Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development CARD Project Progress Report 004/04VIE: Improving the safety and quality of Vietnamese vegetables through research and capacity building in quality assurance, postharvest management and high technology protected cropping systems MS6: THIRD SIX-MONTHLY REPORT Institute Information Project Name Improving the safety and quality of Vietnamese vegetables through research and capacity building in quality assurance, postharvest management and high technology protected cropping systems Vietnamese Institution Research Institute of Fruits and Vegetables (RIFAV) Trau Quy, Gia Lam, HANOI Vietnamese Project Team Leader Associate Prof Dr Tran Khac Thi Australian Organisation NSW Department of Primary Industries Gosford Horticultural Institute Centre of Excellence in Market Access and Greenhouse Horticulture Incorporating the National Centre for Greenhouse Horticulture Australian Personnel Dr Suzie Newman; Dr Sophie Parks Mr Joseph Ekman; Dr Vong Nguyen Date commenced 30th September 2005 Completion date (original) 30th September 2007 Completion date (revised) 30th November 2007 (to take into account delay in signing of contracts) 3rd Six monthly report Reporting period Contact Officer(s) In Australia: Team Leader Name: Position: Organisation Dr Suzie Newman Research Horticulturist NSW Department of Primary Industries Telephone: Fax: Email: +61 4348 1934 +61 4348 1910 suzie.newman@dpi.nsw.gov.au In Australia: Administrative contact Name: Position: Organisation Graham Denney Administrative officer NSW Department of Primary Industries Telephone: Fax: Email: graham.denney@dpi.nsw.gov.au In Vietnam Name: Position: Associate Prof Dr Tran Khac Thi Deputy Director Telephone: Fax: Organisation Research Institute of Fruits and Vegetables (RIFAV), Trau Quy, Gia Lam, HANOI Email: 84-4-8276316 84-4-8276148 vrqhn@hn.vnn.vn; tkthi@vnn.vn Project Abstract Chemical residues left by fungicides and insecticides are among the major problems causing contamination of vegetables in Vietnam The development of safe food production methods was fostered by the previous NSW Department of Primary Industries project (CARD-0016; 2001-2003) but this can only be realised with further research and development This project addresses the issues of food safety and food quality from production to market to encourage the economic viability and sustainability of the Vietnamese vegetable industry This project seeks to: 1) Facilitate the wider implementation and adoption of protected cropping systems of low to medium technology that require fewer chemical inputs through targeted research and extension activities 2) Examine current supply chain constraints and utilise quality assurance principles to implement targeted system improvements and 3) Enhance Vietnamese research, development and extension capacity in the areas of protected cropping systems, postharvest management and quality assurance systems This project has continued to address these objectives through: 1) research demonstration trials in Hanoi, Lam Dong and Hue to identify the most suitable media and production system for greenhouse cucumber and tomato production; 2) capacity building of Vietnamese project personnel through an intensive training period in Australia during July 2006 and 3) research undertaken in Australia on the suitability of Vietnamese cocopeat for greenhouse crop production Executive Summary Protected cropping provides vegetable growers with an opportunity to enhance product quality and improve food safety The overall objective of this project is to provide Vietnamese scientists and extension specialists with the training and tools to implement and foster regionally feasible improvements to current vegetable production practices and supply chains The project is led by the Research Institute of Fruit and Vegetables with Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry and the Institute of Agricultural Sciences for South Vietnam as the Vietnamese project partners NSW Department of Primary Industries is the Australian partner Key achievements during this 3rd six monthly period include: • The successful completion of a training course on protected cropping systems, postharvest and quality assurance by project staff - Mrs Nguyen Thi An (FAVRI, formerly RIFAV), Mr Ngo Minh Dung (IAS) and Mr Nguyen Dinh Thi (HUAF) Their training comprised lectures, field work and laboratory based training They also visited farms, research stations, markets and exporters to gain an understanding of current practices in Australia with a view to looking at how what they learned in Australia could be adapted to agricultural practice in Vietnam To assist them with this they were accompanied by Mr Nguyen Hong Phong a farmer and major vegetable seedling producer from Duc Trong in Lam Dong Province Mr Phong’s assisted the team in looking at how technology or crop management techniques may be adapted and applied