Card Project Progress Report:" Establish nurseries and training to effectively propagate high quality trees and trial plantation models of Macadamia in 3 provinces of North Vietnam - MS4 " doc

260 Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development CARD Project Progress Report 037VIE05 Establish nurseries and training to effectively propagate high quality trees and trial plantation models of Macadamia in provinces of North Vietnam MS4: THE SECOND SIX-MONTHLY REPORT December 2006 1 Institute Information Project Name Establish nurseries and training to effectively propagate high quality trees and trial plantation models of Macadamia in provinces of North Vietnam Vietnamese Institution Center for Environment, Tourism and Development (CETD), Vietnamese Project Team Leader Prof Hoang Hoe Australian Organisation Subtropical Farm Forestry Association Australian Personnel Martin Novak, Kim Wilson Date commenced 10 January 2006 Completion date (original) 10 January 2009 Completion date (revised) Reporting period First months Contact Officer(s) In Australia: Team Leader Martin Novak Name: President Position: Organisation Subtropical Farm Forestry Association Telephone: Fax: Email: 61 66895027 61 66895227 martinnovak@bigpond.com In Australia: Administrative contact Valda Mitchell Name: Administrative Officer Position: Organisation Subtropical Farm Forestry Association Telephone: Fax: Email: 61 66284372 61 66284386 sffa@ceinternet.com.au In Vietnam Name: Hoang Hoe Director Position: Organisation CETD Telephone: Fax: Email: 04 8642670, 04 7560233 04 7560233 hoanghoe@fpt.vn 2 Project Abstract This project continues during the second half of 2006 to establish a new Macadamia nursery and enhance three existing nurseries Also principal variety trials of Macadamias are being established, of about each involving 14 suitable Macadamias varieties, in provinces of North Vietnam In addition the project is involved with organizations undertaking 16 other trials Training has been conducted in aspects of propagation, grafting, site design and preparation, planting, maintenance and plantation management at the nurseries and trial sites This has included the distribution of CD, DVD and power point presentations as well as hands on training at formal training sessions as well as training in the field 540 kg of seed nut from Australia and China have been provided to the nurseries along with 3000 sticks of Scion wood of the selected varieties and samples of grafting equipment during 2006 A study tour to China was undertaken covering all the major nurseries and some key plantations in southern China Reports of this tour including photos and a DVD video have been presented to the key stakeholders in Vietnam and Australia A select group of small holder farmers have been chosen to be involved with project activities in the provinces of Lang Son, B Vi, Hoa Binh provinces In addition the project continues to involve all known key government agencies involved with Macadamias in Vietnam including MARD, FSI, RCFTI, RIFA and RIFV A number of private sector companies are also involved as is the Macca Club of Vietnam Significant progress has been made with regard to the capacity building of extension and technical staff since the commencement of the project in January 2006 Executive Summary The project continued over the last months of 2006 and included meetings in Australia and Vietnam between participants communicating progress and key information relating to the participating organisations The final report of the Macadamia study tour of China was delivered to all the participants This was made up of written reports by the Vietnamese team and the Australian team as, as well as a DVD video and photo CD and accompanying notes The Australian team visit took place in October during which over a 1000 pieces of Australian Scion wood was delivered to the existing nurseries This included all of the 10 Australian varieties: 246, 344, 741, 814, 816, 842, 849, A4, A16, and A38 (originally Hawaiian except for A4, A16 and A32) varieties selected for the trial The team visited the FSI nursery and the Yen Thuy new nursery and trial site and provided hands on training and information relating to key aspects of progress Issues such as germination problems of Australian seed nut and poor strike rates of some varieties were addressed It was decided to import future seed nut from China not Australian The strike rate of varieties is very poor and this was re-confirmed to the nurseries It was agreed that younger wood from Australia should be used as scion in the future Solutions to problems with the new florist grafting tape were demonstrated Some of the nurseries have adopted the Australian grafting techniques demonstrated during the previous training sessions This along with techniques practiced in Vietnam and China were demonstrated to all participating technicians once again enabling technicians to better train grafting staff and fine tune techniques Those that had not attempted these techniques were encouraged to so Further input was provided by the visiting Chinese collaborators in this training and information delivery process at the Lang son Training Workshop detailed below Nurseries that had tried Australian formulas for propagation and potting mixes were commended and encouraged to keep comparative data Early evidence indicated that the new mixes were working well The focal point for this period was the Lang son Macadamia Training Workshop held over days and involving 44 participants (Annex 2) The comprehensive program included presentations and field visits The program included presentations by the Vietnamese and Australian project leaders, Hoang Hoe and Martin Novak, providing an overview of project progress and key aspects of project development (Novak Annex 2e) Kim Wilson CEO of Gray Plantations and AMS Vice Chairman, made two presentations including a project update of the principal trial sites and nurseries (Annex2g) and an overview of Macadamia R&D in Australia and the World including the latest information presented at the