rhizobial inoculants in the fermenter room. 3. Measurements of moisture content are made on peat samples. 4. Inspection of peat as a possible carrier for legume inoculants. • Appendix 6 CHEAP NITROGEN for soybean and groundnut Very soon Vietnamese farmers will save millions by being able to get cheap nitrogen for their soybean and groundnut crops. These two plants are legumes which are capable of making their own nitrogen using soil bacteria called rhizobia. Rhizobia form nodules on plants in which nitrogen from air is converted to nitrogen for plant growth. However, the correct rhizobia are needed for each legume to produce nitrogen. Researchers working on a project funded by AUSAid CARD project (Australia) are currently developing inoculant technology to suit Vietnamese conditions so that farmers in Vietnam will have access to these beneficial rhizobia for their crops. It has been estimated that rhizobial inoculants could save Vietnamese farmers about 750 - 900 billion VN dong (50-60 million A$) per year as inoculants can completely replace nitrogen fertilizer for legume production. Private companies are now invited to be involved in the commercial production of inoculants to meet the expected high demand by farmers. For more information please contact: Yen Thao Tran, the Oil Plants Institute of Vietnam, 171 – 175 Ham Nghi street, district 1, Ho Chi Minh City. Email address: yenthao9@yahoo.com Nodulation on the soybean root Appendix 6 Farmers are evaluating nodulation and plant growth at a demonstration field in DakLak Province . Appendix 4 Why use legume inoculant on Groundnut! Using legume inoculant is a better way of adding nitrogen to your groundnut crop because it is: • cheaper than buying. phone: 84 8 9143024 How to inoculate your groundnut seed with legume inoculant It is very important to use the correct legume inoculant for your groundnut seed. There are different inoculants. commercial collaboration and production of legume inoculants in Vietnam. We discussed a proposal whereby project staff would supply legume inoculants and extension material to farmers