to Vietnam • Preparations for the development of two training workshops in Dalat and Can Tho are well underway The program includes presentations from Vietnamese and Australian project partners on protected cropping, postharvest and Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) The workshops will take place 27-28 April and 3-4 May It is intended that these workshops will have greater participation of farmers and other supply chain participants and that there will be additional informal training activities either side of the workshop • • The successful continuation of research demonstration trials in Hanoi, Hue and Lam Dong Province investigating the effect of different growing media on plant growth and development for tomato and cucumber The continuation of research at Gosford Horticultural Institute examining the chemical and physical properties of Vietnamese cocopeat and determining the water usage of different media (including coir) for greenhouse cucumber and ornamental production Introduction & Background Protected cropping systems provide vegetable farmers with the opportunity to produce high yielding, good quality crops with reduced pesticide inputs Our previous AusAID-CARD project (0016) focussed on development of a low-tech greenhouse system to enhance the productivity and sustainability of the Vietnamese vegetable industry The nethouse with run-to-waste cocopeat system was shown to be an effective and cost effective model, however further optimisation and extension of this technology is required to facilitate successful adoption This project focuses on providing the tools for optimising vegetable production in low-medium technology greenhouses and delivering high quality product to market This will be achieved through formal and informal training initiatives including in-country workshops, intensive Australian based training programs for research and extension staff and a series of research demonstration trials This project uses a participatory research approach to foster uptake by both Vietnamese institutions and key stakeholders (farmers, extension agents, supply chain partners) The objectives of this project are to: Facilitate the wider implementation and adoption of protected cropping systems of low to medium technology (greenhouses/nethouses) that require fewer chemical inputs through targeted research and extension activities; Examine current supply chain constraints and utilise quality assurance principles to implement targeted system improvements; Enhance Vietnamese R&D capacity in the areas of protected cropping systems, postharvest management and quality assurance systems Fostering links between growers, wholesalers, traders and researchers to increase the productivity and competitiveness of Vietnamese smallholder agriculture and related rural enterprises Progress to Date 4.1 Implementation Highlights Change of Project Leader In September 2007, Dr Suzie Newman replaced Dr Vong Nguyen as Australian project leader, following Dr Nguyen’s retirement Dr Nguyen will continue to remain involved in the project in a voluntary capacity and so his expertise and experience will not be lost from the project team This will include a prominent role during the second round of project workshops to be held in Dalat and Can Tho in April/May 2007 Visit by Australian Project Leader, October 2006 Dr Suzie Newman visited Ho Chi Minh and Dalat in October 2006 to undertake a supply chain case study and to discuss opportunities for collaboration with Metro Dr Newman spent from the 1st-5th October in Vietnam, following on from travel undertaken for an ACIAR project in Cambodia During this time she travelled to Lam Dong Province to interview Mr Phong (tomato seedling producer) regarding his nursery and growing operations Whilst there she also took the opportunity to visit the Metro collection point and discuss their operations in Dalat What emerged from this discussion and later discussions with Metro management staff (Stephane Maulin, Division Manager, Fresh Food; Thai Hong Xuan Nguyet, Supply Chain Manager and Le Thi Minh Trang, Quality Assurance Manager) was that Metro is still having difficulty sourcing sufficient quantities of product that meets their quality specifications They are also still in the process of implementing best practice in their supply chains and all staff were realistic that it would take a considerable amount of time to achieve their quality and supply goals Metro staff expressed an interest in working with the project team to improve quality outturn They were keen to link in with any postharvest/quality assurance training that we would be undertaking and to work with groups of farmers Opportunities for developing future links will be explored in 2007 Intensive training for Vietnamese scientists in Australia In July 2006, Vietnamese scientists • Mrs Nguyen Thi An (FAVRI, formerly RIFAV) • Mr Ngo Minh Dung (IAS) • Mr Nguyen Dinh Thi (HUAF) undertook a