1

Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development Assessing the effectiveness of Farmer Field Schools
for Implementation of Citrus IPM in Viet Nam

CARD 036/04VIE

Project Completion Report

2008

1
1. Institute Information
Project Name
Assessing the effectiveness of Farmer
Field Schools for Implementation of
Citrus IPM in Viet Nam
Vietnamese Institution
Plant Protection Department
Vietnamese Project Team Leader
Mr Ho Van Chien
Australian Organisation
University of Western Sydney
Australian Personnel

+6124736 0631
Position:
Director, Research Services
Fax:
+6124736 0905
Organisation
University of Western Sydney
Email: In Vietnam
Name:
Mr Ho Van Chien
Telephone:
+8473834476
Position:
Director
Fax:
+8473834477
Organisation
Southern Regional Plant Protection
Centre
Email:
2
2. Project Abstract
The trainers then conducted FFS for a season incorporating adaptations for their particular
regions during the course of the schools. At the end of the season review meetings were held
in central locations to evaluate the FFS and make revisions to the training program and the
FFS curriculum. Revisions in the second year included extending the duration of the FFS to
include all the major stages of citrus growth and development by having less frequent FFS
meetings and the focus of training was widened from IPM to include other aspect of
citriculture including pruning, plant nutrition in particular production of compost, planning of
rejuvenation of orchards, budgeting and planning for the production cycle. In the first year of
the project 98 extension workers from 12 provinces were trained and they conducted 24 FFS
from which 728 farmers graduated. In the second year of the project an additional 111
extension workers were trained and they conducted 48 FFS from which 1520 farmers
graduated. In the first year of the project trainers from Can Tho developed 12 educational
posters on major citrus pests and diseases. At the beginning of the second year of the project
Citrus is an important fruit crop in Viet Nam but productivity and production are impeded
by pests and diseases. Integrated pest management (IPM) is widely recognised as an
effective and sustainable method of pest and disease control. Viet Nam has a well-
developed National IPM program of farmer participatory training and research using
Farmer Field Schools (FFS), which has trained more than 500,000 farmers in IPM
technologies for rice, vegetable, cotton, tea, soybean, peanut, and sweet potato crops.
Prior to this project few trainers had specific skills in citrus IPM. This project has greatly
increased the Vietnamese capacity to train farmers in citrus IPM by training 209 extension
workers in the Mekong Delta and the Central Coast regions. These extension workers
subsequently facilitated a total of 72 FFS during 2005 and 2006 resulting in 2,245 farmers
completing season long training in citrus IPM across 12 provinces. Assessment of the
effectiveness of FFS demonstrated that farmers observed more beneficial organisms in
their orchards, they adopted more IPM compatible pesticides, reduced their input costs
and increased sharing of knowledge and experiences resulting in formation of
cooperatives. The cost of FFS per participant represented around 1.6% of average net
profit of surveyed farmers.


members of citrus clubs or cooperatives. The cost of FFS per participant was estimated at A$
70.62, which was only 1.60% of the estimated average net profit per hectare. Based on these
estimates the cost of FFS would be offset in just one season due to the reduction of inputs
and increased yield.
4
4. Introduction & Background
Citrus fruit is one of the major fruit crops in Vietnam (MARD 2004) and citrus production is
an important source of income for many Vietnamese farmers. However, productivity and
production of citrus in Vietnam is considerably lower than in Australia and major citrus
producing countries of the world such as Brazil and the USA. It has been stated by MARD
that “in general, citrus cultivation has not been significantly developed over the past few
years, largely because of the serious damage of pests and diseases, especially greening
disease (officially known as huanglongbing) and therefore studies on their control methods,
in combination with managing citrus plantations and using advanced and intensive
technology is a vital necessity” (MARD 2004).
Background information about citrus production in the regions in which this project was
conducted was collected as a part of baseline study and impact assessment using farmer
surveys and interviews. From the information collected the average size of citrus orchards
and farmers net income was estimated for each province. It was very difficult to verify
farmers’ statements because farmers did not keep accurate records of inputs and outputs.
However the interviewer did verify with each farmer that they talking about net income not
total income. It was also verified with each group of farmers that the estimated net income
represented the difference between total value of sold fruits and the costs of immediate inputs
like fertilizer, pesticide, irrigation fees, cost of petrol used in production, cost of hired labour,


Figure 1: Average size of citrus farms for each of the provinces surveyed.

