Vietnam - Achievements

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2. Country Strategy
3. Priorities
4. Key Program Managers
5. Current Projects
6. Concluded Projects
7. Achievements
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13. AusAid and Other Briefs
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Achievements

Key indicators and performance for 2008-09

Indicator: New linkages developed between ACIAR and programs of AusAID and other donors and NGOs in north-western and central coastal Vietnam

Performance: In the south-central coast program collaboration has been established between ACIAR, the AusAID Capacity building for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) program and the Asian Development Bank ‘Markets for the poor’ project, with funding also involving the Department for International Development (DFID)-UK and AusAID. In the north-western highlands collaboration with the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) and the development-oriented agricultural research centre CIRAD is commencing.

Indicator: A major new program designed and initiated using Australian technical expertise on soil and water management for south-central coastal regions

Performance: A $2.7 million, 4-year program on sustainable and profitable crop and livestock systems for south-central coastal Vietnam commenced.

Indicator: Methods for culture of higher value mariculture species developed and communicated to industry stakeholders

Performance: With ongoing ACIAR support, the Asia–Pacific Marine Finfish Aquaculture Network has helped extend hatchery technology for marine finfish. A new project has been approved to develop formulated diets to replace low-value fish with high-value marine species. Technology for mollusc hatchery production has been transferred to Vietnamese collaborators.

Indicator: A new program initiated that targets production of high-value products from acacia and eucalypt plantations

Performance: Site management and silvicultural systems to optimise the production of Acacia sawlogs suitable for the production of furniture and other high-value products are being developed. A new component project targeting the production of high-quality peeled and sliced veneers from Vietnam’s extensive acacia and eucalypt plantations is in development.

Indicator: A program developed through consultations on technical needs for improving agricultural livelihoods in north-western mountainous provinces

Performance: Formal Vietnam Government consultation workshops agreed the content of a program, and the first major project activity, ‘Improved market engagement for sustainable upland production systems’, has been designed and implemented. A second project in the program, focused on improved livestock systems, is currently under design.

Achievements from the 2008-09 Annual Report

Subprogram 1: Securing market competitiveness of Vietnamese agricultural, fisheries and forestry products through agribusiness and biosecurity

Diseases cause large losses to crops across the central provinces of Vietnam. Plant disease diagnostic laboratories have been established at each of the Plant Protection Sub-departments (PPSDs) in Nghe An, Quang Nam and Thua Thien-Hue provinces, and at the School of Agriculture and Forestry at Hue University, serving approximately 1.5 million farmers. Co-funding enabled establishment of greenhouses at Quang Nam and Nghe An PPSDs. Seven team members from the provincial sub-departments have received training in laboratory and field diagnostics and the design and management of field trials and data analysis. Trainees are now able to independently diagnose common root, stem and foliar fungal and bacterial pathogens; design, implement and analyse field trials; develop IDM strategies; and teach IDM and best-practice fungicide use to district and commune staff and farmer groups. Furthermore, they can now consult with Australian counterparts on diagnoses via the internet in English with digital images.

Studies on huanglongbing (citrus greening) and the vector that transmits this disease (the Asiatic citrus psyllid Diaphorina citri) continued in Vietnam and Indonesia. As in previous years, populations of D. citri and the incidence of huanglongbing remained low in an 0.5-ha guava-interplanted king orange orchard in which mineral oils, pesticides and other management strategies are being compared for control of the psyllid in southern Vietnam. The orchard, at Cai Be in Tien Giang, was planted in 2004. Differences among treatments remained undetectable and no psyllids were observed. Other studies and observations in the Mekong Delta, and research in Indonesia and China, continued to indicate that low incidence of the psyllid and the disease is due to the impact on psyllid behaviour of volatile compounds released by the guava trees.

