1

Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development CARD Project Progress Report

021/06VIE

Reducing pesticide resides, improving yield, quality
and marketing of vegetables crops in Northern
Central Vietnam through improved varieties, GAP
principles and farmer focused training MS6:
Third Six-Monthly Report
1
Table of Contents

1. Institute Information ___________________________________________________ 2

Australian Organisation
Applied Horticultural Research Pty. Ltd.(AHR) ACN 073 642 510
Suite 352 Biomedical Building, 1 Central Ave
Everleigh NSW 2015 Australia
Australian Personnel
Prof. Gordon Rogers
Date commenced
March 2007
Completion date (original)
July 2008
Completion date (revised)
July 2008
Reporting period
Milestone achieved July 2008

Contact Officer(s)
In Australia: Team Leader
Name:
Assoc Prof. Gordon Rogers
Telephone:
+61 2 8627 1040
Position:
Project Leader
Fax:
+61 2 9544 3782
Organisation
AHR, Applied Horticultural
Research
Suite 352 Biomedical Building , 1
Central Ave

(“ASINCV”)
Nghi Kim, Vinh city, Nghe An
province, Vietnam
Email:
3
2. Project Abstract 3. Executive Summary
The project uses a participatory approach to encourage the uptake of good agricultural
practices (GAP) by the collaborating Vietnamese Institutes and the stakeholders (farmers,
extension staff and commercial partners). The project includes several training initiatives.
Such as the establishment of demonstration variety and GAP trials which are the basis of
farmer field days, postharvest research investigating temperature management and packaging
along the supply chain and market development.


Vegetable farming in Vietnam can bring an attractive income of around 20-30 Million VND per
year which represents 80-90% of the average farming family income. There is potential to
increase these returns to growers by maximizing yield and quality of the produce they grow. This
project aims to improve the income of smallholders by encouraging them to adopt clean and
sustainable production practices. This will involve providing high yielding; disease resistant
varieties of watermelon and cabbage, providing information and training in Good Agricultural
Practice. The introduction of new varieties and GAP will be implanted using a participatory
approach with farmer field days and workshops lead by leading Australian industry consultants.
The highlight from this reporting period is the production of high quality cabbages using GAP at
Quynh Luong Commune and Hung Duong Co-operative and the enthusiasm from Metro Cash and
Carry to sell these products in the Hanoi store. This is a very positive step for developing an
alternative supply chain for these farmers which could be more reliable and profitable than the
existing ones they use. The use of IPM and the agronomic record books has also been an
important first steps for the adoption of a QA system for the growers.

4
4. Introduction & Background
Vegetable growing in Vietnam is an important source of income for the country and accounts
for 9% of the total cropping including rice.

There is potential to increase these returns to growers by maximizing yield and quality of the
produce they grow. However, there are several aspects of the vegetable industry in Vietnam
which currently limit expansion and development of the industry and financial returns to
farmers, i.e.:

• High pesticide and nitrosamine residues in produce
• Postharvest temperature management and handling technology limits the quality
presented to consumers
• Agronomic practices used by growers can limit potential yields and hence farmer

The main activities undertaken since the last six-monthly report (milestone 4) include:

(i) The cabbage research trials including variety, nutrition, planting density and planting time
at the ASINCV research institute in Vinh City have now been completed. The results of these
trials have been reported and reports were attached to milestone 5. 5
(ii) The baseline survey is complete. The first baseline survey was carried out at: Hung Dong
commune, Vinh city, with 30 farmer households; Quynh Luong commune, Quynh Luu
district, with 30 farmer households; and at Hung Loi commune, Hung Nguyen district, with
30 farmer households.

The survey found that farmers are skilled in traditional vegetable production methods. Many
vegetable crops are grown from local varieties which produce only low yields, which could be
improved by changing to new varieties. Pesticide and chemical safety was poor at three
surveyed sites for vegetable production. Improved postharvest handling represented a good
opportunity to increase vegetable quality and improve shelf life but individual farmers were
not interested because of their small scale. Quality Assurance management was not yet being
practiced at the surveyed sites.

(iii) Cabbage shipments have been successfully sent to Metro Cash and Carry in Hanoi. By
April 2008, over 50 tonnes of cabbages were delivered in good condition and sold through the
Metro cash and Carry network of stores, primarily in the north.

(iv) Vinh – Nghe Ahn Brand has been developed and this includes stick on labels and posters.
Stickers for fruit were designed by a professional graphic design studio in Sydney and 5000
copies of the stickers were printed and sent to Vietnam. Subsequently labels have been
printed in Vietnam. This development was funded from the Australian component of the
project budget. The stickers were important to differentiate the GAP-produced cabbages and

cabbage harvesting, postharvest and marketing in January 2008. Separate training on
watermelon agronomy was presented by Mr Titley in March/April 2008 at Quynh Luong and
at ASINCV.

(x) There were three visits by the Australian team to Vietnam during this time.

Dates Who went Objective(s) of Trip Activities
14
th

January –
22
nd

January
Jenny
Jobling
John Baker
Train Metro Cash and Carry in
handling techniques. Oversee
harvesting and ensure adequate
quality
Presentation by JB at Metro Hanoi. Oversee
first cabbage harvest in QL. Travel to Hanoi
and view produce on arrival. Liaise with Mr
Thai - Metro

6

27


5.2 Capacity Building
Skills have been built in several ways:

• Three staff members from ASINCV travelled to Australia, inspected modern seedling
production facilities, watermelon farms in NSW and Qld, and attended the Australian
Melon Conference
• Dr Chuong and Mr Cuong attended the Fresh Produce Vietnam conference in Ho Chi
Minh City
• Members of Metro, farmers and ASINCV staff trained in marketing and postharvest
handling of cabbage.
• Field research skills of staff at ASINCV have been enhanced through the successful
planning, execution and reporting of field trials
• Skills and knowledge of farmers and ASINCV research and support staff have been
enhanced through training provided by Australian experts and by ASINCV and
MARD staff locally
5.3 Publicity
• Dr Chuong was interviewed on national television about the project. The file of the
TV program is available if required, but since the file is large, it will not be attached
to this email.

• An article was written for the April/May 2008 Issue of Asia Fruit Magazine and the
copy is attached to this milestone report.

• An article was written for the CARD Newsletter about the project and this was
published in 2008.

5.4 Project Management
The project activities have been progressing as per the schedule in the project logframe. The
submission of milestone reports has been slow and this has affected cash flow to fund project

Will be covered in the project final report. Attachments

Presentation at Fresh Produce
Logo for cabbage
Poster for cabbage
Article in Asia Fruit Magazine
Article in CARD newsletter
1 training presentation (English and VNM)
John Baker presentation on cabbage
Trip Itinerary for Mr. Canh, Ms. Quyen and Mr. Thang visit to Australia