1

Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development
037/04VIE
Developing Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) systems for dragon
fruit producers and exporters in Binh Thuan and Tien Giang
provinces
Milestone 8

Southern Fruit Research Institute (SOFRI) staff competent in GAP
application and training

June 2007

Campbell J
The Horticulture and Food Research Institute of New Zealand Ltd
HortResearch Nelson Region
PO Box 220
Motueka 7143
NEW ZEALAND


THEIR AWARENESS AND UNDERSTANDING OF GAP AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR
APPLICATION BY SMALLHOLDERS
6
Attempts for involvement 6
Ongoing level of activity and understanding 6
3. STRATEGY FOR APPLICATION OF GAP TO OTHER DRAGON FRUIT
PRODUCERS OR OTHER FRUIT SECTORS DOCUMENTED AND TESTED
7
Pilot development, quality and sustainability 7
Pilot and project efficacy 8
Access to the pilot as an outreach tool 9
Delivery of the pilot model to other dragon fruit production areas 10
Benchmarking survey data 11
Manual development 11
End of project options 11
SOFRI company development 12
Vietnam quality initiative 13
4. FINAL DRAFT OF GAP/EUREPGAP MANUAL INCORPORATING FEEDBACK
FROM TRAINING PROGRAMMES AND LESSONS LEARNT IN APPLICATION 14
Manual preparation 14
Translation of the document 14
Distribution 14
Copyright issues 14
Current manual status and future development and availability 15
APPENDIX 1 16
Specific training documentation table from Milestone #7 16
APPENDIX 2 19
Dragon fruit project environment Error! Bookmark not defined.
APPENDIX 3 19
So Tay San Xuat Trai Cay Theo Tieu Chuan Gap publication 19 Figure 1. Non-compliant on-the-floor Figure 2. Compliant packing.
packing.

TRAINING PROGRAMME
The training provided by the project firstly concentrated on the those SOFRI staff with the
responsibility for implementing project initiatives and this was undertaken through strong
mentoring and some presentations by the project leader during his periodic visits to Vietnam
and intermittent communication and correspondence between visits. 4

The project leader also gave presentations to the wider SOFRI staff during his visits. It has
been extremely pleasing to note that the leadership provided at SOFRI by the director and
Project Champion Dr Nguyen Minh Chau has created an excellent environment for the
advancement of GAP quality capability in Vietnam horticulture, which has proved to be a
great base in which to manage and deliver this dragon fruit GAP project. It has been Dr Chau
who has drawn the project leader outside the specific terms of reference of the Collaboration
for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) project on many occasions, to ensure the
maximum benefit was gained from the project. Some of those extra activities include:
• Presentations to SOFRI staff based on the project leader’s experience in quality
systems (GAP)
• Project updates
• Formal presentation at the Can Tho International Agricultural Fair on GAP
• Introduction to Internal Auditing: presentation of training course for SOFRI staff
• Mentoring. Figure 3. Packer management training. Figure 4. First Aid certificates for trained staff.

5 Figure 5. Packer senior staff training. Figure 6. Packer/farmer linkage training.

Figure 7. Farmer training. CURRENT CAPABILITY
2. STAFF OF PPD AND EXTENSION STAFF IN BINH THUAN
EVALUATED AS TO THEIR AWARENESS AND UNDERSTANDING OF
GAP AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR APPLICATION BY
SMALLHOLDERS
A
TTEMPTS FOR INVOLVEMENT
At the commencement of project implementation, the team gave presentations to the senior
and field personnel of Binh Thuan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development
(DARD). The presentations included an overview of the dragon fruit project scope, the
proposed activities during the life of the project and an invitation for DARD staff to be
closely involved with project implementation. The project team highlighted the need for
DARD personnel to contribute strongly to the project in the areas of farmer selection using
local knowledge and to become proficient in GAP as being applied by the project to ensure
sustainability following project completion.

Channels of communication between SOFRI and DARD in Binh Thuan were set up by the
project team and prior to each visit to the province by the project leader a formal letter
requesting permission for the visit has been sent to Local Government. Through the visit
permission request letter, DARD personnel are warned of the project activities in advance.

ONGOING LEVEL OF ACTIVITY AND UNDERSTANDING
One person on the DARD staff was nominated as the liaison person between the project team
and DARD. The nominated person accompanied the project team on several occasions during
the benchmarking survey, farmer selection for project input and for some of the training
sessions.

