Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development

CARD Project Progress Report
029/05VIE
Implementation of the IPM Program Using Weaver
Ants as a Major Component for Cashew Growers
in Vietnam

MS4: SECOND SIX-MONTHLY REPORT

20 April 2007

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1. Institute Information
Project Name
Implementation of the IPM program using weaver
ants as a major component for cashew growers in
Vietnam
Vietnamese Institution
Institute of Agricultural Science of South Vietnam
Vietnamese Project Team Leader
Mr La Pham Lan
Australian Organisation
Charles Darwin University

Telephone:
61 08 89466708
Position:
Research Manager
Fax:
61 8 89467199
Organisation
Charles Darwin University
Email:


In Vietnam
Name:
La Pham Lan
Telephone:
84 0913829560
Position:
Head of Plant Protection
Department
Fax:
84 8 8297650
Organisation
Institute of Agricultural
Science of South Vietnam
Email:
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2. Project Abstract


3. Executive Summary
The proposed activities for the second 6 months of the project have been achieved.
The following are the achievements against each of the activities.
The first year TOT training has been progressing well since the start of the project.
The September training took place from 25 September to 2
nd
October. Due to TOT
trainees’ heavy commitment to the brown leaf hopper control (MARD first priority),
the November training in 2006 was combined with January training in 2007, and this
combined training was conducted from 29 January – 10 February 2007. A total of 12
courses were delivered in the TOT training, and they include the following 7 aspects:
the main cashew insect pests and their control, the main cashew diseases and their
management, the natural enemies in cashew orchards, the use of weaver ants in
cashew orchards, the IPM principles, appropriate use of pesticides in the IPM systems
and cashew cultivation. Under the supervision of master trainers, and using their own
observations, assessments and practice in the IPM plots, trainees have fully
understood the mechanism of weaver ants in controlling the major insect pests and
how to use the ants in cashew orchards. To extensively use local knowledge about
weaver ants, an experienced citrus farmer was invited to give a talk to our TOT
trainees.
The weaver ant technology has been successfully transferred to IAS project staff and
TOT trainees by CDU project staff. A total of 14 weaver ant colonies were established
and maintained in our two demonstration orchards. During the instalment of the
weaver ant colonies, we successfully used local knowledge to resolve the problems
caused by competitive species of other ants. During the harvest time, it was noticed
that cashew nuts produced in the IPM plot were shiny and cleaner than the nuts
produced in the farmer managed plot. The orchard owners in Binh Phuoc province are
happy with this IPM program.


cashew growing provinces and 3750 cashew farmers educated in cashew FFSs. A
practical guide for cashew IPM and a series of illustrative posters will be developed.
The effectiveness of FFS in enhancing farmer knowledge in cashew cultivation will
be assessed.
The project will concentrate on (1) the use of the farmer participatory training and
research program, involving TOT and FFSs and (2) the development of a cashew IPM
curriculum and illustrative posters based on field monitoring, observations and
experiments by field experimentalists, TOT trainees and FFS participants.
The implementation methods include establishment of demonstration orchards for
TOT courses, the TOT and FFS training, the development of a cashew IPM
curriculum and IPM posters, and the community baseline surveys. A total of 8 major
cashew-growing provinces, which have 300,700 ha of cashew, accounting for 86% of
the total cashew areas in Vietnam will be targeted.
5. Progress to Date
Based on our logframe, this report will cover activities I, III and IV of our project
proposal. The following is the progress against each of the proposed activities.

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5.1 Implementation Highlights
Activity I has three aspects: I(i), I(ii) and I(iii). I (i) Identification of regions within
each of the 6 participating provinces to be targeted for the program and I (ii) Selection
of IPM trainers from each targeted region to undertake TOT training in cashew IPM
have been previously reported (see the First Six-monthly Report for detail).

