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 - Milestone 9 " potx

1 Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development Project Progress Report Macadamia Project 037VIE05 Milestone 9 THIRD SIX-MONTHLY REPORT January to June 2008 1 Table of Contents 1. Institute Information________________________________________________________________ 1 2. Project Abstract____________________________________________________________________ 2 3. Executive Summary_________________________________________________________________ 2 Introduction & Background _______________________________________________________________ 4 4. Progress to Date____________________________________________________________________ 4 4.1 Implementation Highlights ________________________________________________ 4 4.2 Smallholder Benefits______________________________________________________ 5 4.3 Capacity Building ________________________________________________________ 5 4.4 Publicity________________________________________________________________ 5 4.5 Project Management _____________________________________________________ 6 5. Report on Cross-Cutting Issues _______________________________________________________ 6 5.1 Environment ____________________________________________________________ 6 5.2 Gender and Social Issues __________________________________________________ 6 6. Implementation & Sustainability Issues ________________________________________________ 7 6.1 Issues and Constraints ____________________________________________________ 7 6.2 Sustainability____________________________________________________________ 7 7. Next Critical Steps __________________________________________________________________ 7 8. Conclusion ________________________________________________________________________ 8 1 1. Institute Information Project Name Establish nurseries and training to effectively propagate high quality trees and trial plantation models of Macadamia in 3 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) December 2009 Reporting period January - June 2008 Contact Officer(s) In Australia: Team Leader Name: Martin Novak Telephone: 61 2 66895027 Position: President Fax: 61 2 66895227 Organisation Subtropical Farm Forestry Association Email: martinnovak@bigpond.com In Australia: Administrative contact Name: Valda Mitchell Telephone: 61 2 66284372 Position: Administrative Officer Fax: 61 2 66284386 Organisation Subtropical Farm Forestry Association Email: sffa@ceinternet.com.au In Vietnam Name: Hoang Hoe Telephone: 04 8642670, 04 7560233 Position: Director Fax: 04 7560233 Organisation CETD Email: hoanghoe@fpt.vn 2 2. Project Abstract 3. Executive Summary The project continued over the first 6 months of 2008 and included meetings in Australia and Vietnam between participants communicating progress and key information relating to the participating organisations. The Australian team visit, in May, only involved Kim Wislon. The Australian team leader, Martin Novak, could not attend because of family illness. The visit took place over 10 days, during which over a 1000 pieces of Australian Scion wood was delivered to the 3 existing nurseries. This included some of the 10 Australian varieties selected for the trial 344, 741, 849, 842, 816, A4, A203, A268 and also Daddow A successful 1 day Seminar , including a press meeting, was held at the Head office of VIFA Hanoi, involving a number of the macadamia industry participants, some newly interested farmers, MARD representatives and a number of media representatives. Kim Wilson visited Lang son, Yen Thuy, the FSI and Ba vi nurseries and trial sites. He provided hands on training and information relating to key aspects of macadamia propagation during these visits. Kim provided a comprehensive report based on his visits. (Annex: A1, A1.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, &7) The main issues that arose during this visit at the nurseries included the need to certify variety ID. The nurseries could still improve on recording systems, better quality pots and potting mix. FSI is supplying grafted trees to farmers, however in Lang son there is no interest for trees and hence they plan to stop propagation. More details with regard to the nurseries are to be found in the Australian reports attached. (A1.1, 3, 4, &6) This project continued during the first half of 2008 to support the propagation in the new Macadamia nursery and in the three existing nurseries. Also 3 principal variety trials of Macadamias have been established, of about 1 ha each involving 14 suitable Macadamias varieties, in 3 provinces of north Vietnam. In addition the project is involved with 3 organizations undertaking 18 other trials. Training continues to be 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 3 formal training workshops, as well as training in the field. 840 kg of seed nut from Australia and China have been provided to the nurseries along with 6000 sticks of Scion wood of the selected varieties and samples of nursery equipment during 2006 , 2007 and 2008. 