Collaboration for Agriculture and Rural Development
(CARD)
Program
196
MACADAMIA
–
A PROMISING START TO A NEW HIGH VALUE
AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY FOR VIETNAM
Project title:
CARD
037/05VIE
-
Establish nurseries and training
to effectively propagate
high quality
trees and trial plantation models of Macadamia in 3 provinces of North Vietnam
Code of the project
: CARD 037/05 VIE
Authors:
Prof. Hoang Hoe
1
, Martin Novak
2
and Kim Wilson
2
Project Implementing organisations:
1
Center for Environment, Tourism and Development, Vietnam
2
Subtropical Farm Forestry Association, Australia
1.

work and collaboration of all of those
involved, including the enthusiastic farmers,
the agenc
y partners, the CARD program team,
and also the private enterprises.
The project, spanning 5 years has helped to
bring all the stakeholders together to work
toward a sustainable high value macadamia
industry for Vietnam. Beneficiaries have
included farmers
, nursery and farm staff and
workers, technicians, extension staff, state and
private companies, government agencies, other
businesses and households.
The activities of the project have gained
support from the Provincial governments and
People’s Committees
of 5 provinces of
Vietnam including Hanoi, Hoa Binh, Lang
S
on, Ba
V
i, and Dak
L
ak.
5 Macadamia training workshops have been
held in these 5 provinces. There has also been
training and new technology presented to field
staff in all of the relevant agencies
in these

least 17 best bet Varieties.

Delivery samples of nursery
equipment, including grafting planes,
tape, wounds dressing, propagation and
potting mix, and potting bags.

Establishment of 2 new demonstration
nursery based on
Australian nursery
practice. Encouraging investment from
the private sector and by ensure
adequate supply of quality grafting
stock of suitable varieties.

Preparation and delivery of nursery
business plans, records and monitoring
systems.
The project has
facilitated the trial of 14
varieties of macadamia in 4 different provinces
including Ba
V
i, Hoa Binh, Dak
L
ak and Lang
S
on.
This has involved the design and planting
of 4 trial plots in these provinces.

2.
Research contents and methods
The project focused on 3 aspects of research;
firstly macadamia variety selection trials,
secondly nursery production options of quality
macadamia trees and thirdly a developmental
strategy for a new macadami
a industry for
Vietnam.
2.1
Established 3 variety trials and
reviewed existing trials of Forest
Science Institute (FSI) and Central
Highland Agriculture Forestry
Science & Technology Institute
(WASI)
14 macadamia varieties have been selected for
the proje
cts 3 variety trials. These include 10
best bet varieties from Australia and 4 from
China. They include 264, 344, 741, 849, 816,
842, 814, A4, A38, A16, based on variety trials
from Australia. Guy Yan1, 695, 788, OC were
selected from China.
The trials si
tes were initially established in 3
provinces including Ba Vi, Hoa Binh and Lang
Son in the subtropical northern parts of
Vietnam in 2007 and 2008. In 2009 an
additional 2 have been established in

varieties originating from China (H2, 508, OC,
814, 344), 6 varieties originating from
Thailand (H2, 508, 246, 344, 741, 660), 8
varieties derived from Australian and has
grown at the Institute on an area of
1.5 ha, the
density is 400 trees/ha to conduct research.
The selection criteria include; the yield, nut
quality and the ability to grow.
2.2
Nursery options for quantity and
quality production of macadamia
trees
The capacity of existing nurseries in term
s of
quantity and quality has increased, over the 5
years of the project, producing
over 330,000
seedlings (2008
-
30,000 trees) and 10,000
grafted trees of 10
–
17 varieties. Nursery
production data has been progressively
collected and a spreadsheet analysis
model has
been prepared and updated for nursery data
and financial returns.
The principal 3 commercial nurseries have

macadamia industry for Vietnam
This project has worked towards the formation
of
a Macadamia Association of Vietnam,
which will play a key role in managing
developmental issues particularly in helping to
balance the interests of the industry and all its
stakeholders.
An interim committee involving government
and private sector stake
holders, has been
formed in Dak Lak and a Constitution is being
drafted based on the AMS.
3.
Research results and discussions
3.1
Established 3 variety trials and
reviewed existing trials of Forest
Science Institute FSI and WASI
Trials will need to be
6
-
7 years old before data
can be analysis to provide early indication of
the performance of varieties based on kernel,
the key criteria.

Van Linh Station
–
variety trial

40% trees look not so good, there are
some trees have a few early fruit (3
years
-
old) fruit mostly size big.

Ba vi Station
–
variety trial
Density
–
7m x 4m, 14 varieties, 10 trees /
variety (8
monitored), Replicated 4 times.
Trees required, 14 varieties x 10 x 4 = 560,
Buffer trees = 102, Total 662 trees.
Total area = 1.85 ha.
CARD 037/05 VIE
–
Development of Macadamia
199

Progress as at October 2008: .
85 Ha. Planted January 2007, 4m x
2.5m = 1000 trees / Ha, 825 trees fully
planted. Rec
orded trial layout &
varieties, Recording costs.

Progress at January 14,2010

Trial plot 3
:
Jan 2008 they planted 2
Ha ( 660 trees) in Bavi, look about
50% trees good H=2
-
2,5 M, green
leaves.