Macadamia Congress in Brasil August 2006 (Annex2h) The project partners presented reports on the results of their activities, results and challenges Dr Hai of FSI presented a report on his and Dr Kha’s Macadamia research ranging over years and provinces of Vietnam (Annex2i&&2i2) Dang thi thuy Thao of WASI presented a brief report prepared by Tran Vinh of their trials at the workshop and have continued to work collaboratively with the project team (Annex 2j) The visiting Chinese delegation represented by Dr Chen presented a comprehensive report on R&D in Quangxi China (Annex 3) The presentation focused on a trial of varieties examining quality and yield of NIS This was followed by a pictorial presentation of nursery practice which stimulated a debate focusing on the variations between practices in China, Australia and Vietnam The field sites visit provided an opportunity for participants to demonstrate and further debate their various practices The project is now working with organizations that are undertaking 16 Macadamia trials There are the principal Varietal trials at Lang son, Ba vi and Yen Thuy, the FSI trials and the WASI trials On top of that there is the ThaiBinh Foods planting about to commence and the 8+ trials in China (Annex 2f) Introduction & Background The following are the project objectives: Objective - Bring all the stakeholders together to work toward a sustainable high value Macadamia industry for Vietnam Follow up meetings to the preliminary meetings held in the first months of the project were held again in Vietnam and Australia with Collaborators A project Training Workshop was held in Lang son involving 44 participants including a member delegation from China, representatives of all the project partners, stakeholder representatives of government, private companies and NGOs The Australian team visited existing nurseries and trial sites at which participatory training sessions were conducted The site of the new nursery and trail site was also visited and assessed while at the same time meeting village heads and involved farmers and workers Objective - Strengthen the capacity of existing nurseries Training sessions were delivered at nursery along with additional scion wood, samples of nursery equipment and demonstration DVD’s and CD’s (Annex 2c) FSI nursery was also visited and scion wood and information delivered Unfortunately Ba Vi was unable to be visited this time however the director and staff were present at the Lang son Training workshop and nurseries and participated in the training sessions there Objective - Establish a new model nursery to demonstrate Australian nursery practice in order to provide opportunity for investment and to ensure adequate supply of stock The new nursery site was visited and accessed Significant progress had been made towards implementing the design plans The nursery has already propagated over 6000 macadamia nut seedlings which have now been potted up and housed in the new shaded area Objective - Trial at least 10 varieties of Macadamia in difference provinces Ba vi, Hoa Binh and Lang son of Vietnam Additional Australian scion wood was delivered to all existing nurseries and FSI including the following varieties: 246, 344, 741, 814, 816, 842, 849, A4, A16 and A38 A further Chinese varieties including OC, 695, 788, Guy Yen They are being grown in the existing nurseries for using in the trials This is the 4th time that Scion wood from Australia was delivering to the nurseries Two lots have been delivered as a part of the project this year and two lots were delivered as a lead up to the project in 2004 and 2005 This has ensured enough grafted trees for the principal trial plots and additional for the other trial plots and for interested farmers Objective - Undertake a fact finding study tour of South China 10-12 key project participants, including trainers and researchers The final reports, one from the Vietnamese team leader and an English version from the Australian Team leader, on the successful Macadamia Study Tour Of China, which took place in March/ April of 2006 was delivered to all participants of the Lang son Training workshop Copies will be provided with this report (Annex 3) A Video DVD and Photo CD were also provided to the participants and further copies are available from CETD Objective - Assess Macadamia developments in Thailand Project leaders undertake the assessment The visit was scheduled to precede the October Australian team visit to Vietnam; however the coup in Thailand and an International Horticultural Festival at Chiang Mai forced the project visit to be deferred to some time in 2007 The Australian team leader undertook a preliminary visit, while passing through Bangkok, to lay the ground-work for the rescheduled visit This resulted in contacts being re-established and the project team being welcome to make the planned visit Objective - Undertake participatory training for technicians, extension officers, nursery staff and workers, farmers and farm workers The second lot of sessions were completed during the second Australian Team visit in October as planned This included the Training Workshop in Lang son and specific hands on sessions at nurseries at Lang son and Trang Dinh, also the new nursery at Yen Thuy nurseries At the Lang son Training Workshop in addition to the 44 participants including key technicians and extension staff, additional farmers and workers attended the field site training visits Objective - Support the formalisation of a Macadamia industry network based on the successful Australian model (AMS) and other models in Vietnam and elsewhere A formal presentation relating to the role of the AMS was made by Kim Wilson (Vice President AMS) to Stakeholders and members of the Macca Club at the Hanoi Introductory Training session in March /April this year Following this it was thought that the evolution of the network would be based around the Macca Club and those involved in this project Most stakeholders support the idea of a Vietnam Macadamia Society or the like, however a number of stakeholders have