0
20,000,000
40,000,000
60,000,000
80,000,000
100,000,000
120,000,000
140,000,000
160,000,000
180,000,000
Kanh Hoa Nghe An Ben Tre Tien Giang Dong Thap Tra Vinh Vinh Long Can Tho Soc Trang
Province
Net profit (VND/ha/year)

Figure 2: Estimated net income per hectare of citrus orchard for each of the provinces
surveyed.
6
0
20,000,000
40,000,000
60,000,000
80,000,000
100,000,000
120,000,000

agreed however, that assessment of the FFS impact is complex because of the diversity of
impact parameters and the different perspective held by stakeholders on what constitutes
impact (van den Berg and Jiggins 2007). Assessments used in this project included self-

7
evaluation by farmers and self-evaluation by other project stakeholders in order to ensure that
parameters evaluated were those that were most relevant to the primary stakeholders. Large
sample sizes and triangulation (surveys, semi-structured interviews and field observations)
were used to minimise bias. Impact was measured using a longitudinal comparison (e.g. a
comparison before and after training). Impacts can sometimes be confounded by temporal
variations such as differences in yield and market prices from year to year. To reduce the
impact of temporal variation the impact study was performed across different regions, in 9
provinces and on different citrus species (oranges, mandarins and pomelo).
5. Progress to Date
5.1 Implementation Highlights
The key objective of this project was to increase the Vietnamese capacity to develop and
implement citrus IPM strategies by conducting Training of Trainers (TOT) for extension
workers in citrus IPM and these trainers then conducting FFSs in their local districts. The key
objective was achieved through implementation of all the activities documented in the project
contract, and the implementation of additional activities that were formulated through
engagement and interactions between Vietnamese stakeholders during the course of the
project. These additional activities significantly contributed to the positive impact on
implementation and sustainability of the implemented project objectives.

Details of project implementation are documented in the Milestone reports, and the major
highlights are listed below.

Project management highlights
on GAP in citrus were noted.

Training activities highlights1. First TOT course for 2005 conducted from 18-29 April in SRPPC. Total of 47 extension
workers from 12 provinces were trained.
2. Second TOT course for 2005 conducted from 9-20 May in SRPPC. Total of 51 extension
workers from 12 provinces were trained.
3. Twenty-four FFSs commenced in 12 provinces at the end of May or early June 2005.
4. The additional activity of farmer study tours were conducted from the 24-29 October
2005 with a total of 540 farmers from 18 FFS in 8 provinces in the Mekong Delta visiting
a FFS in another province. Farmers from seven provinces visited Lai Vung district in
Dong Thap province and farmers from Lai Vung visited Cai Bei district in Tien Giang
province (see Box 1).
5. FFSs were completed in late October to early November 2005. A total of 728 farmers
were trained.
6. Significant changes in TOT and FFSs curriculum were made after the first season of
FFSs. Focus was widened from IPM to other aspect of citriculture including pruning,
plant nutrition in particular production of compost, planning of rejuvenation of orchards,
budgeting and planning for the production cycle. The focus within IPM that was
primarily on control strategies for citrus psillids-citrus greening diseases and mites was
extended to include phytophthora disease on citrus. Personnel trained as part of CARD
052/04 VIE project “Management of Phytophthora diseases in Vietnamese Horticulture
were included in our project.
7. First TOT course for 2006 was conducted from 13-26 February in SRPPC. Total of 45
extension workers from 9 provinces were trained.
8. Second TOT course for 2006 conducted from 27 February – 11 March. Total of 45
extension workers from 8 provinces were trained.
9. Third TOT course for 2006 conducted from 13-26 March. Total of 21 extension workers

participants of FFS and to ‘pesticide shops’ within distribution area of SPC. Publishing of
the leaflet was a very important step in aligning recommendations and marketing efforts
of pesticide producers with the recommendation of extension services.

