Báo cáo nghiên cứu khoa học " Developing GAP systems for dragon fruit producers and exporters in Binh Thuan and Tien Giang provinces - Milestone 7 " docx

Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development




037/04VIE

Developing GAP systems for dragon fruit producers and
exporters in Binh Thuan and Tien Giang provinces




Milestone 7

Farmer Cluster Groups Applying Good Agricultural
Practices (GAP)

June 2007






Campbell J
The Horticulture and Food Research Institute of New Zealand Ltd
HortResearch Nelson Region
PO Box 220
Motueka 7143

NEW ZEALAND



DISCLAIMER
Unless agreed otherwise, HortResearch does not give any prediction, warranty or assurance in relation to the
accuracy of or fitness for any particular use or application of, any information or scientific or other result
contained in this report. Neither HortResearch nor any of its employees shall be liable for any cost (including
legal costs), claim, liability, loss, damage, injury or the like, which may be suffered or incurred as a direct or
indirect result of the reliance by any person on any information contained in this report.


CONTENTS

Page

BACKGROUND 1
1. DOCUMENTATION OF GAP APPLIED BY CLUSTER GROUP SMALL-HOLDERS. 3
Farmer Selection 6
Small-Holder Sector of Project Pilot Group Establishment 6
2. PROGRESS TOWARDS SMALL-HOLDER CERTIFICATION AS EUREPGAP
COMPLIANT AND PERFORMANCE AUDITED 8
Choice of Quality System Standards 8
Dragon Sruit Quality Manual 9
Stakeholder Skill Sevelopment 9
Associated Dragon fruit GAP Project 11
3. BASIC ANALYSIS OF SMALL-HOLDER, AND EXPORTER FINANCIAL BENEFITS
13
APPENDIX 1 14
Benchmarking Questionnaire 14

APPENDIX 2 21
VNCI Certification 21



1

BACKGROUND
The implementation of the dragon fruit GAP project has been based on the development of
people’s skills in good agricultural practices (GAP) principles. The people targeted have
been: project personnel stationed at Southern Fruit Research Institute (SOFRI) and other
SOFRI staff, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) personnel in the
two project responsibility provinces, dragon fruit exporters, packers and dragon fruit farmers
both small and large holders (with priority given the project document requirement of
addressing small-holders).

The national capability has been developed by the project in a sustainable way and there has
been an increasing awareness, understanding and confidence in GAP principles, especially in
the project national team, which has been evident in their subsequent achievements.

At the commencement of the project implementation, a benchmarking survey to define
baselines for GAP being applied at the small farmer level was undertaken. 126 small-holder
farms were surveyed in the Binh Thuan province and 30 small-holder farms were also
surveyed in the Tien Giang Province.

The purpose of the benchmarking survey was to define the level of operations on the small-
holder farms compared with the documented standards of Euro-Retailer Produce Working
Group; Good Agricultural Practice (EUREPGAP). EUREPGAP was chosen as the standard
by which the farms would be compared, as this is the minimum standard that is accepted by
the high value markets of the United Kingdom and Europe and the standard the project

initiatives would seek to attain.

Some 92 questions, based on the EUREPGAP standard, were asked of the farmer (Appendix
1 – Benchmarking Questionnaire) by the Vietnamese project team and assisted by young
scientists from SOFRI. All data were subsequently translated into English, entered into a
specially prepared database and analysed by HortResearch personnel. A Microsoft® Office
PowerPoint® presentation (Refer to August 2006 Project Report: Appendix 2) was prepared
by HortResearch and delivered to SOFRI staff and to DARD staff, packers and farmers of the
Binh Thuan Province by the project leader during his March 2006 visit.

The benchmarking database is held at SOFRI and portions of the database and Microsoft®
Office PowerPoint® presentation have subsequently been used by SOFRI personnel for
training and research purposes in dragon fruit and other crops.

Observations and feedback from the benchmarking, survey preparations, implementation, and
interpretation of the data collected, gave an early indication that a demonstration model to
show and prove the viability of Good Agricultural Practices in the dragon fruit industry was
needed before small-holders would respond to project initiatives for them to adopt GAP (the
many constraints preventing small-holder farmers from adopting GAP have been documented
in the project regular reporting).

Figure 1. Benchmarking survey, questionnaire testing with small-holder dragon fruit
farmers.


A commercial model “Pilot” of dragon fruit exporter, packer, large farm and small-holders
has been systematically developed by the project and is close to meeting the selected quality
system standards.