Progress at March 2010:
Plot 2
: 1 ha planted 2007 & flow
ering.
Plot 3
: 600 trees planted 2008 half do
not look healthy at this time. 2009 crop
400 trees produced 250 kg NIH 119
NIS used for seed nut. Flowering time
was in April. 695 had lots flowers.
Overall not much nut set due to lacked
of water & nutrition
. Collecting data on
nut yield, measure flowering and fruit.
7 trees died in trial plot 3. Fertiliser 1kg
NPK x 2 pa will do not yet done Plus 5
-
10 kg organic manure.

Progress at July 2010:
There are some early fruit on the trees

.
Village
:
Ka Mang
,
Commune
:
Deliza
District
:
Krongnoang Province
:
Dak
L
ak.
Total area 1.3ha including trial plot buffer
trees fully fenced. Transplanted from Yen
Thuy Nov 2009 360 grafted trees most
tagged.

FSI
-
variety trials
Research indicates that a nu
mber of
varieties are performing well in Vietnam.
The key findings are included in the full
report as follows:
-
In Dong Hoi (Quang Binh) varieties,

There are differences in the blooming
time, so it is necessary to grow the
varieties with same blooming time
together. This makes
it easier for trees
of different varieties to inter
-
pollinate
Hoang Hoe, Martin Novak & Kim Wilson
200
and increase bearing fruits rate. For a
high
-
productive garden we should grow
trees of different varieties together:
(900, 856, 842, 246, 344); (800, 788,
816, H2); (NG8, 800, 856, OC,
Daddow,
816); (741, OC, Daddow,
816, 849).

WASI
–
variety trials
Findings include the following:
-
Macadamia imported from China after
6 years have been growing well. All the
varieties can produce flowers and
fruits. Percentage of flowering plant of

WASI
NERFSE
Lang son
(March 2008)*
Long
Phuong
(Yen Thuy)
Khan
Khina
(Ba vi)
Vina
-
maca
(Dak lak)
Area
(Sqm)
500
250
2500
1000
2000
15000
No of Seedlings
2000
300
3700
5000
80,000
220,000
No of Grafted trees

Cost of tree
20,000
30,000
25,000
Price of tree
40,000
42,000
35,000
50,000
35
-
40,000
*
Note:
NERFSE has stopped nursery production and purchases seed and trees
from China most of
which are sold to farmers in central highlands.
Long Phuong Company is responsible for the
establishment of the new demonstration
nursery at Yen Thuy. It now found joint
venture partners and established Vinamaca
Co., which has set up m
uch larger nurseries in
Daklak totalling approximately 250,000
seedlings, and 3000 grafted trees this year to
date. Ba vi nursery has also expanded
production significantly from 7000 seedlings
and 1000 grafted trees in 2008 with a success
rate of 65% to 8
0,000 seedlings and 15,000

201
research and help coordinate research
bodies and activities.

Develop strategies to overcome cash
flow issues for farmers.

Develop a macadamia tree database.

Membership
fee structure needs to be
set and other financial support needs
to be identified to assist the industry.

The association needs to represent all
stakeholders of the industry,
government and private and both will
need to support this development. It
is envis
aged that MARD will be the
key supporting government agency.

The association needs to develop
guidelines for nursery accreditation
such as that of the South African
model rather than the long
-
term
accreditation of varieties.


nurseries and plantations. In
addition to all this
the country now has a large commercial
processing plant near Ho Chi Minh city and
another planned for Thai
Binh
in the north of
the country.
It is too early to provide recommendations
with regard to suitable macadamia varieties for
V
ietnam. It takes 6 to 7 years before
meaningful data is available and 15 to 20 years
before varieties can be fully assessed as to
sustainable production of good quality kernel.
Certification of varieties cannot be made until
the research has run its course
. It needs to be
noted that varieties are not certified anywhere
else in the world. Certification of nurseries is
underway in South Africa and under
consideration in Australia. This is something
that MARD and the Macadamia Association
need to consider very
carefully. However, the
varieties chosen for the 3 project trials are
considered by the project team to have shown
promise at this stage. They include 842, 741,
246, 814, 816, 849, 344, A4, A16 and A38
from Australian and QN 1, 695, 788 and O.C

REFERENCE
CARD Project Milestone Reports 3, 6, 11, 12 & 13
reports &
attachments.
http://www.card.com.vn
Macadamia :
-
Macadamia and potential of planting in
Hoang Hoe, Martin Novak & Kim Wilson
202
North of Vietnam
( by Nguyen Cong Tan
-
Agricultural Publishing House 2005)
-
Growing Macadamia in Australia.
Agricultural P
ublishing House 2003
-
Le
Dinh Kha interpreted
-
Macadamia Grower’s Handbook
(
Giáo trình
ngư
ờ
i tr
ồ
ng Măc ca)

Horticultural Research and
Development Corporation,
Australia.
http://www.macadamias.org
Supattra Supamatee, et al
1992
Early performance
of Australian and Hawaiian Macadamia Cultivars
in Thailand
Department of
Agriculture, Bangkok,
P. Allan,
2001 Macadamia Cultivar Evaluation at
Pietermaritzburg and Identification in South Africa
Horticultural Science, University of Natal, South
Africa,
[email protected]