Assessment of FFSs effectiveness in implementation of IPM
1. Surveys and analysis of farmers’ knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) were
conducted in 2005 and 2006. A total of 1060 pre and post FFS attendance surveys from
530 farmers were analysed in 2005 and a total of 2118 pre and post FFS attendance
surveys from 1059 farmers were analysed in 2006.
2. Australian and Vietnamese project personnel visited 16 FFS in 12 provinces from 1-19
June 2005 baseline data were collected and teaching demonstration trials implemented.
3. During participatory evaluation of the process at the end of the first year it was concluded
that results of KAP analysis did not capture the essence of the FFSs impact on farmers
and their community. The project team together with trainers then developed other
assessments tools including semi-structured interviews and group discussion in an
attempt to improve the assessment.
4. Australian and Vietnamese project personnel visited FFS in southern Vietnam and
attended meetings at the Southern Regional Plant Protection Centre and Vinafruit in Ho
Chi Minh City from 21-24 March 2006.
5. Australian and Vietnamese project personnel visited 10 FFS in 9 provinces from 13-24
June 2006 to collect baseline data for FFSs commenced in 2006 and assist with teaching
demonstration trials implementation.
6. Australian and Vietnamese project personnel visited nine provinces were FFS were being
conducted from 17-30 November 2006 and undertook an assessment of economic, social
and environmental impacts using individual semi structured interviews and group
discussion with farmers that gradated from FFSs at the end of 2005. The additional
activity of evaluating each site for compliance with EUREP GAP was conducted in order

The KAP analysis showed that attitudes of farmers were influenced by participation in FFS
particularly in relation to pest control methods. Farmers increased their level of agreement
that pesticide can cause pest resurgence and agreed less to the statements that application of
pesticide will increase the yield, that pesticides are cheap and easy to use, and that advanced
farmers use a lot of pesticide. Farmers’ knowledge about pests and diseases significantly
improved as a result of participation in FFSs, with a significant increase in number of farmers
giving correct answers recorded across all provinces but with steeper increase at Central
coast due to the lower level of knowledge at the beginning of FFSs (Figure 7). As citrus is a
perennial crop with a year-long growing season, most practices were not possible to change
within the timeframe of FFS. The only change of practice recorded was a reduction of
number of sprays in Mekong delta from 7 to 6.5 and from 7.7 to 6.0 in 2005 and 2006,
respectively.
Figure 4: Farmers increased their knowledge and skills for many components of citriculture
including density of plantings, pruning, plant nutrition and integrated pest management

11

Figure 5: Reduction in the number of sprays, change to less toxic pesticide and farmers
increased awareness of OH&S issues are some of project outcomes.
A majority of farmers claimed that as a result of changed practices their net profits increased,
partly as a result of reduced financial inputs and partly from increased yield and fruit quality
Overall 47% of interviewed farmers declared reduction in costs. Increased yield was also
frequently noted with only Vinh Long province farmers not reporting an increase in yield.
Overall 38% of interviewed farmers mentioned increase in yield, 17% increase in quality of


Figure 7: Importance of pests and diseases ranked by farmers a) in the Mekong delta and b)
Central coast. Note a sharp increase in farmer’s awareness of the importance of Asiatic citrus
psyllid in transmission of citrus greening disease (huanglongbin)

15.8
4.8
12.7
0.8
1.6
10.227
14.5
3
9.6
12.8
3.6
13.7
0.1
0.8
13.2
31.9
10.4
4
9.5

7.7
0.4
2.9
Scales & Mealybugs
Leafminer
Mites
Branch borer
Stink bug
Psylla
Greening disease
Root rot
Scab
Others

14
5.3 Capacity Building
This project has greatly enhanced the capacity of the PPD to facilitate farmer participatory
training in citriculture and management of citrus pests and diseases. Over the course of the
project 209 extension workers undertook training conducted by 11 key scientists. The level
of competency of the trainers after completion of the training was assessed and shown in
Table 1. Trainers subsequently facilitated 72 FFS in 12 provinces in the Mekong Delta and
Central Coast regions of Viet Nam (Table 2). In 2006 additional 4 FFS were completely
funded by the provincial government. The participatory approach provided a framework
within which the pluralism of ideas of the trainers can be harnessed, adapted and refined in
consultation with farmers in order to provide effective solutions for the farmers.

In addition to the formal training provided in TOTs and FFSs, this project provided a range
of opportunities for the development of linkages between extension agencies and research
institutions. A very strong linkage was formed between PPD research centre (SRPCC) and
Can Tho University and SOFRI resulting in valuable input of scientists and researchers to

spray oil to farmers. As a result sales of oil increased from less than 10 metric tonnes at the
beginning of the project to over 60 metric tonnes by the end of the project. The use of
mineral spray oil was one of the key strategies for control of pests and disease used in FFS

15
IPM trials. The increased volume of sales indicates that FFSs can successfully be used to
introduce new technology. The capacity of the Saigon Plant Protection Company to respond
to farmer needs was significantly enhanced through learning from farmers and researchers
and through gaining an understanding of changing farmers’ attitudes in relation to pesticide
use.
FFS enhanced relationships between farmers themselves and between farmers and local
government officials. This cooperation between farmers with support of Farmer’s Union and
NGO VacVina will have a major role in sustaining the impact that this project has on farming
communities. These linkages between farmers, local government and farmer organisations
improved the capacity of the farming community to respond to market challenges and
opportunities that the entrance of Vietnam to WTO has created.

