Báo cáo nghiên cứu nông nghiệp " Improvement of export and domestic markets for Vietnamese fruit through improved post-harvest and supply chain management " pdf

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Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development



Completion Report

Improvement of export and domestic
markets for Vietnamese fruit
through improved post-harvest and
supply chain management.



CARD Project 050/04VIE


COMPLETION REPORT

Date February 2009

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Table of Contents

1. Institute Information 1
2. Project Abstract 3
3. Executive Summary 3
4. Introduction & Background 5
5. Progress to Date 6

Implementation Highlights 6
Smallholder Benefits 20
Capacity Building 22
Publicity 24
Project Management 27
6. Report on Cross-Cutting Issues 27
Environment 28
Gender and Social Issues 28
7. Implementation & Sustainability Issues 32
Issues and Constraints 32
Options 35
Sustainability 36
8. Next Critical Steps 36
9. Conclusion 37
10. Statutory Declaration 37

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1. Institute Information
Project Name
Improvement of export and domestic
markets for Vietnamese fruit through
improved post-harvest and supply
chain management.
Vietnamese Institution
Southern Sub-Institute of Agricultural
Engineering and Post-Harvest
Technology (SIAEP)
Vietnamese Project Team Leader
Mr Nguyen Duy Duc, M. Eng.
Australian Organisation

Queensland Department of Primary
Industries and Fisheries (DPI & F)
Australian Personnel
Mr. Robert Nissen
Dr. Peter Hofman
Mr Brett Tucker
Mr. Roland Holmes
Ms Marlo Rankin
Date commenced
June 2005
Completion date (original)
May 2008
Completion date (revised)
June 2008
Reporting period
Final Report December 2008

Contact Officer(s)
In Australia: Team Leader
Name:
Mr. Robert Nissen
Telephone:
+61 07 54449631
Position:
Project Leader
Fax:
+61 07 54412235
Organisation
Queensland Department of
Primary Industries and

Fisheries (DPI & F)
Email:


In Australia: Administrative contact
Name:
Michelle Robbins
Telephone:
+61 07 3346 2711
Position:
Senior Planning Officer
(Emerging Technologies)
Fax:
+61 07 3346 2727
Organisation
Queensland Department
of Primary Industries and
Fisheries (DPI & F)
Email:


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In Viet Nam
Name:
Mr Nguyen Duy Duc,
Telephone:
+84 (8) 8481151
Position:
Director SIAEP

Fax:
+84 (8) 8438842
Organisation Southern Sub-Institute of
Agricultural Engineering and Post-
Harvest Technology (SIAEP)
Email:



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2. Project Abstract

3. Executive Summary
This is the completion report for the Collaboration for Agriculture; and Rural Development
(CARD) Project 050/04 VIE Improvement of export and domestic markets for Vietnamese
fruit through improved post-harvest and supply chain management.

A strategic analysis of the mango and pomelo supply/value chains operating in southern
Vietnam was completed in April 2006 by SIAEP and SOFRI staff, farmers, collectors,
traders, wholesalers, exporters and retailers. This strategic analysis process, in manual form
was provided to both SIAEP and SOFRI staff to use for development of future fruit and
vegetable supply/value chains. Strategic plans workshops were also held in villages with
mango and pomelo growers and with collectors to discuss supply chain maps, the SWOT
analysis and strategic plans developed at previous workshops and to adjust and obtain input
from a wider cross section of farmer/growers. Action plans were also developed based on
the agreed vision, goals and future direction for both the mango and pomelo CARD project
participants. These action plans aligned with the CARD Project objectives and represented
the project activities. Easy and simple to understand supply/value chain maps were
constructed to enable supply chain stakeholders to identify their participation in these chains.
This also enabled participants to identify where they added value to the chain without being

fearful of criticism. This consultative and participatory action learning approach is designed
to empower the rural poor in the decision making processes.