I (iii) TOT training in cashew IPM undertaken

During this reporting period from August 2006 to February 2007, we planned three
TOT training periods: (1) 13 – 19 September 2006 (September training), (2) 24
November – 2 December 2006 (November – December training) and (3) 10 – 16
January 2007 (January training). However, the brown leafhopper was in outbreak in

orchards, the problems of using weaver ants and their solutions and the main cashew
insect pests and diseases. The courses we delivered are listed in Table 2. Trainees
were interested in courses and practicals (see Appendix 1). Under the supervision of
master trainers, TOT trainees have fully understood the mechanism of weaver ants to
control the major insect pests in cashew orchards and the use of the weaver ant
technology. This was accomplished by their own observations, their own practice and
their own assessment of the major insect pest damage between the IPM plots and the
farmers’ plots. 5
(3) Establishment of weaver ant colonies in demonstration orchards

During the cashew pre-flowering flush, which was the best time to transplant weaver
ant colonies into cashew IPM plots, Dr Peng went to Vietnam on 20 November in
order to transfer the weaver ant technology to TOT trainees in the November-
December TOT training. Because the TOT trainees in each provincial Sub-PPD were
heavily involved in controlling brown leafhoppers in rice fields during that period, the
November – December TOT training was forced to be delayed. Therefore, Dr Peng
had to transfer the weaver ant technology to key project staff in the IAS and
demonstration orchard owners by working with them as a group. Staff who
participated in the transplantation of weaver ant colonies are listed in Table 3. Later
IAS staff demonstrated this ant technology to TOT trainees in the January TOT
training, and the trainees had plenty of time to practice with it. The whole
implementation of the weaver ant technology included (1) the identification of ants on
each tree in the IPM plots, (2) baiting of competitive ant species, (3) Determination of
weaver ant colonies, (4) Transplantation of weaver ant colonies, (5) grouping trees
together to receive the transplanted ant colonies, and (6) the management of the ant
colonies in the IPM plots.


crematogaster ants were dead in their nests, including queen ants, and that the small
black ant activity was greatly reduced. Seven days later after this baiting, weaver ant
colonies were transplanted into this plot.
Determination of weaver ant colonies
Because weaver ants are very susceptible to toxic insecticides and because
insecticides have been extensively used in cashew growing areas, we had difficulty
finding weaver ant colonies near the demonstration orchards. After extensive
searching, we successfully located enough weaver ant colonies in the suburb of Dong
Xoai Town, Binh Phuoc province and in the residential area of Trang Bom Town,
Dong Nai province where insecticides were rarely or never used. A total of 13
colonies in Binh Phuoc and 17 colonies in Dong Nai were identified (Table 4). The
procedures of identifying the ant colonies will be described in detail in the IPM
curriculum.

Transplantation of weaver ant colonies

Of the 13 colonies identified at Dong Xoai Town, Binh Phuoc province, 7 were
collected and transported to the Binh Phuoc demonstration orchard. Of the 17 weaver
ant colonies identified in the residential area of Trang Bom Town, Dong Nai province,
7 were transplanted to the Dong Nai demonstration orchard. Collecting methods and
facilities needed for weaver ant collection will be described in detail in the IPM
curriculum.

Grouping trees together to receive the transplanted ant colonies

Based on the size of the collected weaver ant colonies, trees in the Binh Phuoc IPM
plot were grouped into 7 groups. The number of trees in each group varied from 4 to
9, and the average number of trees was 6.7 per group. Each group of trees received
only one weaver ant colony. Trees within a group were linked by polystrings to
promote ant activity if the side branches were not attached to each other. The

the main insect pests at the Dong Nai and Binh Phuoc demonstration orchards has
been carried out since September 2006, and regular monitoring of weaver ant
population changes has been conducted since December 2006. The data analyses are
in progress, and will be reported in the next progress report.

We conducted several field surveys and observations on the major insect pests and
their natural enemies in the same cashew orchards as we did five months ago in Dong
Nai, Ba Ria Vung Tau and Binh Phuoc. The orchard in Ba Ria-Vung Tau was sprayed
by the orchard owner, which was unexpected. The data obtained from that orchard
cannot be compared with the data obtained in July 2006. Trees in Mr Who’s orchard
had no flushing terminals, and so we were unable to assess the main insect pest
damage in relation to the abundance of weaver ants and crematogaster ants. The data
collected from Mr Quang’s orchard in Binh Phuoc are shown in Table 5, and it shows
that (1) at this time of year, the most important insect pests were the shoot borer
(Alcides sp) and the tea mosquito bug (Helopeltis antonii) and (2) trees with abundant
weaver ants were significantly less damaged by the two main insect pests than trees
with small black ants or no ants. These results will be used in our next TOT training.
Having compared the spatial distribution of weaver ants between July and December
(Fig. 1), two points of interest arise: (1) weaver ants significantly spread all over the
orchard from a colonisation level of 37% in July to 74% in December (Table 6); and
(2) due to increased weaver ant colonisation in December, the overall damage on
flushing shoots was greatly reduced from 24.4% in July to 3.3% in December for
shoot borer damage and from 5.8% in July to 0.9% in December for tea mosquito bug
damage. With respect to the first point, we also found that the high colonisation level
in December was due to the dispersal of three existing weaver ant colonies on three
sides of the orchard (Fig. 1). This is particularly interesting. According to our baseline
survey, most cashew orchards in Vietnam have no weaver ants due to frequent
insecticide spray. Thus, we assumed that to use weaver ants, farmers would have to
transplant many weaver ant colonies (about 15 colonies if they have 1.5 ha of cashew
on average) to cover every tree in their orchard. However, the evidence in Fig 1