expressed concern that the Macca Club was not representative enough to evolve into a broad based peak industry body More consultation will need to take place with all the stakeholders before a network can be formalised It has been left to the stakeholders to come up with ideas to be reviewed at the next Australian team visit in March 2007 Objective - Assist and share information, experience and data with existing Macadamia researchers in Vietnam in particular with FSI and Dr Kha The FSI Nursery was visited by the Australian Team and Vietnam Team Leader Further meetings were held with Dr Kha , Dr Thinh and Dr Hai The Role of FSI in sharing data, receiving scion wood, seed and samples of equipment and taking part in Training sessions is agreed upon in general Additional specific activities are to be reviewed by leading FSI participants and project leaders as the project progresses FSI has requested scion-wood of varieties which they not have and other than that identified for the trials An attempt to accommodate this request will be made during the next 2-3 deliveries In addition WASI, RIFV, ThaiBinh Foods and others are exchanging information and experience with the project team and each other Objective 10 - Collect data from existing and new trial plots and nurseries and undertake evaluation and analysis At the Lang son Training Workshop presentations provided information by the existing nursery staff and in particular with FSI, based on collected data, to date, of propagation and grafting of seed and scion, much of which was delivered by the Australian team over the past years and during the March /April 06 visit They also based on seed and scion wood sourced from China during this time Some information has been obtained from existing nurseries and growers on plant survival, growth and early yield Some of this information was gathered from China also The preliminary analysis of the selection of the Chinese varieties, (OC, 695, 788, QN 1) for the trials has been commended by the visiting Chinese delegation Data limited because of the recent commencement of most of the trials and nursery activities Much of the baseline data is now record however some organizations are yet to finalise their reports However some attempt at analysis is being made and will be presented as a first part of the 3rd Milestone report to be delivered shortly Some Data from the project trial plots should be available towards the end of next year which will add to this process Objective 11 - Inform stakeholders and others and promote the objectives of the project specifically and the benefits of a Macadamia industry generally All known stakeholders (44 representatives) were invited to the Lang son Training Workshop at which project objectives and benefits of a Macadamia Industry in Vietnam were further presented and openly debated A number of participants expressed their need for further financial support beyond the scope of the project budget This included Lang son and Ba vi staff requesting further funds for their trial plots Also the need to provide funds was raised, for smallholders together with agencies in other provinces to undertake pilot plantings and some basic nursery propagation of Macadamia varieties in these provinces Some preliminary project visits based on the original larger Project Proposal had raised interest in these and other provinces adding to these requests A number of suggestions have been made that the project needs to link more closely to commercial interests The project team agrees however this would require further support from CARD (Annex1) The first Newsletter is being finalised relating to project development to date It was decided to delay its release awaiting more detail from project participants It will be distributed amongst all the known stakeholders and collaborators in the first half of 2007 Objective 12 - Strengthen extension capacity by linking it to research and the practitioners Extension and technical staff from all participating agencies and companies attended the Lang son Training Workshop and took part in the interactive presentations which included researchers and practitioners from China, Vietnam and Australia The project work of this year has provided a good start to strengthening the capacity of technician and extension personnel of the fledgling Macadamia industry of Vietnam Progress to Date 5.1 Implementation Highlights The Lang son Training Workshop was the project highlight of the past six months The effort and ability of the Vietnamese team leader and the CETD staff in planning then implementing the activities necessary to ensure a comprehensive program and presentations and gain good participation by all know stakeholders was outstanding and is a great asset of the project The presentations by all were of a high standard and facilitated broad participation It was particularly encouraging to see technicians and extension staffs provide informative reports and demonstrate their keenness by a high level of involvement in all sessions both at the workshop and in the field There was a notable difference in this regard when compared to the involvement during the Introductory Training Session held in Hanoi earlier in the year Considering the limited experience and exposure to the Macadamia industry it is to their credit that they are responding so effectively The workshop was held in an atmosphere of openness which allowed participants to raise issues of concern, including the need for increased support for the trials, the need to undertake more pilot plantings in other provinces, the need to improve the quality of the seed and scion wood and the desire to involve more smaller farmers as well as to link more strongly to bigger commercial interests Ways of addressing these issues were debated and are being implemented Beyond the workshop it was encouraging to see progress in the nurseries and trial sites Most of the information and techniques delivered in previous sessions and visits were being tried, including grafting techniques and equipment, propagation techniques, potting