The pilot model was set up for two main purposes:
1. To prove the viability of the pilot when implementing GAP, quality systems and
standards that would provide access to high value export markets
2. To establish the structure within the pilot that has a quality system embedded in the
packhouse, to assist the small-holder dragon fruit farmer in implementing their quality
systems, to provide uniformity of standards across the pilot, to be simple to operate,
accurate and a low financial burden to operate.

Following external audit and certification by a registered Certifying Body, the pilot will begin
exporting to high value markets. It is at this time that the true value and costs of GAP
implementation will be defined. It is expected that returns could be significant for the farmer
and there will be little problem with attracting and holding the interest of the small and large
holder at this time; indeed strong organisation of the industry and possible constraint could be
required at a later date.

This dragon fruit GAP project has placed great importance on a systematic delivery of the
project objectives and the ultimate sustainability of the intended outcomes. To address the
three bullet points of this report, it is necessary to outline the technology transfer
progression/evolution of GAP from the project, firstly into the host Vietnamese Institution,
SOFRI, and then out to the wider dragon fruit industry. When implementing a ‘people
development’ project of this type, it is necessary/important to lift each prerequisite stage
progressively to a high level of understanding prior to its replication and/or moving on to the
next stage.





2
3
1. DOCUMENTATION OF GAP APPLIED BY CLUSTER GROUP SMALL-HOLDERS

The following table documents the project training programme:


Stage Area Component Prerequisite Training Outcome
1 Project
management

 Project Leader  Knowledge
 Acceptance
 Management
 Delivery  Project exceeds expectations
 SOFRI Project
Team
 Responsiveness to change
training
 Ability to implement project
obligations
 Motivation to pass on knowledge
gained
 From project leader via
mentoring, presentations, team
interactions, etc.
 Learning from training delivery
feedback
 Networking
 Study Tour: to New Zealand
 Formal courses: e.g. NZOQ
Internal Auditor Course
 Complete understanding of the dragon fruit crop
 Being customer driven
 Complete understanding of quality systems and their
implementation to the level of the adopted standards
 Peer recognition as experts in the field
 Respect for their competence in the project scope and
nationally
 Increased demand on their quality knowledge transfer

 SOFRI
Environment
 SOFRI leadership is quality
driven
 SOFRI Leadership has set up a
strong quality environment at the
institute
 SOFRI staff quality motivated
 Project leader presentations
 Networking
 Mentoring
 Other obligations outside the
scope of the project document
 Dr Nguyen Minh Chau has set up an excellent
environment within SOFRI for project delivery and
management
 All SOFRI staff are on the path to GAP learning and
application/support
 Respect for Dr Chau has facilitated the smooth
establishment of the project’s commercial “Pilot” and
a start to national infrastructure development to
support the high quality dragon fruit industry
2 Project
delivery
 Benchmarking
survey
 Project team with the necessary
understanding and skills
 Test sample
 Training of young scientists

 Conducting the survey
 Learning through listening and
observing
 Documentation of the GAP status of small-holder
farms in relation to the EUREPGAP Standard
 Selection of farmers with project delivery potential
 Increased GAP understanding and capability of
SOFRI and DARD staff
 Identification of a suitable packer/exporter for project
GAP intervention

4

Stage Area Component Prerequisite Training Outcome
 Small-holder
GAP project
intervention
 Competent project team and
trainers with the necessary
understanding and skills
 Willingness to learn GAP
principles
 Have access to necessary
resources to make the physical
changes needed
 Have the ability to understand
and implement GAP
 GAP benefits extolled during
the benchmarking survey
 Farmer group training through

discussions, Microsoft® Office
PowerPoint® presentations,
demonstration, etc.
 Individual farmer training
through discussions, farm
mapping, and requirements
needed to meet the standards,
etc.
 HACCP surveys and training
 Health and Safety training
 Risk analysis and
documentation
 Safe use of agrichemicals
 An increase in GAP understanding by small-holder
dragon fruit farmers
 Initial training presented to a wide range of farmers
previously selected through the benchmarking survey
and DARD personnel
 Workable alternatives to small-holder farmers’ lack of
commitment to take their level of GAP to the
customer driven standards of EUREPGAP
 Project continues to recruit small-holder farmers for
GAP intervention as they increasingly become
committed
 Small-holder farmers are ready to flock to the GAP
production of dragon fruit following proof of viability
as demonstrated by the project pilot
 Infrastructure
development
Prerequisites for a dynamic quality

driven dragon fruit industry include:
 Certified laboratory services for
soil, leaf, water analysis
 Safe use of agrichemicals
 First Aid certification
 Internal auditing.
 Trainer of approved trainers
 Certifying bodies
 Standards development
 Problem solving, R & D
Promotion, etc.
 Documentation of areas to be
addressed
 Mentoring
 Study Tour observations of
working systems
Although outside the scope of the project document, this
area has been encouraged by the project leader. Dr Chau’s
quality systems skills and understanding and position of
authority and respect have led to significant development
in this area.