week training course in Australia The course program is included in Appendix A copy of the travel report can also be obtained from Dr Newman or Assoc Prof Dr Thi Training focused on both field and greenhouse vegetable production, postharvest and supply chain management and implementing Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) Field visits to low tech (Sydney Basin) and high tech (Yanco, Gosford) greenhouses and farms also encouraged training participants to consider how they could adapt such technology to Vietnamese conditions In addition to visiting numerous farms, training participants also visited Sydney Wholesale Markets, and an importing and export business to enable them to understand Australian supply chains and quality requirements Visits to research stations at Gosford and Yanco provided the visitors with an insight into the types of research and extension projects undertaken by NSW DPI and how R&D programs are managed in Australia Throughout their visit they were accompanied by Mr Nguyen Hong Phong a farmer and major vegetable seedling producer from Duc Trong in Lam Dong Province Mr Phong’s assisted the team in looking at how technology or crop management techniques may be adapted and applied to Vietnam Preparing training workshops in Dalat and Can Tho Preparations are well underway for two workshops to be held in Can Tho (27-28 April) and Dalat (3-4 May) The workshops will be similar in format to last years workshops held in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh However this year we hope to have 50% of participants being farmers or other supply chain participants We have also moved one of the workshops from Hue to Dalat as recommended by one of the reviewers of our last milestone report However we hope to hold some informal training courses in Hue to assist farmers in this region who are not able to attend the workshop in Dalat This may be take the form of a field day Vietnam Research Demonstration Trials Research demonstration trials have been undertaken in Hanoi, Lam Dong province and Hue utilizing Vietnamese cocopeat based media The trials have focused on variety evaluation and the implementation of drip irrigation A full report documenting trial results will be prepared as part of the July milestone During the Australian teams visit in April/May, time has been set aside to go through all the trial results with our Vietnamese partners and discuss publication preparation Hanoi A trial was carried out at the Research Institute of Fruit and Vegetables (RIFAV), comparing the productivity of cucumber varieties (Q9, Q16, Q19, Tohoku, Khassib, Status III, Deena and Ajax) grown in a Vietnamese cocopeat media The design was a randomized block design with replicates The trials were sown in September and harvested from October to November, 2006 Fruit size ranged from 117-126g for standard varieties and 5.9g for the cocktail variety Marketable yield ranged from 14 t/ha for Khassib to 56 t/ha for Deena, whilst the cocktail variety yielded 3.2 t/ha Levels of fruit set varied significantly between varieties ranging from 15-47% and considerably between replicates The best performing variety was Deena, producing high yields of well sized fruit Hue Tomato and cucumber trials were carried out in a specifically constructed net house at HUAF The cucumber trial compared the productivity of cucumber varieties (Chua Young Sheng, Status Natu 3, Tohoku, Khassib and Deena) using a Vietnamese cocopeat mix In this trial the most productive variety was Tuhoku with the highest marketable yield of 49 t/ha This variety also produced large sized fruit 274g and had lower levels of pest and disease damage The tomato trial examined the suitability of using drip irrigation with a cocopeat media for off-season tomato production in a net house The trial compared a planting layout of plant/bag with one dripper (standard practice) with plants/bag (2 drippers) The trial was conducted from August-November 2006 Whilst there was little difference in total yield between the two systems, marketable yield was substantially higher in the plant/bag treatment (58% compared with 42% for plant/bag treatment) Pest and disease damage was also lower in this treatment Four winter/spring trials are also underway and will be reported on in the July milestone Cocopeat Research (Dr Sophie Parks and Dr Ross Worrall) Greenhouse media water usage A trial has also been established at GHI to compare the water usage of different media (including coir) for cucumber and flannel flower production Two species that differ in water requirements were chosen These include cucumber having a high water requirement and an ornamental, flannel flower, as the low water requiring comparison A low technology system is being used to determine the daily water use of plants growing in a greenhouse Water wicks up into the substrate from the base of the pot fed by an individual tank As the plant uses water the level in