However, it has been disappointing that DARD involvement to the level required by the
project’s customer-driven quality standards has not reached expectations. Private sector

Figure 8. High quality dragon fruit. 8
PILOT AND PROJECT EFFICACY
Indications that the dragon fruit pilot has responded to the project’s intensive training
programme to a level of achievement close to meeting the quality standards of British
Retailers Consortium (BRC) and EUREPGAP include:
• Product traceability, a major component of the quality system, from the farm through


9Figure 11. Farm location and planting Figure 12. Farm block identification.
maps.

ACCESS TO THE PILOT AS AN OUTREACH TOOL
The project, in its negotiations during the dragon fruit project pilot establishment, has ensured
that the commercial working pilot model will be available to be used as an extension tool
when developing GAP systems to the wider dragon fruit industry and for other crop quality
improvement. A memorandum of understanding between the pilot packer and the Project
Champion formalises this close association between the pilot and the project team.

It is intended that initially only the project team will be responsible for the outreach
programme and interaction with the pilot. However, as extensionists become proficient, they
too will have access to the pilot. Indeed, as more commercial units modelled on the pilot
become certified, it is expected the burden of the outreach programme on the initial pilot will
become less, especially when the initiative shifts to other regions/crops.
Project delivery was intended for both the Binh Thuan and Tien Giang Provinces. It was
important for the project to establish the pilot to demonstrate viability and a working quality
system model for replication. As the pilot nears the standard that will achieve Certification by
the selected Certifying Body, outreach activities are becoming more active. Networking
between the pilot and other dragon fruit farmers and packers has commenced, as have study
tours by small groups visiting the pilot from Tien Giang.

It has been a high priority for the project to prepare both the pilot and key personnel to a high
level, so that the effect of quality dilution during the replication process is minimised. It is
also believed by project personnel that industry control will be needed in the future, to avoid
the quality momentum being damaged by insincere operators.

Figure 17. Transfer of quality farmer Figure 18. New dragon fruit
practices to other farmers. development.
11

The quality systems being applied by the project to enable the pilot access to the high value
markets of Europe and the United Kingdom are at a higher level than the standards currently
being set under AsianGAP. Indeed the AsianGAP initiative is an excellent foundation from
which to develop into the BRC/EUREPGAP/Customer specific standards. The progression of
quality systems in Vietnam’s horticulture is seen to commence with AsianGAP, continue on
to the BRC/EUREPGAP standards and to be fine-tuned for specific customer needs/demands.
This quality system evolutionary process will increasingly improve the safe, legal and quality
horticultural products for local markets through to high value export markets. The Dragon
fruit Quality Manual provides the basis of each unit’s documented quality system for each
standard.

END OF PROJECT OPTIONS
It is expected that, at project completion, most areas of the project objectives will have been
completed, with many exceeding expectations. It is clear to the project leader that the dragon
fruit practical initiative that has been stimulated and supported by the project is at a
vulnerable stage and further appropriate/compatible support would ensure long-term
sustainability in the future.

Key personnel from the dragon fruit project, SOFRI, HortResearch, dragon fruit packers and
farmers developed an expression of interest for a new two-year project, which was presented

12
to Hassall and Associates International (HAI)/CARD on 22 May 2007 (Appendix 2). The
proposed scope for the new project is very ambitious and complex and would cover the
continuation of the current project initiative to ensure sustainability and delivery to the wider
dragon fruit areas and other crops. The proposed project would also address high value
market linkages, appropriate infrastructure development and the development of industry
specific/dependent/supported research, development and promotion.
key personnel. The project leader gave a dragon fruit project presentation to the delegation
and has frequently discussed the HortResearch model with Dr Chau during visits to Vietnam.

The SOFRI Company is seen by the project leader to be an important component in the future
Vietnamese quality-driven horticulture industry for its skills, services and problem solving
ability.
13
VIETNAM QUALITY INITIATIVE
As part of Vietnam’s drive to expand good agricultural practices in horticulture, the
Government directed SOFRI in mid 2006 to publish a 400-page GAP book with an intended
distribution of 1,000 copies. (A copy is included with this milestone report – printed only in
Vietnamese). The project leader was requested to contribute a chapter for the book based on a
case study of the CARD dragon fruit GAP project (Refer to the February 2007 project report,
Appendix 2. The English version of the contribution: A case study of the project: Developing
GAP systems for dragon fruit producers and exporters in Binh Thuan and Tien Giang
provinces – Viet Nam; authors John M Campbell & Nguyen Huu Hoang is contained in
Appendix 3 of this report).