Two reports were produced on investigations into mango and pomelo supply chains in the
Mekong Delta of Vietnam. These reports provided information on consumer preferences,
retailer, wholesaler, collector/trader and farmer practices and technologies used in Vietnam.
Major findings indicated that:
The fruit industry in Vietnam has a great potential and plays an important role in
agricultural production. In 2003, Vietnam exported US$43 million of high value fruit to
high-income countries and imported US$14 million of fruit and vegetables. Vietnam is
experiencing difficulties in competing with other Asian nations in export markets and its
own domestic market, especially with China and Thailand. This suggests that Vietnam’s
horticultural industries require substantial development to be globally competitive.
Vietnamese consumers are demanding safer and higher quality fruit. This project has
identified key pre-and post-harvest technology gaps that reduce product quality, safety
and consistency. Targeted training programs are focusing on the total supply chain and are
providing benefits by helping to implement quality management systems and GAP
systems at the village level providing greater employment for the farming community.
This project embraces the five CARD strategies for rural development; and in particular;
strategies to increase production and competitiveness of agricultural systems; reduce
poverty and vulnerability, and increase stakeholder participation whilst ensuring
sustainability.

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• Traditional mango and pomelo supply/value chains in Vietnam are long in terms of
number of participants in the chain and the number of times the product is handled by
the participants.
• Care and attention to sorting grading, packaging, handling procedures and stacking
methods are not practiced to the levels to provide consumers with as quality assured
safe product.

• High quality, extra or super class fruit, class 1 fruit are marketed with stalks attached.
This is done to reassure customers that the fruit they are purchasing fresh fruit. These
stalks often break off during handling and transport and also draw moisture from the
fruit.
• Farmers, collectors, traders, packaging agents and wholesalers estimates of damage fruit
is from fro 1 to 2%, but surveys conducted found it is greater then 20%.
• Terms of trade and verbally agreement with collectors and farmers needs to be quickly
overhauled and a new system put in place that protects the wholesaler, collector and
farmer.
• Even though these supply chain appear to be models of efficiency, the inability of
wholesalers and exporters further down the chain to meet price and quality demands
points to a significant problems.

New supply chains were developed with Metro Cash & Carry and various high value retailers
in TP Ho Chi Minh City for mango and pomelo. This project was not involved in the
business to business negotiations but assisted in developing good agricultural practices
(GAP) and quality assurance systems.
For example:-
• Keeping mango fruit cool along the supply chain in the high humidity and high
temperature conditions in Southern Vietnam significantly reduces fruit weight loss by
35% to 61% and extended shelf life by a minimum of at least 4 days.
• A combination of new fibreboard packaging plus hot water dip treatment and plastic crate
packaging plus hot water dip treatment plus cooling the fruit along the supply chain
significantly reduced disease infestation by 55% to 93%.

Implementation of GAP, mango growers with high levels of management practices and high
input levels obtain a profit of VND 15,105,000 per 1000m
2
, 2.1 times greater than growers
with mid level management practices and mid level inputs and 3.7 times greater than grower

with low level management practices and inputs.

Bagged fruit were sprayed once with pesticides (before bagging), while non-bagged fruit
were sprayed a further seven times. This bagging method provided to consumers a chemical
free, safe product. An 87% reduction pesticides costs was achieved using fruit bagging. A
10% to 20% increase in fruit quality achieved using fruit bags across all fruit grades.

Pomelo Growers with high levels of management practices and high input levels obtain a
profit of VND 3,576,000 per 1000m
2
, 2.4 times greater than growers with mid level
management practices and mid level inputs and 3.9 times greater than grower with low level
management practices and inputs.

Fifty nine workshops were conducted during this project, to train 572 farmers and 79
collectors and wholesalers. In-field, participatory action learning workshops provided a
better understanding of how improvements to the mango and pomelo supply/value chains
operating in Southern Vietnam.

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Forty two manuals and workbooks were developed and used in the CARD Project and 22
reports were produced covering:-
• Investigation into the mango and pomelo supply/value chains operating in
Southern Vietnam
• Strategic Plans and supply/value chain maps for pomelo and mango
• Mango post harvest physiology manual and quality assurance manuals for
mango and pomelo
• Maintaining fruit quality and increasing shelf life of mango and pomelo
• Survey of mango fruit quality offered for sale in Northern Vietnam

• Economic evaluations of the mango supply/value chains and orchard
practices for mango and pomelo

In 2008, the Cat Hoa Loc Mango Group sold about 700kg to 1 tonne of Cat Hoa Loc grade 1
fruit to Metro Cash & Carry Vietnam Ltd., as a trial shipment using a new developed
supply/value chain. This fruit sold from 55,000 to 75,000 VND/kg. This is about double to
triple the normal price. At the end of the CARD Project, a contract was signed with Metro
Cash & Carry to supply 5 tonne of fruit.