mixes and fertilizer regimes The progress at the new nursery, accords with design plans and exceeds expectation of the Australian team It is already demonstrating techniques that the other nurseries have as yet not taken up Examples of this include seed germination in well drained sand, potting mixes using much less soil and more sand and organic matter, larger potting bags, a lighter shade cloth and the use of plastic and gravel underlay for the potting bags New nursery is using the people from local community, to build the new nursery, land preparation, workers for propagation, preparation of potting mix, and maintenance The Long Phuong Company has also successfully submitted a proposal to the Sweden Environment Fund (SEF) focusing on “the village environment" The Project objectives includes helping 20 households, by building, Eco toilets, planting high quality grass in home-gardens, building water wells to provide clean water and organized Training Courses on Environment protection to all the local village people The project has developed successfully to date and complements the Macadamia project It was encouraging to see the progress of FSI research in Macadamia presented at the Training workshop Clearly FSI is the principle Macadamia research body underpinning the projects role as well as some of the other private developments They are using a comprehensive range of genetic material including from Australia: Daddow, 246, 294, 344, 816,849, 856, 741 and NG8 and varieties from China I are OC and A800 Also trees grafted from original trees planted in Ba Vi in 1994 including: MC1, MC2, MC3, MC4, MC5, MC6, MC7, MC8, MC9, MC10, MC11, ĐC1 (trees planted from Australian seed), ĐC2 (trees planted from seed in Ba Vi) and ĐC3 (Cutting trees in Ba Vi) (Annex 2i & 2i2) 5.2 Smallholder Benefits The Long Phuong Co at Yen Thuy is very active in involving farmers in the new macadamia nursery, the trial plot and other aspects of development The district government is helpful and hopes to see benefits to flow to other villages and will assist in this and other respects In addition to the work and training the villages are receiving 20 new toilets and new stoves have been provided by the company A new well has been dug and the children of the village are being encouraged to take an interest in the project and all these other activities It is the aim of the project to see this model repeated in other provinces A seeding of this process needs to be undertaken by way of small pilot plantings to introduce district agency offices and local farmers in other provinces to the potential of macadamia plantations (Annex1) The work of FSI provides a good scientific base to such pilot plantings FSI has trials in provinces including Ba Vi (Ha Tay province) with area of 2.0 ha, Uong Bi (Quang Ninh province) of 1.0 ha, Dong Hoi (Quang Binh province) of 1.0 ha, Krong Nang (Dak Lak) of 1.0 ha, Mai Son (Son La province) of 1.0 ha, Dai Lai (Vinh Phuc province) of 1.0 and Dak Plao (Dak Nong province) of 1.0 5.3 Capacity Building Significant capacity building is being achieved via the project training and information delivery (based on Vietnamese and Australian experience) as well as the principal project trials being undertaken, mentioned earlier and below in the log frames In addition, again the work of FSI as well as that of other Macadamia initiatives, including that of WASI and Thiabinh Foods, are being incorporated into the training workshops of the project This is further complimented by material and information from China The Lang son Training workshop, as well as the other field site training undertaken during this period, provided an encouraging view of the growing skills and knowledge bases amongst all of the stakeholders, in particular that of the technicians and extension staff It would be expedient if training workshops were delivered to a larger number of participants Delivery could accommodate double that of the present numbers without becoming less effective However, for this to be achieved, the present budget would have to be increased with regard to training and extension The proposed expansion towards more commercial activities including small pilot plantings involving new small farmers to the project as well as stronger links to commercial activities such as processing and marketing would compliment and assist this proposed expanded capacity building This would require an additional expansion to the existing project budget Annex provides more detail in both these regards 5.4 Publicity The Lang son Training Workshop was given good TV coverage which included several interviews relating to the potential of growing macadamias in the region Nurseries have promoted their role in growing macadamias through their own networks, with enquiries increasing Many farmers, agency staff, business groups and others have visited the existing nurseries and the trial sites to learn about Macadamia The first Newsletter is to be published in the first half of 2007 5.5 Project Management Management activities in Vietnam and Australia have continued along the lines of the first months This has included oversight of implementation at nurseries and trial sites, extension work, translation of documents, arrangement of ongoing meetings, responses to design issues, purchasing of equipment, editing and further provision of information documents and video Also further ongoing communication relating to the preparation of trial sites and nursery development between participants and collaborators, has been undertaken Report on Cross-Cutting Issues 6.1 Environment So far there are no evident negative environmental impacts As the project develops participants are expected to monitor and report on any environmental impacts FSI has the longest history of research into macadamia in Vietnam So far they have not found any significant problems relating to the impact on the environment A more comprehensive study into environment issue will be undertaken in the following year as activities develop across the provinces 6.2 Gender and Social Issues As