 Approved/certified/appropriate providers to service
the quality needs of the dragon fruit industry to the
standards demanded by the customer – BRC and
EUREPGAP
 A competitive market for the service providers to
ensure costs to the farmer are kept to a sustainable
minimum
 A strong quality-driven, organised dragon fruit

industry is established
 Pilot
development
 A commercial packer/exporter of
dragon fruit that has the
resources, desire, skills and
attitude to adopt the changes
necessary to comply with the
selected quality standards
 Quality advice for the
 Identification and project
selling to the packer/exporter –
an education/negotiation
process

 Mutual respect between pilot and project team,
particularly with the packer
 Identification of farmers for
project quality intervention –
farmers include large-holders
 Pilot packer/exporter selected and agreement to
cooperate with the project
 Full cooperation by farmers with project team
 Implementation of systems and advice delivery
 Documented quality system developed – “Dragon
5

Stage Area Component Prerequisite Training Outcome
packer/exporter to follow on its
path to quality compliance – to

work closely with the project
team
 Establishment of a documented
quality system
 A code of honesty, transparency
and understanding
 A willingness to take the lead in
the quality development of the
pilot and to fulfil the system
responsibilities to the “supplier”
(small-holder)
 Allow the project to have access
to all the data generated by the
project initiative, for subsequent
analysis and technology transfer
to other dragon fruit groups (and
other crops)
and well as small-holders – an
education/negotiation process
 Define the existing processes
and train for changes necessary
to facilitate compliance –
general and very specific
training
 Train individuals and groups to
a level of proficiency for
stakeholders to “understand”,
“control” and improve all
processes continuously
 Train the quality manager as

leader of the “quality”
responsibilities and in the role
of self assessment (Internal
Auditing)
fruit Quality Manual” in English and Vietnamese
written and presented to pilot
 Specific achievements in implementing the dragon
fruit quality manual e.g. Product traceability, quality
control, etc.
 Physical changes made in the packhouse and on the
farms and services to facilitate compliance issues as
directed by the project team
 Farm registration, location, mapping, documentation,
etc.
 Supplier contract and schedule of costs agreed and
signed between packer and farmer in compliance with
the standards
 Honest, transparent and customer-driven supply,
grade, pack and postharvest chain
3 Marketing
 Identify High
Value Markets
 That the pilot has attained
compliance with the BRC and
EUREPGAP Standards and
operates at that level at all times
 Train all pilot personnel to
understand the processes, to
keep those processes under
control at all times and have the

ability to improve them
constantly
 Train to be customer driven
 Attain and maintain preferred
supplier status with the
customer and to work together
to resolve any issues jointly
 BRC Global – Food Standards Certification at the
packhouse: maintained
 EUREPGAP Standards Certification for all supplying
farms: maintained
 Consistently high returns for product being exported
 Access to top-end markets through providing product
that is safe, legal, of the quality and presentation
demanded by the customer
 Good communication between customer, exporter,
packer and farmer
4 Compliance
 External Audit  Compliance of the pilot
confirmed by internal audit
 Internal Auditor trained to the
appropriate proficiency
 Corrective action process and
implementation
 Good working relationships
with Certifying Body
 External audit completed
 Corrective action implemented
 Sign off of changes
 BRC Global – Food Standards Certification at the

packhouse
 EUREPGAP Standards Certification for all supplying
farms

6

FARMER SELECTION
The project has continuously encouraged the forming of cluster groups of small-holder
farmers and for them to receive project training support. The project has continually included
willing small-holder farmer individuals as well as cluster groups.

During the benchmarking survey the opportunity was taken, when interviewing each farmer,
to discuss the “project”, identify areas for improvement on the property and discuss issues and
concerns of the farmer. During the survey, it was also a chance to identify farmers who would
respond to the project initiatives with those identified being targeted to receive project GAP
training.