the tank drops and can be measured Pots without plants have been included to allow estimation of the evapotranspiration of units Two substrate mix types, one including coir will be compared Mix 1: 25% sand 25% perlite 25% pine bark 25% coir Mix 2: 25% sand 25% perlite 50% pine bark The inclusion of coir is expected to increase the wicking ability of mix The effect of the two mixes on plant growth and water use will be determined Measurements: • Physical and chemical characteristics of mixes before and after the experiment • Daily water use • Leaf area (at weeks 3,6,9 & 12) • Flannel flower number • Cucumber fruit number/weight • Plant dry weight • Daily solar radiation and temperature will be monitored using sensors and related to water use (providing a predictive model) The autopot experiment for cucumber grown in two substrate types was successful in the collection of data on production and water use over the course of the crop The autopot system, a subirrigation system with independent tanks for each cucumber plant, proved useful for this purpose This was a simple measurement of the volume required to refill the tank as water was used by the crop However, the similar autopot experiment for flannel flowers was not successful as their slow growth did not permit accurate measurement of water over short periods The two mixes were not significantly different in terms of cucumber production (shoot dry weight and total fruit fresh weight) or water use Mix consisted of 25% sand 25% perlite 25% pine bark 25% coir Mix consisted of 25% sand 25% perlite 50% pine bark The relationship between the total amount of water used over the crop and shoot dry weight was linear, and was similar for both mixes (Fig 1) 140 120 Shoot dry weight (g) 100 Mix 80 Mix Linear (Mix 1) 60 Linear (Mix 2) 40 20 0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000 120000 Total w ate r us e (m l) Figure 1: Cucumber plant shoot dry weight associated with the total amount of water used by the plant grown in either mix or mix The amount of water used over time increased with plant growth and was similar for plants grown in both mixes (Fig 2) 120000 Total water used (ml) 100000 80000 Mix Mix 60000 Poly (Mix 1) Poly (Mix 2) 40000 20000 2-Jul 12-Jul 22-Jul 1-A ug 11A ug 21A ug 31A ug 10-Sep Date of harve s t Figure 2: Cucumber total water use over time in either mix or mix Autopots are a useful and simple tool for measuring cucumber crop water use and could be used by growers for monitoring water use on a daily basis They could also be effectively used for demonstration purposes in Vietnam to illustrate crop water use to farmers, research and extension personnel The two substrates that differed in their components did not affect the water used or the growth performance of cucumber plants 4.2 Smallholder Benefits The workshops in Dalat and Can Tho and the informal training opportunities provided alongside these events will provide training opportunities for farmers and other supply chain participants Linkages with these farmers will be fostered throughout the life of the project to facilitate rapid adoption of project outputs 4.3 Capacity Building Capacity building has been the focus of much of the project activities during the last six months Activities undertaken include: preparing for the in-country workshops in Dalat and Can Tho and delivering the intensive training program for Vietnamese scientists in Australia As detailed earlier, the workshops delivered in-country in April/May will cater for an increased number of farmers and other supply chain participants and we hope that this enable more rapid uptake of project results 4.4 Publicity Several publicity items are planned for the next reporting period 4.5 Project Management In September 2007, there was a change in Australian team leader with Dr Vong Nguyen retiring from NSW DPI Dr Suzie Newman has replaced him as Australian team leader, however Dr Nguyen will continue to be involved with the project and participate in the workshops in Dalat and Can Tho The transition in project leadership has proceeded relatively smoothly The project remains on-track and there are no changes to project milestone dates to report Report on Cross-Cutting Issues 5.1 Environment Training project staff in Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) is one of the main focuses of the training provided in this project In July, Vietnamese project staff undertook training on Quality Assurance systems and Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) There visit was timely as FreshCare was at the time finalizing their environmental module Joseph Ekman (project team member and QA extension officer) is one of the key developers of this module and so he was able to present the latest information and developments to our Vietnamese counterparts They were then able to see QA systems in operation through their visits to farms who had implemented FreshCare Training participants