Figure 8: Dr Tran Van Hai from Can Tho University and Oleg Nicetic from UWS with
participants of FFS in Tra Vinh province.
Figure 9: Mr Ho Van Chien Director of SRPPC and Vietnamese project leader listening to
farmers presentation in FFS.

Figure 10: A set of 12 educational posters, 8 posters covering major pests on citrus
and 4 posters covering the major diseases. Posters printed on waterproof plastic
material were produced and distributed to each FFS held in 2006.

Figure 11: The book entitled “IPM on citrus-Ecological Guide” was published on
15/12/2005 and The book entitled ‘Field guide for pest and diseases of citrus’ was
published on 12/2/2007.

17
Table 1: Gender distribution and level of competency of trainers participating in the project

2005 2006 Total

Number of
participants

Number of
participants
Number of participants
Province Male Female Score/100 Male Female Score/100 Male Female Total Score/100
Nghe An 3 1 81.25 4 3 79.17 7 4 11 80.21
Quang
Nam
4 0 79.69 none none n/a 4 0 4 79.69

participants
Number of participants
Province
Number
of FFS
Male Female
Number
of FFS
Male Female
Number of
FFS
Male Female Total
Nghe An 2 29 31 4 90 27 6 119 58 177
Quang Nam 1 25 5 0 0 0 1 25 5 30
Kanh Hoa 2 52 8 4 55 73 6 107 81 188
Binh Dinh 1 22 8 2 46 12 3 68 20 88
Total CC 6 128 52 10 191 112 16 319 164 483
Tien Giang 3 93 5 7 213 24 10 306 29 335
Ben Tre 3 85 5 5 138 12 8 223 17 240
Vinh Long 3 83 7 6 232 8 9 315 15 330
Dong Thap 2 53 7 6 178 2 8 231 9 240
Tra Vinh 1 25 5 3 83 7 4 108 12 120
Can Tho 3 80 10 7 203 7 10 283 17 300
Hau Giang 2 53 7 2 59 1 4 112 8 120
Soc Trang 1 25 5 2 58 2 3 83 7 90
Total MD
18 497 51 38 1164 63 56 1661 114 1775
TOTAL
24 625 103 48 1355 175 72 1980 278 2258


has demonstrated great commitment to the project and has facilitated training activities in
Vietnam by forwarding funds to the Vietnamese Institution before they have been received
from the funding organisation. The Australian Organisation also provided additional funds
outside the budget to allow study tours for FFS participants in the Mekong Delta, and
Australian personnel contributed additional time to the project. Additional time contributed
by Australian personnel was provided in kind by the University of Western Sydney. SK
Corporation has also contributed indirectly to the project as Oleg Nicetic visited CARD
project sites and attended meetings in his own time when working in Vietnam on an SK
Corporation funded project.
CARD PMU played a positive role in facilitating project management. Their critical
comments on Milestone reports helped improve performance and achieve desirable
outcomes. In participatory based research and education projects the project management
team needs to be able to quickly respond to findings from the field and detected needs of the
farmers. If allocation of funds has to be strictly used according to the initial budget, which is
only based on the prediction of needs by the research team, or a long procedure is required to
change the initial budget allocations, then the real needs of farmers determined as result of
the participatory approach cannot be addressed within the project timeframe. CARD PMU
showed understanding of these needs and partially accommodated them which has helped
deliverthe outcomes.
20



Figure 12: Two posters about some results and figures of the project activities for
The GAP Workshop on fruit tree organized on 21-22/07/2008 at Binh Thuan
Province.