The survey identified that significant changes were needed right across the questionnaire
scope to most properties, for them to be able to meet the standards of EUREPGAP.

Indeed the benchmarking survey was the first project training initiative, as during the farmer
interviews it was necessary to talk about GAP principles and how to achieve the necessary
GAP standards as part of winning the farmer’s confidence, so that all questions could be
answered in a relaxed and honest manner: some questions being of a sensitive nature for the
farmer. The benchmarking survey was an excellent chance for the project team to deliver the
project intentions to the region and to gain an indication of the best approach for project
delivery.

The benchmarking survey preparation and implementation enabled the project leader to define
GAP competence at all levels of the project scope and the most appropriate approach for

implementing the project’s documented outcomes in a sustainable way.

It was found that most farmers targeted in the survey did not have resources to make the
necessary changes for them to comply with the standards. Many farmers were found to be
reliant on collectors to harvest and sell their dragon fruit. The combination of small farm size,
poor agronomic practices and the farmer being dependent on the collector for finance that
could involve pre-harvest advance payment for the crop indicated to the project that it would
be difficult for the farmer to respond to the project GAP initiatives, no matter how strong the
initial enthusiasm was. No provision had been made either within or outside the project to
provide the resources the farmer would require to make the changes. It was also very difficult
for the project to convince farmers with extremely limited resources to implement change
when, because there was no precedent, the project could not guarantee that, until tested and
confirmed, the farmer would increase profits from their dragon fruit crop.

The project document scope determined that the poor farmer must be targeted for
improvement. However, it was found during the initial project training programmes that, after
initial enthusiasm to make change by the poor farmers, they quickly lost interest and did not
attend more ongoing GAP training sessions.

SMALL-HOLDER SECTOR OF PROJECT PILOT GROUP ESTABLISHMENT
The project shifted its stance slightly by targeting farmers that had the willingness, ability and
resources to exploit the project’s GAP training, to establish a pilot of a packer/exporter and a
group of farmers that were serious about making the quality changes.

Considerable urgency was placed on the establishment of the pilot. The project has
consistently extolled the benefits of GAP to the farmers in the areas of improved living
7
standards and a safer living environment, but has been unable to indicate if GAP production
to the standards required by the high value markets would more than offset the cost incurred
to implement the changes.

In spite of the project negotiating a bonus incentive payment from the exporter/packer for
GAP produced dragon fruit, the true return potential will only be realised following the actual
production, grading, packing and export of dragon fruit through a certified system to high
value markets.

The project pilot consists of: a packer/exporter, up to three large farms and several smaller
farms. The farms are at varying stages of meeting compliance and the quality systems being
established in the pilot are dynamic and can expand as new farms reach the minimum quality
standards.

The structure of the project pilot has been established so that farmers can join the pilot at any
time, either as an individual or as a group, including cooperatives. The farmers’ group, for the
early part of the pilot establishment, is quite fluid with farmers intermittently attending the
GAP training. Serious farmers have made excellent progress towards meeting the
EUREPGAP standards. It is anticipated that when compliant dragon fruit is exported to high
value markets and increased profit returns are advertised, there will be a surge of committed
farmers willing to undertake the necessary changes to enable them to receive the same
benefits.

Figure 2. High quality dragon fruit packed for export: Exporter purchase order to farmer.


Project initiatives and training are determined to develop the pilot that has robust, transparent
and honest quality systems to demonstrate the advantages of GAP, to be very market driven
and to provide a viable, sustainable and clear model for duplication to the wider dragon fruit
industry and across to other crops.
8

2. PROGRESS TOWARDS SMALL-HOLDER
CERTIFICATION AS EUREPGAP COMPLIANT AND
PERFORMANCE AUDITED
CHOICE OF QUALITY SYSTEM STANDARDS
The quality standards of EUREPGAP at the farmer level and BRC Global - Food at the
packer level were chosen to be implemented by the project. These quality standards are very
similar and compatible standards and are the minimum requirements for market access to the
high value markets of Europe. One of the key advantages of the two systems is to gain direct
access to high value markets and prevent any product rework in the importing country.