were encouraged to think through how such systems could be implemented in Vietnam With the release of ASEAN GAP guidelines, it is likely that Vietnam will look to further develop a GAP system and trained extension specialists will be required to develop and implement this system At the present time the Vietnamese vegetable industry falls short of the environmental requirements under many GAP systems with use of non-composted farm manure, unregistered chemicals and inadequate with-holding periods Providing plant protection officers and extension specialists with knowledge on GAP systems and how they are implemented should assist Vietnam with the uptake of these systems over the next few years 5.2 Gender and Social Issues This CARD project will continue to address gender and social issues as they arise throughout the project Implementation & Sustainability Issues 6.1 Issues and Constraints The structure of this project is such that a large number of project milestones and payments have been placed in the last months of the project This is difficult for two reasons: • Limited travel (one trip) for Australian staff in the second year of the project make it difficult to co-ordinate activities and ensure that the project remains on-track • Budget management – having a large number of milestones and corresponding payments in the second half of the project make budget management difficult for NSW DPI with the Australian Institution having to carry over large negative budgets to ensure the Vietnamese project partners receive the funds they require for carrying out project activities The new Australian project manager (Dr Newman) believes that some of the project performance indications are too ambitious given the short term nature (2 years) of the project and the geographic spread of project partners The project will achieve significant project outcomes however given the project focuses mainly on capacity building rather than direct intervention it is likely that the performance indicators will take longer to achieve 6.2 Options During our visit in April/May we will visit each of our project collaborators to ensure that the project remains on-track to meet its project milestones Part of this visit will include finalizing all the data from trials and preparing required publications However it is still envisaged that an additional trip will be required and it is proposed that the project leader and the greenhouse specialist return to Vietnam in September to finalise project activities It is proposed to try and use any potential savings from the Australian budget to fund this visit 10 It is also recommended that more realistic performance indicators be redeveloped for the project 6.3 Sustainability One of the focuses of the current set of trials is to compare field and greenhouse/nethouse production A number of the demonstration trials will take place on farm, facilitating greater uptake of results by farmers The comparison of field and greenhouse production should clearly demonstrate whether or not greenhouse production is economically viable in each region Project collaborators have been encouraged to hold field days wherever possible to enable farmers to see first hand the results from the trials Next Critical Steps The following activities will take place in the next six months: • Workshops in Can Tho and Dalat • Informal training of farmers in crop management and Good Agricultural Practice • Finalisation of trial results from each region and the preparation of publications • Developing of resource and extension materials on supply chain management, GAP and greenhouse management • Continued research on cocopeat at GHI Conclusion Highlights from the last six months include: • A successful visit by research personnel from each of the partner Vietnamese institutes for training on vegetable production, postharvest and Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) • Continuation of the research demonstration trials in Hanoi, Lam Dong and Hue looking at improved production systems of cucumber and tomato • Continuation of the research undertaken at GHI on characterising the chemical and physical properties of Vietnamese cocopeat and its suitability for crop production The project is currently on-track and so far there have been no major constraints to project implementation 11 ...Institute Information Project Name Improving the safety and quality of Vietnamese vegetables through research and capacity building in quality assurance, postharvest management and high technology. .. improvements and 3) Enhance Vietnamese research, development and extension capacity in the areas of protected cropping systems, postharvest management and quality assurance systems This project has continued... Enhance Vietnamese R&D capacity in the areas of protected cropping systems, postharvest management and quality assurance systems Fostering links between growers, wholesalers, traders and researchers