5.2 Smallholder Benefits
The expected benefits for smallholder from this project, according to our baseline
survey, have been described in our last 6-monthly report. Because the first year TOT
training is still on-going, FFS cannot be opened until August 2007. Therefore, at this
stage, it is impossible to report on the smallholder benefits from this project.
5.3 Capacity Building
Dr Peng went to Vietnam in November 2006 to work with IAS project staff to
introduce the ant technology, and he went to Vietnam again in March 2007 to inspect
the general management of the transferred weaver ant colonies. The results showed
that IAS staff and the TOT trainees can operate the ant technology successfully, and
they are now familiar with the whole working procedures including orchard
preparation, controlling of competitive species of ants, identification of weaver ant
colonies, transplantation of the ants into cashew orchards, and management and
maintenance of the weaver ant colonies. Under the supervision of Dr Peng, they have
also gained extensive experience with the assessment of weaver ant abundance and
the levels of insect pest damage.
Because of the positive influence of this project in Vietnam, Charles Darwin
University has made another commitment towards this project by offering a Ph.D.
scholarship to an IAS staff (Mr Nguyen Thanh Binh) for a period of three years to
work on a project related to the cashew IPM program. Mr Nguyen Thanh Binh started
his Ph.D study 31 March 2007.

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5.4 Publicity
The project activities including TOT training were reported by local media and
agricultural News Papers of Vietnam. AusAID logos have been displayed in all our
activities.
5.5 Project Management
Because the project leader, Dr Pham Van Bien, retired in November 2006, Mr La
Pham Lan has been nominated as the project leader. Mr Lan is in charge of


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7. Implementation & Sustainability Issues
7.1 Issues and Constraints
Project staff at CDU still have communication problems with key Vietnamese
personnel, resulting in the delay of this progress report. As Mr Lan is the Project
Leader now, we hope that the communication with Vietnamese project personnel will
be greatly improved.
7.2 Options
Not applicable for this report.

7.3 Sustainability
Sustainability of cashew production in Vietnam is the focus of this project. All the
objectives, approaches, implementation methods and the training program are linked
with this issue. In our TOT training, we have already built up trainees’ confidence in
using weaver ants as a major component to manage cashew orchards. This is a
significant step forward towards cashew production sustainability in the future.
8. Next Critical Steps
The following are our next critical activities for the next six-month period:
1. Manage the demonstration orchards,
2. Complete the first year TOT training,
3. Start FFS training in eight cashew growing provinces by the TOT graduates,
4. Start the second year TOT training,
5. Analyse the field data for the IPM curriculum development, and
6. Take photos of insect pests, diseases and their natural enemies in the periods
of cashew fruiting, harvesting and post-harvest flushing for the IPM posters.
9. Conclusion
The proposed activities of the project for the second 6 months have been achieved.

The first year TOT training has been successfully conducted since the start of the


During the period of cashew pre-flowering and flowering flush, a total of 70 photos
were obtained for the preparation of cashew IPM posters. These photos include insect
pests, natural enemies, weaver ant behaviour, weaver ant colony transplantation and
their management and the control of competitive species of ants in cashew orchards.

The overall project has been well managed by CDU and IAS project staff.

Due to the positive influence of this project in Vietnam, Charles Darwin University
has made another commitment towards this project by offering a Ph.D. scholarship to
an IAS staff member for a period of three years to work on a project related to the
cashew IPM program.

Mr La Pham Lan has been nominated as the project leader in charge of Vietnamese
personnel and expenses of the project, because the original project leader, Dr Pham
Van Bien, retired in November 2006.
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