In the My Hoa Pomelo Group pack-house, GAP processes were implemented. SIAEP staff
helped the pomelo group with developing, designing and implementing the processing line to
facilitate the sorting grading and packaging of pomelo fruit. They have now signed a
contract with Metro Cash and Carry for 34 tonnes of pomelo. They also supply supermarkets
in Hanoi with about 18 tonnes of pomelo. They have been trailing fruit vacuum bagging to
reduce moisture loss and extend the fruit shelf life. They have also trailed Citra Shine Wax.

This CARD Project has achieved all of its activities and outputs. I would like to thank
CARD for their support and funding for this project. It has not been an easy project to
implement and run due to the loss of staff from the various Vietnamese and Australian
institutes and lost time due to unforeseen health problems of the Australian team members.
However, I would like to personally thank Director Duc SIAEP and Dr Chau SOFRI for their
friendship and support for the Australian team members and myself. They and their staff
have availed themselves to the highest level possible to assist us and their own farmers and
CARD project participants implement this project.
4. Introduction & Background
Fruit and Vegetable crops are highly lucrative compared to staple crops. Horticultural
produce has high value-added and income generation potential when compared to livestock
and grain production. Horticulture is highly attractive, especially for small scale farmers, and
has a comparative advantage, particularly where land holdings are small, labour is abundant
and markets reasonable accessible (Weinberger and Lumpkin, 2006). This situation is

particularly true in Mekong Delta and Central South Coast Province of Khanh Hoa, Vietnam.

Ford et al., (2003), suggested the competitiveness of Vietnamese fruit industries were failing
due to poor, unstable product quality, no quality standards, poor post harvest technologies
and pre-harvest practices, lack of group co-operative marketing structures and little
information about supply chains, prices and customers needs.


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This project will address constraints by engaging with key Vietnamese stakeholders from
research institutes (SIAEP and SOFRI) and local farmers in the mango and pomelo industries
in Southern Vietnam. This project will taken account of the total supply chain network. This
project focused on where significant benefits are to be gained in the pre- harvest, post-harvest
and marketing sectors. This project will alleviate weaknesses in the supply chain and
improve the capacity of stakeholders involved in pre-and post-harvest technologies affecting
product quality consistency. Highly–specialised, targeted training programs, appropriate for
institutions and industry stakeholders will be provided in supply chain management and
planning, pre- and post-harvest technologies.

At the local village and district level, cluster development of farmer/grower groups should
ensure better on-farm prices. This will increase power to these farmers which will benefit all
members of the supply/value chain, rather than the present powers brokers in the chain.
Farm incomes will therefore increase and result in better standard of living for rural families.
In addition, if quality management systems are implemented at the village and district level
through more appropriate fruit quality standards, packaging and grading systems should
increase returns resulting in greater employment at the local village level. The flow on
effects of this will benefit the poor in the rural areas, and specifically help provide more jobs
for rural women.

5. Progress to Date

Implementation Highlights
The project has more than filled its component objectives by focusing on the total supply
chain networks and market sectors. This was achieved through engaging key Vietnamese
stakeholders (research institutes, SIAEP and SOFRI) and local farmer groups (Cat Hoa Loc
Mango Cooperative and My Hoa Pomelo Cooperatives) and local farmers in the provinces of
Tien Giang, Dong Thap, Long An, Ben Tre, Tra Vin, Vin Long, Can Tho in the Mekong
Delta of and Khanh Hoa in Southern Vietnam.

This CARD project made linkages with the AADCP project and ASEAN Training
workshops on Post-harvest Technologies and the Dragon Fruit project. Project training of
SIAEP and SOFRI staff and material supplied has also assisted SIAEP in the delivery of
training workshops for Metro Cash and Carry in their joint project with GTZ and the
Ministry of Commerce in Vietnam. Materials supplied and training carried out by this
CARD project has also assisted SIAEP staff in the ADB project and workshops to assist
farmers in developing new agricultural supply chains to supply Metro Cash an Carry stores
with produce that meet their specifications, particularly on product quality and food safety.

This project has provided training for more than 572 farmers and 79 collectors and
wholesalers. Workshop evaluations have indicated that over 90% of farmers were very
satisfied with material supplied and workshops conducted.


