The Central Vietnamese provinces of Quang Nam, Quang Tri, Hue and Nghe An grow a variety of crops, including coffee, pepper, watermelon, sugar, citrus and durian. Yields of these and other crops are falling due to diseases that are largely associated with soilborne fungal agents. The agro-climate of the central region is conducive to the spread of fungal diseases, with effective control dependent on diagnosis. But fungal diseases are particularly difficult to accurately diagnose without laboratory support, and the central provinces lacked laboratories with diagnostic capabilities.
Previous research supported by ACIAR significantly built diagnostic and laboratory capacity in Hanoi. But scientific and farmer control options were still limited in the central provinces. With coffee, black pepper, watermelon and pineapple all export crops, and the first two of increasing value, there was a need to protect against further yield declines from fungal diseases by enhancing diagnostic capacity. This project assisted in extending diagnostic capabilities and facilities to the provincial level.
The overall objective was to improve farm incomes in the central provinces of Vietnam by reducing yield loss from fungal diseases. This goal would be achieved through:
developing the capacity at provincial level to diagnose fungal diseases
extending information on these diseases through participatory farmer training
developing control measures in collaboration with farmers.
The project team developed the capacity of provincial plant protection staff to diagnose fungal diseases and test fungi for pathogenicity, through both formal training and in-project continuous learning. The team established three basic diagnostic laboratories in Quang Nam, Hue and Nghe An, including purchase and installation of equipment. Team members conducted limited disease surveys to identify the fungi causing the diseases and to assess disease severity.
The work schedule included planning and implementing systematic surveys, collecting samples, isolating and identifying potential pathogens and storing cultures. Identifications were verified in Hanoi or Australia as appropriate.
The team established farmer reference groups and developed model participatory farmer training programs on major fungal diseases, beginning by selecting representative districts and liaising with district staff prior to identifying farmer groups for training. Tests were undertaken to establish pathogenicity of fungal cultures that were consistently associated with diseases but for which the cause had not been established previously.
Field trials were established to assess effectiveness of potential control measures. Learning materials were developed for farmers on fungal diseases generally and nominated diseases in particular, and findings from the project were formally disseminated.
Intensive training of selected provincial staff and the establishment of three basic diagnostic laboratories in Quang Nam, Hue and Nghe An provinces helped to develop the provincial capacity to diagnose fungal diseases. The nominated crops and diseases also provided the focus for participatory farmer training activities, which were modelled on those used in the integrated pest management (IPM) Program.
Plant disease diagnostic laboratories were established at each of the Plant Protection Sub-Departments (PPSDs) in Nghe An, Quang Nam and TT Hue provinces, and at the School of Agriculture and Forestry at Hue University, across the central provinces of Vietnam. There are approximately 1.5 million farmers in these provinces. Greenhouses were also established at Quang Nam and Nghe An PPSDs with co-funding. All equipment was selected to minimise future operating costs.
Two team members completed postgraduate training as part of the project, a PhD on Phytophthora foot rot of black pepper and an MScAgr on Phytophthora heart rot of pineapple, working partly in Vietnam and partly at the University of Sydney. Seven other team members from the provincial sub-departments, all graduates, were trained in laboratory and field diagnostics and the design and management of field trials and data analysis.
The trainees had experience in plant protection, IPM and extension but no experience in laboratory diagnostics or English. The first training program was on basic laboratory practice and techniques. The focus of later training programs was on the diagnosis of the insidious diseases caused by soil-borne fungal pathogens, namely the root, crown and stem rots and vascular wilts.
Diagnostic training involved five four-week intensive teaching programs, three workshops on the biology, identification and control of Pythium and Phytophthora, the isolation, biology and control of common bacterial plant pathogens, and the mode of action, spectrum of activity and rotation of fungicides. Intensive English training was integrated into four training programs.
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, and can search for information on the web.
Each laboratory maintains a disease accession book and small culture collection. Major studies were undertaken on the prevalence, aetiology and control of the root and stem rot complex of peanuts, Phytophthora root rot of black pepper, Phytophthora heart rot of pineapple, ginger decline, arecanut decline, and gummosis and Fusarium wilt of watermelon. The team also identified the cause of over 50 other diseases caused by soilborne fungal pathogens and bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum across 25 crops in the central provinces.
Training workshops were also held for district staff of PPSDs on relevant diseases and fungicides. Ten disease brochures have been printed with four more in preparation, for use by farmers and district staff. The trainees now present classes to farmers on IDM.
The project has had an impact on the understanding of specific diseases or disease control generally by direct or indirect contact with over 6000 farmers in the three provinces. Farmers have also received information through extension articles in rural journals. Farmers and district staff now regularly bring in disease samples for laboratory diagnosis.
One new disease report has been accepted, one submitted and twelve are in preparation, as part of continuing training and mentoring activities. A 210 page 'Diagnostic manual for plant diseases in Vietnam' has been published as ACIAR Monograph No. 129, in English, as an allied project. The Vietnamese translation is in progress. The English version has been distributed widely in Vietnam and to relevant laboratories in over 20 countries.
Links:
[1] http://www.aciar.gov.au/country/Vietnam
[2] http://www.aciar.gov.au/programarea/Crop Protection