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 number of 2 way visits have been made since by way of follow up. A growing select group of small holder farmers have been chosen to be involved with project activities in the provinces of Lang Son, Ba vi, Hoa Binh and Dak Lak provinces. In addition the project continues to involve all known key government agencies involved with Macadamias in Vietnam including MARD, FSI, WASI, 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 farmers, extension and technical staff since the commencement of the project in January 2006. 3 The trials at Ba vi and Lang son generally continue to look good. They both are providing data now, which can make a significant contribution to the bigger picture for Vietnam. (A1.2, A1.3) The Yen Thuy trial planting was rescheduled and planted in February & March 08 based on the original design. The trees look healthy (Refer to Annex 1.4 - Australia Team reports) A Macadamia Seminar and Press meeting was held 23 rd May in Hanoi in the VIFA Head Office. The Special Issue of the Magazine “Forest and Life” on Macadamia (A2.1) was launched at this meeting. The meeting was attend by Vietnam Television (VTV 2, VCTV), Vietnam Radio (Rural Program), News Bulletin of Vietnams Agriculture, Magazine Commerce, Magazine Rural Economics, Department Science & Technology MARD, National Center for Agriculture Extension, MARD. It was presided over by Hoang Hoe and Kim Wilson (Refer to Program A2 & Mag Content A2.1) During this period over 10,000 trees were produced, from 300kg of seed nut from Long Zhou China and distributed to Ba vi and Yen Thuy nurseries. Also 1000 sticks of scion wood was obtained from Long Zhou. This included 6 varieties including OC, 788, QN1, 800, 900, 246. This was in addition to the 1000 sticks of scion were delivered from Australia mentioned above. Two boxes of grafting tape (Florist Tape) were also posted from Australia. A request for specific data was circulated to the nurseries and trials sites. (A3) This was followed up by Kim Wilson during his visit to the sites. The responses have been incorporated into his reports (A3.1 & A3.2) After the seminar and press meeting, Hoang Hoe and Kim Wilson met with Keith Milligan and discussed the project and the importance of plans beyond the life of the project. This was followed up by a meeting with Dr. Trieu van Hung – Director General, Department of Science & Technology. The main outcome of this meeting was that extension be made a priority once the project is concluded. During this period plans were made for a visit by the Project team to Dak Lak and the WASI Research Center preceding the concluding workshop, which was planned for October 2008 in Hanoi. Communication and exchange of information continued over the 6 months, with a number of organizations and individuals, including, Central and Western Highlands Agro-Forestry Science and Technical Institutes, Thai Binh Foods and a number of interested farmers. Representatives of these organizations and many of these farmers had attend the Ba vi Workshop. Prof Hoang Hoe, Vietnamese Project Team Leader continued to collect data and communicate progress of all aspects of the project. (Refer to his reports A5 photo CD) During this 6-month period, a lot of data and other information were made available to the project in addition to that presented in response to the questionnaire and in Kim Wilson’s reports. (Refer to A1 & 4) Also a number of other significant meetings took place this information is presented below or attached. 4 Introduction & Background This project has 2 principal aims, firstly to trial the most suitable macadamia varieties in Vietnam and secondly to train nursery staff, farmers and others in related aspects of macadamia horticulture. In addition to this the project has been attempting to bring all existing and some potential stakeholders together in formal and onsite participatory training sessions in order to help facilitate Vietnams macadamia industry development in a more strategically coordinated and scientifically based manner. Most project participants seem to be of the view that the industry will be viable and sustainable within Vietnam agricultural sector. In fact it appears to have the potential to replace or enhance some crops that are struggling at present, for instance that of coffee in the central highlands. The project leadership is working closely with other macadamia initiatives that existed prior or outside of the projects principal scope, such as the work done by FSI and WASI. The Australian team has been in a position to introduce the participants to key aspects of Australian practice and research. This is very valuable if Vietnam is to have a good foundation upon which it can build this new industry. Complimenting this is additional information being sourced from other countries, especially China, but also from South Africa and Thailand. 