Management of the quality systems of the project pilot has been embedded in the packhouse
under the control of the Quality Manager. There are many advantages from having the quality
system managed by the packhouse. They include:
• The packer is market driven and can provide the vision, leadership and motivation to
develop and maintain the full quality system so that it conforms with the standards at

all times
• The packer can provide coordination of the quality systems from the field to the
customer
• The packhouse requires a strong quality management system to meet the standards and
these include many on-farm functions
• The packhouse quality manager can assist farmer’s quality obligations in areas where
they are deficient. This area is particularly important when lifting the GAP standards
at the small-holder level
• Distribution of technical information to the farmers in an accurate and systematic way
so all farmers are coordinated in their management and quality approach
• The operation is of a size that gives it the capability of contracting out to specialists
for problem solving
• Bulk purchasing of consumables at discounted prices
• Provision of internal audit services at the packhouse and on the farm to enhance
uniform operating standards and to ensure corrective action for non-conformities is
undertaken and closed off
9
• Costs of compliance are less to implement and manage with the quality system being
managed at the packhouse and those costs can be spread over a large throughput of
fruit.

Figure 3. Spray diary auditing and farmer training in the pilot dragon fruit production
programme.


D
RAGON FRUIT QUALITY MANUAL
A dragon fruit quality manual has been developed by the project (Milestones # 4; Draft
Manual and #8; Final Draft of GAP/EUREPGAP Manual) with the small-holder farmer
section encompassed in the overall quality manual. The farmer section documents the farmer
response to every EUREPGAP Standard Major, Minor and Recommended question.














Figure 4. High quality dragon fruit.

STAKEHOLDER SKILL DEVELOPMENT
Project training emphasis has been on improvement and development of understanding of all
the stakeholders in the dragon fruit industry. Delivery of training to the stakeholders has been
a mixture of:


10
• Formal presentations using Microsoft® Office PowerPoint® to significant groups of
farmers
• Individual training for farmers based on specific functions, for example, land/dragon
fruit plantings mapping and documentation for farmers and extension officers, GAP
requirements for specific applications/farms, risk analysis surveys, corrective action
and understanding, HACCP surveys, corrective action and understanding, traceability
systems
• General discussions and prepared Microsoft® Office PowerPoint® presentations for
packer/exporter, for example, the evaluation and selection process to identify the
“packer/exporter” for the pilot, to define the expectations of the pilot and to ensure
capability with the project requirements for the intended outcomes
• Understanding and documentation of the “process” from the farmer through the
packer to the exporter and subsequently the customer
• Development of an acceptable and workable documented quality system.

It is important to remember that the quality systems being implemented in the pilot are based
in the packhouse and rely on an interlocking system with strong infrastructure and team work,
honesty and transparency to assist the farmer to meet compliance to facilitate the ability to
export to high value markets.

Figure 5. Small-holder dragon fruit farmer group training.


The farmer training process being applied by the project:
• firstly creates the understanding of the GAP quality systems
• identifies the physical changes required on the farm
• imposes the quality systems
• trains farmers for an understanding of the quality system requirements
• internally audits the whole process to ensure the quality systems are operating as
described and to the standards required.

The very nature of this dragon fruit project and its requirement for a mixture of training
approaches mean the usual training session measurements of success criteria cannot be
applied. However, a more appropriate and robust and indisputable measure of success will be
provided when the pilot has been evaluated by the Certifying Body and Certification awarded
to the packer and farmers. This process is expected to be completed in July.

11

ASSOCIATED DRAGON FRUIT GAP PROJECT
At the commencement of the CARD Dragon fruit GAP Project, there was one other project,
funded by Vietnam Competitiveness Initiative (VNCI (USAID)) being implemented. The
VNCI initiative was to be a farmers’ cooperative based on a bottom-up quality initiative of
some 25 farmers, which included the establishment and maintenance of an autonomous
quality system with the employment of quality specialists by the cooperative. More than half
the original farmers interested in the cooperative dropped out during the training phase,
leaving just 11 to proceed to compliance inspection.

Every effort was made during project commencement by the leaders of both projects to
coordinate the two initiatives for the good of both projects. These efforts resulted in a
memorandum of understanding being developed and signed by both parties.

The cooperation between the two projects resulted in a lot of interaction with some good GAP
developments at the farmer level over the period of the Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU), but it also highlighted some incompatibilities between the different approaches/scope
of each project.

Some of the functions the CARD project team provided to the VNCI initiative were:
• Regular communication and coordination between the two projects
• Farmer training in specific areas of the quality system to meet the requirements of the
EUREPGAP questionnaire (e.g. safe use of agrichemicals, MRLs, physical changes
required, GAP practices, etc.)
• Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) analysis and reporting
• Risk analysis assessment and reporting
• Internal Auditing.