In Vietnam demand for pork is increasing rapidly. Successful commercial smallholder pig farming may help to meet demand while alleviating some of the country’s widespread rural poverty. A project is identifying options for technology, policy and forms of market institution or coordination that will give smallholder pig producers in Vietnam better access to higher value market chains and thus lead to higher incomes. Findings from the project so far are relevant to Vietnam’s long-term strategy for the development of its livestock industries, and Vietnamese Government officials involved in the formulation of this strategy have shown interest in project results.

Subprogram 2: Development of high-value aquaculture industries

Molecular genetic methodologies are integral to the study of wild fish populations and are  invaluable in aquaculture, helping to maintain high levels of productivity and long-term sustainability in culture lines. Senior scientists at Vietnam's Research Institute for Aquaculture No. 3 (RIA3) have identified building a strong capacity in applied genetics as a major goal, and recognise that any development in this area must be sustained for the future. A project provided training, capacity building and experience in small model projects on local fish species of importance for RIA3 scientists destined to be part of the new applied genetics research group. The scientists also learnt how to develop basic learning modules that could be incorporated into advanced undergraduate/postgraduate units for the University of Fisheries at Nha Trang.

Smallholder shrimp farming has been important for rural development for three decades in South-East Asia. More recently, disease issues and oversupply of global markets have meant that shrimp farming no longer represents a viable livelihood for many smallholders. Many ponds have been abandoned (up to 70% in some countries/regions) and farmers are eager to find alternative species to farm that present a lower risk than shrimp. Sandfish (sea cucumber Holothuria scabra) has many traits that could make it an ideal species to replace shrimp for smallholders. It is a low-food-chain species that grows well feeding only on organic matter in the enriched sediments of shrimp ponds.

Research in Vietnam has developed hatchery and juvenile production techniques capable of operating at an appropriate technology level to replace shrimp farming. Now an ACIAR-funded study has greatly furthered the knowledge about required water management in ponds. Early trials of pond farming were marred by high mortality rates associated with an influx of fresh water during tropical wet seasons. Farming sandfish in ponds now appears a reality for Khanh Hoa farmers (north of Nha Trang) due to the effective water management systems developed.

Within its portfolio of aquaculture research in Vietnam, ACIAR has funded a project to develop low-cost diets for catfish and tilapia, another for mud crabs, and a third focused on sustainable tropical spiny lobster aquaculture. A project is revisiting this work, with the overarching objective of examining the policy, institutional and economic constraints to the adoption of the low-cost formulated diets developed in these technical projects. The first activity is value chain analysis, where prices, costs and margins at each stage of the value chain are being analysed to indicate where the policy or institutional environment may be creating distortions. Initial value chains for the three fish species of focus (lobster, mud crab and tilapia) have been drafted. A second activity is whole-of-household economic modelling, which will help to assess the cost-effectiveness of potential pelleted diets formulated in the ACIAR-funded technical projects compared with current diets, and to analyse the economic impacts of potential policy and institutional constraints on adoption of these diets.

Subprogram 3: Towards higher value plantation forestry products

Vietnam has a rapidly expanding plantation estate of acacias. Community/smallholder farmers account for a substantial part of that estate, and solid wood from acacias offers them an opportunity to generate a high income. However, success depends on the quality of silvicultural systems adopted. A project seeks to quantify the role of pruning and thinning in community forests to optimise tree size and log distribution, to examine the roles of site and soil management in the sustainable production of community forests grown for sawlog and pulpwood production, and to relate potential productivity of Acacia auriculiformis and Acacia hybrids to site parameters in resource-limited environments in Vietnam. It is developing tools that will assist farmers to manage plantations already in the ground, thus helping them to produce high-value sawlogs rather than lower value pulpwood. In early work, trials are being established to quantify the roles of fertiliser use, pruning and thinning to optimise tree size, log distribution and economic returns from plantations managed for sawn timber.