4. Progress to Date 4.1 Implementation Highlights The Seminar and Press Meeting helped to introduced the industry to a broader audience. The project team were able to address some concerns that had been raised by farmers and the press. Including one question which was raised which demonstrated the perceptiveness of the participants and the principal dilemma confronting the developing industry; “ It appears to be an expensive crop to set up but we are trying to target poor farmers?” The meeting with Dr. Hung highlighted the need to set up more demonstration plots and also the need to find a way to certify the varieties being used in Vietnam. (A1) Success and problems in the nurseries and trial sites, are detailed in Kim Wilson’s reports (A1, A1.1,2,3,4,5,6&7) and in responses to the questionnaire. Prof Hoang Hoe has translated and summarised direct reports from the project participants relating to progress in the nurseries and trials. (A5) The new nursery at Yen Thuy is making good progress both in terms of seed raising and grafting. The trial planting has been completed in a satisfactory manner. (A1.6, A1.7, & A5 ) The other nurseries continue as before, however Lang son has decided not to continue the propagation of macadamia because of the low demand from farmers. (Details are reported on in A1) However the trial at Van Dinh will continue to be maintained and monitored by them. 5 4.2 Smallholder Benefits As referred to above, small farmers are finding it difficult to grow macadamias, which are for them an expensive crop to plant and one that has relatively long term returns. There have been a few innovative farmers that have planted a small number of hectares, however the majority of poor farmers cannot afford the cost or time to become directly involved at this early stage of the development of the industry. There has been no lack of interest by farmers, however, until trees become more affordable and returns more visible, farmers in general will be hesitant to be involved. Nevertheless there are already secondary benefits to the smallholder through employment in the nurseries, trial and pilot plots as well as private plantations. There has been some consideration by the larger players, including Thai Binh Foods and Donna Foods, to provide grafted trees to farmers, as is the case in China. This is a model practiced in forestry in Vietnam. The Australia experience is in some way similar. The industry was virtually non-existent, until larger players became involved and then supported by government via tax incentives. 4.3 Capacity Building Significant capacity building continues to be achieved via the project training and information delivery mechanisms particularly in the nurseries and plot sites, during this period and through the workshops over the past 2 -3 years. The large body of information now available as a result of the project, including the Manuals, Computer Models, Training Videos and Workshop proceedings, available in Vietnamese and English, contribute significantly to the capacity building within the industry. All of these have been delivered to CARD in previous reports. All are available through the CETD office. A significant amount of experience has been gained by technicians, famers and others, in working with the 14 select varieties and another 3 new varieties delivered during the last 2.5 years. 4.4 Publicity A Seminar and Press meeting was held 23 rd May in Hanoi in the VIFA Head Office. The Special Issue of the Magazine “Forest and Life” on Macadamia was launched at this meeting. The meeting was attend by Vietnam Television( VTV 2, VCTV), Vietnam Radio (Rural Program), News Bulletin of Vietnams Agriculture, Magazine Commerce, Magazine Rural Economics, Department Science & Technology , MARD,National Center for Agriculture Extension, MARD. It was presided over by Hoang Hoe and Kim Wilson. For details of the meeting and contents of the magazine refer to Annex A2 &A2.1. The nurseries and government agencies continue to undertake their own regional promotion. 6 4.5 Project Management General management activities in Vietnam and Australia have continued along the lines of the first 2 years, 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 of information documents and video. Also further ongoing communication relating to the trial sites and nursery activities between participants and collaborators continues. Specific management relating to all the activities detailed in this report went well during this period. Martin Novak could not undertake the Vietnam visit during this period because of his mothers serious illness. However Kim Wilson did an excellent job in representing the Australian team and provided the project with a detailed report. (A1&A1.1-7) 5. Report on Cross-Cutting Issues 5.1 Environment Project participants have been monitoring and reporting on any environmental impacts. However, so far in Vietnam there continue to be no significant negative 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. The Australian experience shows that soil erosion, chemical runoff and noise pollution can become problems in areas that have more mature orchards. Vietnams macadamia industry needs to plan for these potential problems well ahead of time. 5.2 Gender and Social Issues There were no new gender or social issues for this period. As stated in earlier reports approximately 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. However leadership is still dominated by men. The project leaders continue to encourage participating organizations to utilize the role of women, on their staff in the project. 