The VNCI initiative provided:
• Regular communication and coordination between the two projects
• Information and presentations from consultancies conducted by VNCI to enhance the

GAP projects in the areas of Market Access Study, Postharvest Handling of Dragon
fruit, and Quality Control.

Differences in project duration, quality systems and approach and project philosophy of the
two projects always meant that it would be difficult for the two projects to be completely
complementary. However, the CARD project team input into the VNCI initiative greatly
assisted those farmers to reach EUREPGAP compliance and Certification on 26 October 2006
(Appendix 2).

The main differences between the two projects included:

The CARD GAP project pilot:
• Project life of 30+ months and based on ‘people development’ to support the project’s
strong emphasis on long-term sustainability
• Strong encouragement for the development of the infrastructure and an overall
environment conducive to horticultural quality development in Vietnam
• Customer driven and targeting high value markets
• Implementation of the quality systems BRC at the packhouse and EUREPGAP on the
farm
12
• The top-down driven quality system embedded in the packhouse for leadership,
sustainability, robustness of systems, process control and operating economy,
especially for the farmer
• Implementation of the quality system to very high standards for high value customer
confidence and for demonstration to other farmers
• Farmer participation focus on the small-holder farm
• Ability to expand continually, at both the farmer and packer levels
• To provide certified dragon fruit in quantity to have the critical mass for export market
testing and subsequent supply.

The VNCI initiative pilot:
• Project life of 12 months
• Focused on the development of a cooperative with a finite total number – no new
members were accepted
• Only using the EUREPGAP standards for the farmer through to the on-farm packing
option
• The quality system developed was bottom-up driven and stand alone, with all the
financial burden of employing the required specialist quality personnel
• Focused on well-off farmers who welcomed change and had plenty of resources for
those changes
• Target markets have been at the commodity level e.g. The Metro supermarket chain
• Small amounts of compliant dragon fruit available for export.

Although the VNCI pilot attained EUREPGAP Certification early, it is understood that there
has been no real financial advantage to the farmers and more supplying farmers have left the
group. It will be difficult for the VNCI pilot to maintain compliance and achieve certification
renewal in October 2007 without ongoing support. The CARD project team are aware of this
and will provide ongoing support and assistance if requested/required.

Figure 6. The Project’s Southern Fruit Research Institute (SOFRI) team delivering training
to the Vietnam Competitiveness Initiative (VNCI) pilot dragon fruit farmers.


13

3. BASIC ANALYSIS OF SMALL-HOLDER, AND
EXPORTER FINANCIAL BENEFITS

The project’s systematic approach to the development of the two quality standards of BRC
Global – Food, in the packhouse; and EUREPGAP, for the farmers of the pilot, has meant that
a full and accurate analysis to determine the financial benefits of the implementation of the
quality systems will not be quantified until after certified fruit has been exported to high value
markets.

In the project pilot, every effort has been made to maximise the benefits of the GAP initiative
for all stakeholders. Some of the efforts include:

• The choice of quality standards that enable direct access to high value markets (to
avoid revenue erosion through rework of product in a high labour cost country)
• Provision of quality training and creation of an awareness and understanding by
stakeholder personnel of quality systems management for the sustainable operation of
those quality systems that included corrective action, improvement and an ability to
lift the level of operation to meet elite customer specific requirements (increased
product price generation, sustainable marketing)
• Establishment of quality systems in the demonstration pilot that are robust and
managed, as part of the packhouse quality control processes to provide economical

quality system management at the farmer level (to provide guidance and create
uniformity for the farmer, especially to those who may have constraints with quality
system understanding, farm size, quality issues to resolve when operating at the
intended level)
• Development of a supplier contract between the farmer and the packer, as well as a
schedule of costs as part of the pilot’s selected standards requirement
• A memorandum of understanding between the project champion and the packer has
established the model for the packer to provide a fee for service system to be in place
for a trial period, and through this, the farmer will receive the full product returns less
costs as per the pre-agreed schedule of costs, exporter’s fees, etc.
• The data collected through the use of this system will, when analysed, accurately
determine all costs and returns when export of certified dragon fruit through the pilot’s
certified system to high value markets commences
• The project’s pilot processed data will then be compared against the pre-project
intervention information.

In the interim, the project has negotiated a bonus payment from the packhouse for dragon fruit
being supplied to the packhouse from farms moving towards GAP production.

14
APPENDIX 1
BENCHMARKING QUESTIONNAIRE


15




16

17




18



19



20



21
APPENDIX 2
VNCI CERTIFICATION