As well as the inclusion of the chapter in the publication, extended use of material from the
dragon fruit manual was also made.


FEEDBACK FROM TRAINING PROGRAMMES AND LESSONS
LEARNT IN APPLICATION
M
ANUAL PREPARATION
As reported previously, the Dragon fruit Quality Manual (Appendix 4, cover page and index)
was prepared by the project. The 270-page English version has been written to provide the
documented quality system for the project’s pilot exporter, packer and farmers as required by
the project’s selected quality systems of BRC Global – Food and EUREPGAP. The manual
was due in the draft form by the end of March 2006 (Milestone #4) and final draft by July
2007 (Milestone #8). However, because the project has progressively developed the final and
working version of the manual for the pilot, the document has been submitted as a final
version and earlier than required.

Verification that the manual fulfils its intended purpose will be confirmed during the external
inspection and pilot certification process when conducted by the Certifying Body.

TRANSLATION OF THE DOCUMENT
Translation of the manual has been undertaken by the SOFRI project team and is almost
completed – the position descriptions of the packer section are all that remain to be done.

DISTRIBUTION
At the time of writing only a small number of manuals have been distributed. Those receiving
the manual include the project donor HAI, CARD, the project implementing agencies of
SOFRI and HortResearch, the pilot, another packer being developed and farmers (farmer
section only).

COPYRIGHT ISSUES
When developing the manual for the pilot, the project team wanted the manual to be a high
quality tool for training all stakeholders of the pilot as well as describing the documented
quality system. Some copyright issues arose following project management’s desire to include


16
APPENDIX 1
S
PECIFIC TRAINING DOCUMENTATION TABLE FROM MILESTONE #7
Stage Area Component Prerequisite Training Outcome
1 Project
management

 Project Leader  Knowledge
 Acceptance
 Management
 Delivery  Project exceeds expectations
 SOFRI Project
Team
 Responsiveness to change
training
 Ability to implement project
obligations
 Motivation to pass on knowledge
gained
 From project leader via
mentoring, presentations, team
interactions, etc.
 Learning from training delivery
feedback
 Networking
 Study Tour: to New Zealand
 Formal courses: e.g. NZOQ
Internal Auditor Course

2 Project
delivery
 Benchmarking
survey
 Project team with the necessary
understanding and skills
 Test sample
 Training of young scientists
 Conducting the survey
 Learning through listening and
observing
 Documentation of the GAP status of small-holder
farms in relation to the EUREPGAP Standard
 Selection of farmers with project delivery potential
 Increased GAP understanding and capability of
SOFRI and DARD staff
 Identification of a suitable packer/exporter for project
GAP intervention
 Small-holder
GAP project
intervention
 Competent project team and
trainers with the necessary
understanding and skills
 Willingness to learn GAP
 GAP benefits extolled during
the benchmarking survey
 Farmer group training through
discussions, Microsoft® Office
 An increase in GAP understanding by small-holder

GAP intervention as they increasingly become
committed
 Small-holder farmers are ready to flock to the GAP
production of dragon fruit following proof of viability
as demonstrated by the project pilot
 Infrastructure
development
Prerequisites for a dynamic quality
driven dragon fruit industry include:
 Certified laboratory services for
soil, leaf, water analysis
 Safe use of agrichemicals
 First Aid certification
 Internal auditing.
 Trainer of approved trainers
 Certifying bodies
 Standards development
 Problem solving, R & D
Promotion, etc.
 Documentation of areas to be
addressed
 Mentoring
 Study Tour observations of
working systems
Although outside the scope of the project document, this
area has been encouraged by the project leader. Dr Chau’s
quality systems skills and understanding and position of
authority and respect have led to significant development
in this area.