Subprogram 4: Optimising water and soil management for profitable and sustainable production in south-central Vietnam

Vietnam is the second largest coffee producer in the world, and approximately 40% of national coffee output originates from Dak Lak province. In recent years coffee production in Dak Lak has been significantly constrained by dry-season water shortages, and the sustainability of smallholder coffee production in the region has been questioned. Increasing irrigation water-use efficiency on coffee smallholdings in Dak Lak would generate sizable social welfare increases to inhabitants. A study found that coffee smallholders were inefficient irrigators, applying more than twice the amount of water required to maximise coffee yields. By adopting a technically efficient irrigation schedule, water input could be reduced from the current average application of around 1,050 L to 550 L per tree per irrigation. Achieving this water input would increase production by around 0.5–5.0 t/ha, and achieve an average 10% reduction in variable irrigation costs.

World Vision Vietnam has implemented projects for the poor in Dong Giang district (Quang Nam province, central Vietnam) to improve their living standards through activities such as health services, education and livestock development. An ACIAR-funded initiative is contributing to the World Vision Vietnam Area Development Plan by improving the capacity of its staff and community leaders to administer and manage projects. It is anticipated that improved cattle production and increased income from livestock for participating households will be achieved within the project period, with wider scale benefits in the longer term. In cooperation with the local District Agriculture Extension Station and Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry, the project has helped to improve project planning and management for the local hamlet facilitator’s network. A 3-day training course on credit loan management has also been conducted for commune accountant and commune members. Currently, each project commune has a recycle credit loan scheme for cow raising. Monitoring results showed that, after the training, 8 of the 10 communes managed their loans better. More than 60 commune and hamlet cadres and about 300 farmers with basic knowledge of cow raising also received more advanced training, and the farmers received three different leaflets specially written for them.

A promising approach to improving agricultural development in the coastal provinces of central Vietnam is to expand cashew nut production using small-scale farm dams to capture wet-season run-off, and irrigation technologies that are economically and socially appropriate. There is also potential to improve soil fertility and integrate nut production with forage production using groundcover species such as Arachis pintoi. A project is seeking to improve smallholders' incomes by increasing the profitability of cashew nut production. The project is demonstrating the potential for developing and using small-scale on-farm water storages, evaluating the use of waste materials as soil amendments for improving water and nutrient-use efficiency, and promoting strategies that will enhance adoption of management strategies that enable high irrigation efficiency and long-term soil fertility improvement. Achievements during the second year of this project include: establishment of cashew and mango irrigation field experiments and demonstration trials in Binh Dinh and Ninh Thuan provinces; establishment of biochar field experiments with groundnut and cashew in Binh Dinh province; completion of a soil nutrient management workshop and intensive small-group technical sessions for the Vietnamese team; and a Binh Dinh cashew farmer field day held by the Vietnamese partners.

In Ninh Thuan a table grape field trial was established to demonstrate how irrigation scheduling using mini-evaporation-pans and drip irrigation could improve water and nutrient-use efficiency and reduce nutrient leaching. Irrigation using the mini-evaporation-pan reduced irrigation inputs by more than 30% without any apparent consequences for grape yield or quality. Widespread farmer adoption of these simple, inexpensive irrigation strategies could reduce nutrient leaching at the catchment scale, ultimately delivering environmental and community health benefits by improving the quality of groundwater used for drinking, livestock and irrigation.

Subprogram 5: Developing market opportunities for communities in the northern and north-western highlands of Vietnam

The north-western provinces of Vietnam are characterised by upland agricultural systems, relatively high levels of poverty and high levels of ethnic diversity. Although many large donor organisations are focusing on these poorer provinces with community-based development projects, only limited research results suited to the region’s agroecological and socioeconomic conditions are available so far to help farmers improve their farming practices. An ACIAR-funded study conducted a general profiling of agricultural research and development priorities and activities in all six provinces of the north-western part of Vietnam (Lai Chau, Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Dien Bien, Son La and Hoa Binh), and collected detailed information on agricultural R&D needs and opportunities at provincial, district, commune and village levels only in Lai Chau, Lao Cai and Yen Bai provinces.