stated in the first report approximately a half of technicians and workers in the nurseries are women They play an equal role to that of the men both in terms of work and capacity building 10 A female staff of CETD was the principal organizer of the Lang son Training Workshop and she was given high commendation from the participants and project leaders for her successful work A new female translator, Dieu Thuy Dang, has been assigned to undertake English translations of research and progress reports including that of FSI The project leaders continue to encourage participating organizations to utilize the role of woman, on their staff in the project Implementation & Sustainability Issues 7.1 Issues and Constraints In the approval project document, with regard to the budget for the principal trials, there is support only for the seed, scion wood, sample equipment, training and information All organizations that are responsible for these trials have requested more funds to help implement their trial plots These additional funds have not been budgeted for since the seed and scion wood, equipment, training and information were considered and agreed upon as adequate support for their involvement Both these organizations will gain significant commercial advantage from the projects support It is the opinion of the team leaders that if they are to gain further support them will need to significantly enhance the project by involving more smallholder farmers, poor workers and female staff to comply with CARD objectives This could be a part of the proposed project expansion (Annex1) Both these organizations have now received information, seed and scion wood for the past years as a part of the lead-up to the project and this year as a part of the project itself This places them at a competitive advantage within the developing Macadamia industry in Vietnam and it was thought this would compensate them for any up-front costs If CARD supports the proposed expansion of the project then they will be in a position to gain further support providing they reciprocate as outlined above It is difficult to for the project budget to in any way cover this proposed expansion Implementing the project is already putting a strain on the budget in a number of areas because of cost rises in a number of budget categories, including training, travel & accommodation Also the Project Leaders are finding it necessary to contribute more of their time than planned To date this has been covered by an increase to the Australian contribution but perhaps additional CARD funds maybe able to contribute also 7.2 Options If further CARD funding is not available then support could be sort from the participating agencies and private companies However apart from the fact that this is 11 not very likely, this would not enable the incentive to involve more smallholder farmers and would limit the ability of the project team to select a wider spread of locations 7.3 Sustainability It is the opinion of the project team that the progress made by the project to date increases the sustainability of the newly developing macadamia industry in Vietnam There is a growing confidence amongst the participants both at the government level as well as the private sector The project has also contributed directly towards this confidence by being on hand to provide training and information and indirectly by bring the participant together facilitating exchange of skills and experience as well as strengthening the industry network The project has provided training, information, stock and sample equipment which now acts as a significant contribution to the foundation to the industry Next Critical Steps As a result of seed and scion-wood supplied by the project, over the next month period the existing nurseries should be in a position to gain some cash-flow by way of sale of grafted Macadamia to farmers and others The new nursery should have trained some of the villagers in propagation and grafting technology The trial plots should all be completed and data collection should be underway some early assessment should be available to all project participants and others Extension officers should be in a position to provide information and demonstrate skills and equipment to interested farmers and others More training will be carried out in an interactive way and building on past delivery and implementation The project team will continue to encourage participants to formalise their existing network into a society or association based on the AMS as a model Hopefully CARD will support the proposal to expand the project to further link to commercial interests and involve more farmers as mentioned earlier and detailed in Annex If this occurs then the activities will commence to implement this expansion during this month period 12 Conclusion The first year of the project has been completed successfully with virtually all planned activities implemented on time Generally participants have benefited significantly The request for an expansion of the project to provide more assistance for the trials and reach more farmers that is seen in a positive light, by the project leaders It is hoped CARD is able to accommodate this request by providing additional financial support as outlined in the Annex resulting in a significant increase in the effectiveness of the project In addition the unexpected increased costs and time allocation may need to be alleviated by a further CARD contribution 13 ...1 Institute Information Project Name Establish nurseries and training to effectively propagate high quality trees and trial plantation models of Macadamia in provinces of North Vietnam Vietnamese... frames In addition, again the work of FSI as well as that of other Macadamia initiatives, including that of WASI and Thiabinh Foods, are being incorporated into the training workshops of the project. .. stakeholders together to work toward a sustainable high value Macadamia industry for Vietnam Follow up meetings to the preliminary meetings held in the first months of the project were held again in Vietnam