education/negotiation process
 Define the existing processes
and train for changes necessary
 Pilot packer/exporter selected and agreement to
cooperate with the project
 Mutual respect between pilot and project team;
particularly with the packer
 Full cooperation by farmers with project team
 Implementation of systems and advise delivery
 Documented quality system developed – “Dragon
fruit Quality Manual” in English and Vietnamese
written and presented to pilot
 Specific achievements in implementing the dragon
fruit quality manual e.g. Product traceability, quality
18
Stage Area Component Prerequisite Training Outcome
 Establishment of a documented
quality system
 A code of honesty, transparency
and understanding
 A willingness to take the lead in
the quality development of the
pilot and to fulfil the system
responsibilities to the “supplier”
(small-holder)
 Allow the project to have access
to all the data generated by the

Value Markets
 That the pilot has attained
compliance with the BRC and
EUREPGAP Standards and
operates at that level at all times
 Train all pilot personnel to
understand the processes, to
keep those processes under
control at all times and have the
ability to constantly improve
them
 Train to be customer driven
 Attain and maintain preferred
supplier status with the
customer and to work together
to resolve any issues jointly
 BRC Global – Food Standards Certification at the
packhouse: maintained
 EUREPGAP Standards Certification for all supplying
farms: maintained
 Consistently high returns for product being exported
 Access to top end markets through providing product
that is safe, legal, of the quality and presentation
demanded by the customer
 Good communication between customer, exporter,
packer and farmer
4 Compliance
 External Audit  Compliance of the pilot
confirmed by internal audit
 Internal Auditor trained to the

exporters in Binh Thuan and Tien Giang provinces – Viet Nam.

John M Campbell
& Nguyen Huu Hoang
December 2006
********************************
Introduction
Dragon fruit is an important and expanding crop for many small farm holders and their
families in Vietnam’s rural economy. Market returns for dragon fruit in Asian markets has
declined by about 60% since 2000 because of oversupply, and exports to high value western
markets are seriously constrained because Vietnam’s production does not comply with their
regulatory and food safety requirements. European supermarkets have recently implemented
their Euro-Retailer Produce Working Group; Good Agricultural Practice (EUREGAP)
certification programme, a standard that embodies food safety, environmental and ethical
principles throughout the production system. The Vietnamese fruit sector is increasingly
aware of both the domestic and export demand for ‘safe fruit’ but local definitions of ‘safe
fruit’ fall significantly short of market expectations required in certified programmes such as
EUREPGAP. Moreover, in the absence of a successful implementation model, there is little
appreciation of what is required to progress the fruit sector towards internationally recognised
standards of food safety and Good Agricultural Practice.
This paper discusses the AusAID, Collaboration for Agriculture and Rural Development
(CARD) programme project: “Developing GAP systems for dragon fruit producers and
exporters in Binh Thuan and Tien Giang provinces of Viet Nam” as a case study. The
project, administered by Hassall and Associates International (HAI) is being implemented
jointly by HortResearch of New Zealand and the Southern Fruit Research Institute (SOFRI)
of My Tho, Tien Giang, Vietnam. 20


survey, and based on collected data, appropriate farmers were identified for subsequent
project input.
Initial and significant project effort was applied to train those identified farmers in good
agricultural practice improvement. However, as the project is the first attempt to bring good
agricultural practices and market driven quality systems to the Vietnam horticulture industry,
there is no knowledge of the viability of producing dragon fruit using those quality systems
for accessing the high value markets of Europe. This and the provision of the resources
needed to implement good agricultural practice changes has discouraged farmers from
committing themselves to project improvement initiatives. After an initial period of
enthusiasm, farmers soon lost interest in committing to quality improvement for their farm.
It was originally the project directive to improve the lot of the poor and small farmer.
However, these farmers have very limited or no resources to make the necessary changes to
lift their operations to the level required by the high value market standards. Many small/poor
farmers totally rely on early fruit payments and fruit harvesting services of the collector and
have no capability for improvement.
The project recognised the need firstly to demonstrate the viability of the quality path for
dragon fruit production, and so accelerated the establishment of a ‘pilot’, which consists of

21

farmers and a packer/exporter to implement quality improvement. It is anticipated that as soon
as the ‘pilot’ meets the requirements of the selected quality standards, is Certificated and has
an indication that the costs of compliance and product value from high value markets are
economically viable, there will be no problem selecting and retaining the poor/small farmers.
This will be especially true if economical development and seasonal financial help are made
available from financial institutions.
It must be stated that the pilot is the nucleus of a demonstration unit and no farmer wishing to
join the pilot will be refused entry. As the pilot expands, the project will encourage the
establishment of new units of the model both in Binh Thuan and Tien Giang provinces.
The original selection of ‘pilot’ participants was based on the following criteria:

• Neighbouring countries

22

• Supermarket chains that deal in volume but lower price - national.
Local markets
• All other fruit
• Processing?
Project emphasis for the pilot is to produce high quality fruit and pack that fruit in the BRC
compliant packhouse for the high value markets only. Fruit packaging will be to the
customer’s requirements and will possibly involve blister pack, retail display trays, bulk
packs, etc. direct to the customer and not be exposed to any rework in the country of
destination.
It needs to be strongly noted that the project emphasis is to access high value markets
continually to generate higher incomes for poor/small farmers. The ability to access these
high value markets to generate maximum returns for the farmers relies on three very
important major components:
1. Dragon fruit being exported to these markets meets the customers’ standards for
safety, legality and of the appropriate quality in all aspects
2. The processes from the farm through the packer and exporter to the customer are
undertaken by business operations that are dedicated to producing and delivering
product to the customer that meets or exceeds the customers’ expectations.
3. That the business operations of the farmer, packer, and exporter are viable and
sustainable.
To address each of the three components consistently, stakeholders need to cooperate and
work with a common goal to:
• Maintain certification and operate in confirmed conformity with all the standards at all
times
• Only target the high end of the market. Because dragon fruit is a short shelf life
product and must be exported by airfreight, there is a high inherent cost for each unit

10. Train personnel in their selected positions and responsibilities so they ‘understand’
their role to maintain conformity with the standards and have the capacity to undertake
other duties in cases of absenteeism in associated positions
11. Operate with the processes in conformity under operational conditions
12. Check the processes are operating in conformity by internally auditing individual parts
or all of the process
13. Confirm conformity through full internal auditing
14. Arrange for an approved Certifying Body to undertake an external audit for the
process against the selected standards and Certificate the process.
Choice of quality system standards
EUREPGAP at the farmer level and BRC at the packer level were chosen for project
implementation as both are very similar and compatible standards and are the minimum
requirements for market access to the high value markets of Europe.
Management of the quality systems of the project pilot has been embedded in the packhouse
under the control of the Quality Manager. There are many advantages from having the quality
system managed by the packhouse. They include:
• The packer is market driven and can provide the vision, leadership and motivation to
develop and maintain the full quality system so that it conforms with the standards at
all times
• The packer can provide coordination of the quality systems from the field to the
customer

24

• The packhouse requires a strong quality management system to meet the standards and
these include many on-farm functions
• The packhouse quality manager can assist farmers’ quality obligations in areas where
they are deficient
• Distribution of technical information to the farmers is possible in an accurate and
systematic way so all farmers are coordinated in their management and quality

• Documentation generic samples
• Linkages to sites of information, requirements, etc.
• Dragon fruit register.
The dragon fruit quality manual is appropriate as part of a robust quality system. In total it
appears complex, but by addressing each component of the standard/manual separately it can
be easy to implement the quality system.

25

The manual developed by the project is the final copy. However, it must be appreciated that
the manual is a living document and will continually undergo change in the project pilot as
part of the continuous improvement processes being implemented, or when being adapted to
other dragon fruit operations, and when being applied to other horticultural crops.
The project developed dragon fruit quality manual has been prepared in a way so that it can be
applied to other farms and packhouses, whether for dragon fruit or other fruit crops. There is
no doubt that a motivated packer or farmer could acquire the manual and implement the
quality system to the standards required without assistance. However, it is recommended that
the experience of the project-trained personnel be sought.
There is a drive in the South East Asia Region to implement standards for horticulture
production, for example AseanGAP. The requirements of the AseanGAP Standards, while not
as comprehensive as the BRC and EUREPGAP Standards, are comparable/compatible in
many areas. For this reason it is possible to lift the relevant sections in the dragon fruit quality
manual for use in the application of the AseanGAP Standard. The advantages of doing this are
to standardise the quality systems being applied, to provide an excellent introduction into high
quality horticultural production and form a strong quality system platform for those wishing
subsequently to raise their standards to the higher level.
Physical preparation
Once the quality standards are accepted and the manual (the blueprint/plan for the process)
prepared, the physical improvement of the process needs to be implemented so that the
process operates as described in the manual and so that each segment of the process meets or