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The major components of this project were:
• Selection of fruit crops:- mango and pomelo were selected as the highest
priority crops in Southern Vietnam.
• A strategic analysis of the mango and pomelo horticultural industries supply
chains in Vietnam
• Mango was the main fruit selected for intensive investigation for supply chain
practices, traditional pre- and postharvest technologies used in Vietnam. The

effects on fruit quality along the supply chain was the chief focus of this
project with information obtained from the mango supply chain adapted to the
pomelo supply chain.
• Mapping and identifying strengths and weaknesses in existing domestic and
export chains for mango and pomelo, with particular emphasis on determining
consumer preferences and needs, and feeding results back to farmers
• Selection of the key stakeholders and identification of key pre-and post-
harvest and cultural constraints
• Developing improved export and domestic supply chains for mango and
pomelo
• Setting up of new supply chains, improved farmer groups/organisations for
marketing mango and pomelo

Achievements and outputs of this CARD project components
Strategic Analysis Process
A strategic analysis of the mango and pomelo supply/value chains operating in southern
Vietnam was completed in April 2006 by SIAEP and SOFRI staff, farmers, collectors,
traders, wholesalers, exporters and retailers. This strategic analysis process, in manual form
was provided to both SIAEP and SOFRI staff to use for development of future fruit and
vegetable supply/value chains.

Strategic planning workshops were also held in villages with mango and pomelo growers and
with collectors to discuss supply chain maps, the SWOT analysis and strategic plans
developed at previous workshops and to adjust and obtain input from a wider cross section of
farmer/growers. This consultative and participatory action learning approach is designed to
empower the rural poor in the decision making processes.

Investigations into supply value chain operating in Southern Vietnam
Two reports were produced on investigations into mango and pomelo supply chains in the
Mekong Delta of Vietnam. These reports provided information on consumer preferences,

retailer, wholesaler, collector/trader and farmer practices and technologies used in Vietnam
and provided to the CARD Project Management Unit in the Milestone 7 Report.

Traditional mango and pomelo supply/value chains in Vietnam are long in terms of number
of participants in the chain and the number of times the product is handled by the
participants. For pomelo, almost 80% of the fruit is moved from farms by boat to the
collectors to local wholesale markets. Care and attention to sorting grading, packaging,
handling procedures and stacking methods are not practiced. High quality, extra or super

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class fruit, class 1 fruit are marketed with stalks attached. This is done to reassure customers
that the fruit they are purchasing fresh pomelo. These stalks often break off during handling
and transport and also draw moisture from the fruit. Farmers, collectors, traders, packaging
agents and wholesalers estimates of damage fruit is from 1 to 2%, but surveys found it is
often above 10%.

Supermarkets are now setting new procurement practices and supply systems which focus on
reducing costs and improving quality to enable them to sell at lower prices. This will allow
them to win over consumers and obtain a larger share of their target market. The ability of
many small farmers, collectors and wholesalers in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam to meet safe
food levels and quality demands of domestic and overseas supermarkets can only be obtained
through investing in improvements in their production and supply chain practices.

Implementation of new production and post–harvest practices and the modernisation of these
supply chains may prevent some small farmers from participating. Many small farmers will
have to develop risk minimisation strategies, such as forming groups, implementing new crop
management and production systems, improved packaging, more efficient transport methods
and handling practices to provide a safe, competitively priced quality product.
Understanding the supply chain and where to make changes is essential if farmers and chain
participants are to benefit.

Terms of trade is usually by verbal agreement between collectors, farmers, wholesalers and
retailers. This needs to be quickly overhauled and a new system put in place that protects the
retailer, wholesaler, collector and farmer. Even though this supply chain appears to be a
model of efficiency, the inability of wholesalers and exporters further down the chain to meet
price and quality demands points to a significant problem. Also, risks faced by supply chain
participants are significant. For example one collector/wholesaler/exporter is owed a
significant amount of money, some 49 million VND after exporting mango fruit. Their
options are extremely limited in options to receive payment for fruit all ready supplied.
Many collectors, wholesalers, traders, transporters and middlemen act in an opportunistic
way in order to minimise the risk of opportunism, resulting in less-than-desirable supply
chains. Weaknesses in the Vietnamese legal system fail to address oblivious and dubious
transactions, adding to less than desirable supply chains operating in Southern Vietnam.

Supply/Value Chain Maps
Easy and simple to understand supply/value chain maps were constructed to enable supply
chain stakeholders to identify their participation in these chains. This also enabled
participants to identify where they added value to the chain without being fearful of criticism.
During this phase in the project, identification of strengths and weakness of each chain was
undertaken without participants losing face.