The study found that the main constraint faced in livestock management was the lack of available feed of adequate quality and in sufficient quantity, particularly during the winter season, causing poor animal health and even death under severe climatic conditions. Veterinary services were limited outside the district capitals. Crop management is based mainly on traditional practices, and farmers have limited access to agricultural inputs, technologies and information due to remoteness and communication barriers. Specifically, farmers and local officers expressed the need for locally adapted varieties of both seasonal food crops and perennial cash crops such as tea and fruit, suitable crop and pest management practices tailored to agroecological and socioeconomic conditions, and postharvest technologies to add value to the produce for marketing purposes.

Vietnamese sources have identified non-astringent persimmon as a new commercial crop. A project is enhancing the productivity, yield and fruit quality of persimmon in Vietnam by changing from the traditional astringent varieties to new non-astringent varieties that can be grown using low-cost, best orchard management practices. To enable new technologies for growing persimmons to reach Vietnamese farmers, four demonstration orchards have been set up on selected farmers’ properties and two research stations. The project team has carried out top-working of traditional astringent persimmon trees by grafting in new non-astringent varieties, which can be eaten when hard and will carry to market while still firm. Bud wood of Fuyu and Jiro varieties was collected in July and September 2008 from high-quality sources in Australia, and prepared and exported to Vietnam.

There is increasing demand for indigenous vegetables in Vietnam and for women to play a significant role in their production. Increasing demand also exists within Australia for products within the Asian vegetable range. A project seeks to improve farm income in rural areas of Vietnam by increasing the skills of women in the safe production, promotion and use of indigenous vegetables. The project has commenced in three communes in Tan Son district, Phu Tho province. In line with the participatory focus of the project, commune teams have formed and selected indigenous vegetables to focus on in each commune. Workshops were held to increase the understanding of participatory approaches among local officers, extension workers and Women’s Union staff.

The project is also analysing and quantifying existing and potential market opportunities, assessing factors that may improve the competitiveness of those vegetables in the marketplace and developing supply chains that will continue to support the development of community-based indigenous vegetable production. The Centre for Agrarian Systems Research and Development, whose central tenet is to make markets work better for the poor, has undertaken research to establish economic benchmarks and market potential for development of selected indigenous vegetables in the three communes.

Other projects

Protein is frequently the main constraint for the improvement of pig performance in South-East Asia. Because of this most Asian pig production countries have high dependence on importation of various protein meals. The long-term viability of such pig industries is dependent on the ability of these countries in the future to access cheaper local sources of non-conventional feeds. Rubber seeds are a substantial by-product of rubber production that currently have little use in animal feeding because, despite having a reasonable level of protein content, they also have an anti-nutritive component. A project is attempting to make the rubber seeds more digestible for pigs by processing them to remove cyanide. A digestibility experiment conducted at the Institute of Agricultural Sciences of Southern Vietnam evaluated the digestible energy and amino acid value of diets composed of various treated rubber seed meals (RSMs). The results indicate that the treatment protocol has successfully improved the feeding value of rubber seed in pig diets when compared to the normal commercially available RSM.

Preliminary research funded by ACIAR and AusAID has verified in field trials near Hanoi that the plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria effect can reliably increase the average yield of rice by 10–20%. A biofertiliser product, now registered as BioGro, has been developed. A project seeks to understand the function of the biofertiliser, while at the same time promoting its wider adoption in Vietnam and possible commercialisation. Field experiments, mainly in Vietnam, have led to greater understanding about when and how to inoculate with BioGro to obtain maximum benefits for farmers. In particular, the project extended experimentation with the biofertiliser to the Mekong region in southern Vietnam, a major rice-growing area. The field experiments demonstrated the reality of the biofertiliser principle that chemical fertiliser applications can be halved while obtaining yields similar to those with normal farmer fertiliser application rates. Much of the benefit appears to flow from the reduced use of urea and associated cost savings.