7 6. Implementation & Sustainability Issues 6.1 Issues and Constraints An issue was raised by Minister Bong regarding the need for certification of macadamia varieties, for MARD to become more involved and undertake extension and other support. This will need to be followed up with MARD, as to how best to implement such certification. Australian Team leader, Martin Novak, was not able to visit Vietnam during this period due to the serious illness of his mother. This was offset by Kim Wilson, providing comprehensive reports, covering all aspects of the project during his visit in May. (Refer to Annex A1) Martin Novak has made up the time by an extra trip to Thailand arranging the Thai visit and will also make up more time in 2009 with an additional workshop planned for Dak Lak and other additional project activities. Lang son has found a lack of interest in macadamia by farmers and has stopped producing grafted trees. This will most probably be offset by development of macadamia projects in Dak Lak and other provinces. If the industry develops in other parts of Vietnam, as it appears that it will, Lang son farmers may be encouraged to take up macadamias once again. However the region does seem to have a problem with high humidity and light rain occurring during the flowering of macadamia trees. The issue confronting small farmers in terms of relatively high costs to start and long time frames for cash flow to become positive, was raised at the Seminar and Press Meeting referred to above. This highlights the need for government support for small farmers and also incentives for bigger players in the developmental stages of the macadamia industry. Tax incentives were the kick-start to the macadamia industry in Australia. Vietnam also needs some type of mechanism to address this problem. The role of the Macca Club, during this period has not been very conspicuous. The project leaders continue to encourage the Club to broaden and formalise its role and start taking on the leadership in the development of the industry. 6.2 Sustainability The macadamia industry in Vietnam is still in its early stages of development, however the project leadership is not aware of any significant issues or constraints that impact negatively on the sustainable development of this industry to date. To the contrary, all indications are that the industry will become viable, especially if the experience of Australia and China is used as a model for development. 7. Next Critical Steps The final Training Workshop plans have been completed and it is schedule to be held in October 2008. It is to be held in Hanoi and all project participants and international delegates from China, Thailand and Australia are invited. 8 This will also be the time of the next Australian team visit to Vietnam. In addition to training at the workshop sessions additional training will take place at the 3 existing macadamia nurseries and at the new nursery in Yen Thuy. The existing nurseries have completed the trial plantings and monitoring has commenced. The publishing of another special issue on macadamia in the Forest and Life magazine is planned for 2009. A visit by the project team to the Central Highlands is planned to view the work of WASI and other innovative farmers of that region. A study tour of Thailand’s macadamia plantations and research sites is planned for 2008, involving Dr Kha, Director Minh and Prof. Hoang Hoe as the Vietnamese project participants. This visit is based on the visit undertaken by the Australian project leader in preparation for this study tour. 8. Conclusion The 30 months of the project have been completed successfully with virtually all planned activities implemented. . 1. Institute Information Project Name Establish nurseries and training to effectively propagate high quality trees and trial plantation models of Macadamia in 3 provinces of North Vietnam. variety trials of Macadamias have been established, of about 1 ha each involving 14 suitable Macadamias varieties, in 3 provinces of north Vietnam. In addition the project is involved with 3 organizations. activities in the provinces of Lang Son, Ba vi, Hoa Binh and Dak Lak provinces. In addition the project continues to involve all known key government agencies involved with Macadamias in Vietnam including