21

Figure 13: Citrus orchards are small typically 0.3-1 ha with very dens planting of 2000-4000
trees per hectare. Orchards are imbedded in the dense net of canal. Use of pesticide had
detrimental effect on aquatic life. After completion FFSs and reduction of pesticide use the
abundance of fish increased. Figure 14: Four to six major flushes and many flushes in between make control of psyllid
very difficult. For successful control at least 6 to 8 sprays are necessary but with harvest in
many orchards been all year round to comply with withholding period is real challenge.
6.2 Gender and Social Issues
In the training of trainers a total of 145 males and 64 females have been trained. This
proportion of males and females is reflective of the overall PPD trainer gender balance. In the
central coast region, the ratio of male to female farmers participating in the FFS is similar to
that of the trainers. However, in the Mekong Delta region the proportion of females
participating in FFS is lower. This may be related to traditional roles of women in the delta
being more oriented to animal husbandry.

The detailed assessment of economic, social and environmental impacts undertaken with 53
farmers across 9 provinces indicated that the major social impact of FFS training by farmers
was an increased sharing of knowledge and experiences between farmers who attended FFS,
neighbours, farmers’ club members and within families. Sharing of knowledge often
appeared to be linked with the reported increased social activities related to drinking coffee
and rice wine. Attendance at FFS also appears to have played an important role in increasing

The formation of cooperatives after completion of FFSs has been a very important first step
in sustaining increased capacity of farming communities to improve citrus production after
completion of FFSs. However, to sustain benefits realised by FFS, farming groups need
financial support with credit facilities enabling them to open post-harvest operations in order
to improve market access.
The network of trainers developed as result of this project needs continuous funding to
operate and conduct further FFSs. Provincial governments have demonstrated interest in and
support for FFSs by funding additional FFSs during the timeframe of the project and that will
be continued after the project completion. However financial capacity of provinces is limited
and full reliance on government funds is inherently unsustainable. The cost of FFS per
participant was estimated at A$ 70.62, which was only 1.60% of the estimated average net
profit per hectare. Based on these estimates the cost of FFS would be offset in just one season
due to the reduction of inputs and increased yield. The cost of FFS in citrus is similar to or
only slightly higher than that reported for rice, whereas returns for citrus are 4 to 5 times
higher than for rice. Given the low investment cost and excellent return on investment in
FFS, the possibility that farmers contribute to the cost of FFS through a small levy or
contribution should be considered in the future, especially if farmers are members of citrus
clubs or cooperatives.

23
8. Next Critical Steps
The project team in consultation with MARD officials have indentified a need for further
intervention that would provide the ailing Vietnamese citrus industry with world standard
production practices and open opportunities for export markets. The critical next steps in this
ongoing process is introduction of GAP and finding solutions for post-harvest handling of
citrus that would be appropriate for Vietnamese socio-economic realities.

9. Conclusion
This project has greatly enhanced the capacity of the key stakeholders including farmers,
extension workers from PPD, scientists and researchers from universities and institutes,


Figure 15: Farmers from FFSs gave team leaders presents on the closing day of FFS in
Dong Thap Province and the meeting day to review of activities in the second year in Tien
Giang Province.

24
Project Progress Against Proposed Objectives, Outputs, Activities And Inputs
Project Title: Assessing the effectiveness of Farmer Field Schools for Implementation of Citrus IPM in Viet Nam
Vietnamese Implementing Institution: Plant Protection Department

PROPOSAL COMPLETION REPORT
Narrative Information Required Performance
Measures
Assumptions Summary of Project Progress
OBJECTIVES

I. Conduct training of Trainers (TOT)
for master trainers in citrus IPM

II. Master trainers conduct Farmer
Field Schools (FFS) in their local
region
citrus IPM. In pilot
FFS conducted in
CARD 2.2 there was
a very high level of
interest from farmers.
A range of
monitoring and
evaluation techniques
have been used in
other crops in
Vietnam and trainers
are aware of gender
and other social
issues.

I. Two TOT courses were conducted in 2005 from 18-29
April and 9-20 May. In 2006 3 TOTs were conducted from
13-24 February, 27 February to 10 March and 13-24 March.
All trainers that commenced training successfully completed,
resulting in a 100% completion rate.

II. In 2005, trainers conducted 24 FFSs across 12 provinces.
A total of 749 growers commenced FFS with 715
completing, resulting in a completion rate of 95.46%. In
2006 trainers conducted 48 FFS (44 funded by the project
and 4 funded by provincial government) across 11 provinces
with a total of 1530 farmers completing FFS. Completion
rate was not measured in 2006, but would be expected to be
similar to 2005.


II. Over the 2 years of the project a total of 2,245 farmers
successfully completed training in FFS. Of these 2069
completed pre and post surveys, representing 92% of all
farmers completing FFS as part of the project. Results of pre