Computer-assisted learning as a tool to improve grain storage pest management in key ASEAN countries

• National Postharvest Institute for Research and Extension, Philippines
• Postharvest Technology Institute, Vietnam
• Badan Urusan Logistik, Indonesia
• University of New South Wales, Australia
• University of Queensland, Australia

An earlier ACIAR project developed a computer-aided system, dubbed the 'Pest Management Workbench'. Produced in both English and Bahasa, its purpose was to facilitate the adoption of best practices to manage pests in grain storage in Indonesia. This new small project, in partnership with another managed by AusAID, will work with senior management and training personnel from Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam to demonstrate the benefits of a computer-aided learning (CAL) approach to managing grain storage pests. The presenters will use CAL integrated with more traditional methods to instruct participants in fumigation practices, storage hygiene, grain drying, pest monitoring and mycotoxin management. The existing Pest Management Workbench will undergo further development to encompass tutorials on mycotoxins and grain drying, and elements will be redesigned to make them more user friendly. The developers will also produce a version in Vietnamese.

The project integrated the suite of Computer-Aided Learning (CAL) tools into the Pest Management Workbench framework. The suite includes a tutorial system dealing with concepts and
techniques of pest management and the logical processes used by experts in diagnosing pest management problems, together with a tutorial builder, an interactive pest identification component for training field staff in pest identification, and a simulated grain storage complex.
The initial project proposal set out to develop decision-support tools to facilitate the rational and sustainable management of pests in grain storages in Indonesia (presented in a CD-ROM called Grain Storage Tutor). But it soon became clear that a better option would be to develop a system to provide the managers with a better understanding of the issues involved in pest management and thus enable them to make better decisions.
Although not part of the original proposal, it was decided that it would be valuable to include Thailand as another member of the project. The CAL system was rewritten and expanded to encompass new tutorials on grain-drying, moulds and mycotoxins as well as Integrated Commodity Management (ICM). It also included a new reference section.
The project team developed training materials for courses in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. About 700 people have participated in training courses in the four countries during and since the project - about 500 of these from Vietnam.
In Indonesia, BULOG has used the CAL tools to implement a more intelligent pest management program that treated the grain when necessary, rather than on a calendar basis, as previously. This was aided by an enhanced capacity to identify pest species, resulting from use of 'Pest Management Workbench'. In 2001, BULOG also used 'Grain Storage Tutor' in two training courses on the use of alternatives to methyl bromide fumigation, funded by UNIDO and attended by about 45 participants.
In the Philippines, there has been only limited post-project activity, largely as a result of budgetary reductions and changes of priorities within NAPHIRE, and the lack of follow-up actions from Australia. The departure from NAPHIRE to Australia of key partner Justin Tumambing, who was subsequently employed by Cytec (a fumigant supply company), may also have affected opportunities.
PHTI in Vietnam capitalised on the training to establish a company which undertakes fumigation of grain store pests. In 2000, PHTI also hosted for 6 months an Australian Youth Ambassador, Mr Romolo Tassone, on secondment from Agriculture Western Australia's phosphine resistance monitoring program. Mr Tassone provided some logistical backup in planning AusAID-funded CARD training activities and also helped PHTI to develop a phosphine resistance laboratory which supplemented the activities of the 'commercial' grain fumigation team established by PHTI.
In 2000, a new ACIAR project, Enhancing the efficacy of phosphine fumigation, began in Vietnam with the Department of Plant Protection and PHTI Hanoi as well as QDPI and Chinese institutions as partners.