Prior to developing supply chain maps for mango and pomelo farmers in the Mekong Delta
in southern Vietnam, many chain participants felt that they had an excellent product, but data
collected from supply chain sampling revealed losses of up to 40% for mango and 30% for
pomelo. This mapping revealed that losses were due to incorrect handling procedures, no
cool chain, poor packaging, inadequate transport and stacking systems employed. This
indicated a lack of infrastructure, knowledge and skills along the supply/value chain.


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Both vertical and horizontal integration of a supply chains has to occur if chains are to be
effective and efficient. Whilst all participants involved in these strategic supply chain
development process find it easy to analyse their existing chains and develop new chains, the
underlying principles of developing high levels of trust, open effective communication and
information flows are very difficult to achieve due to the business culture operating in these
transitional economies.

Strategic and Action Plans
Development of strategic plans and action plans for mango and pomelo industries was also
undertaken in April 2006. This CARD Project then implemented these action plans for
mango and pomelo over the lifetime of this project.

Top 5 Priority for Strategic Plan:- Listing in Order of Importance for Mango Industry
1. Improve production process (e.g. follow GAP)
2. Need to improve the linkages between farmers – traders – customers. Scientists and
government also need to be involved.
3. Need market information for export and domestic markets
4. Improve packing and storing procedures/Need technical support to improve storing,
packing and packaging material
5. Government to help with planning and development for specialised fruit growing area

Top 5 Priority for Strategic Plan:- Listing in Order of Importance for Pomelo Industry
1. Supporting techniques from seedling –farming-harvesting (Guidance for GAP)
2. Advice/counsel on standards/specifications of products
3. Intensively farming & programming production area
4. Training on IPM
5. Improving applicability of farming techniques and technologies of harvesting,
packing and transporting

Training

• Training of key stakeholders based on the strategic and action plans developed
was conducted to increase knowledge and fill capacity gaps to reduce major
weaknesses in pre-and post-harvest technologies affecting product quality and
consistency. These highly targeted and specialised training programs were
provided to the Vietnamese institutes, farmers and cooperatives in the
Mekong Delta and Khan Hoa Provinces in Southern Vietnam to meet the
major project components and objectives. Training by the Australia team,
SIAEP and SOFRI staff conducted 56 workshops in all between November
2005 and December 2008.

Additional farmer training courses were carried out by both SIAEP and SOFRI in June 2006,
May 2007 and June 2008 in the Mekong Delta and Khanh Hoa Province. Further impromptu
training sessions were held with farmers and farmer groups (cooperatives) during SIAEP and
SOFRI staff visits to the various farms, farmer groups pack houses and wholesalers.

The success of these workshops were documented and reported to the CARD Project
Management Unit in Milestone 10. A summary of all the farmer workshop evaluations
showed that:-

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• 75% of all farmer workshop participants found the workbooks/manuals very useful
with the remaining 25% indicating that they were useful.
• 52% understood the concepts very well and 47% having a understanding of the
concepts
• 49% reported that all the information was new to them with 50% indicating that most
of the information was new to them
• 73% indicated the information was very useful to them for their work with the
remaining 27% indicating it was useful
• 83% of all the farmers workshop participants indicated the methods and process
would be used in their work with the remaining 17% indicating it would be useful

• 81% of all farmers who attended the workshops indicated that they were highly
satisfied with the training with the remaining 19% saying that they were satisfied
• 94% of all farmers’ participants wanted further training.

A summary of all the train the trainer workshop evaluations showed that:-
• 71% of SIAEP and SOFRI staff who attended the training workshops indicated the
workbooks and manuals very useful with remaining 29% indicating that they were
useful.
• 59% of SIAEP and SOFRI staff at the workshops understood the concepts very well
with the remaining 41% indicated they understood the concepts
• 48% of SIAEP and SOFRI staff at the workshops indicted that all of the information
was new to them with the remaining 52% indicating that most of it was new to them
• 73% of SIAEP and SOFRI staff at the workshops indicated that this information
would be very useful in their work with the remaining 27% indication it would be
useful
• 85% of SIAEP and SOFRI staff at the workshops indicated that methods and
processes would be very useful in their work with the remaining 15% indicating that
the methods and process would be useful
• 93% of SIAEP and SOFRI staff at the workshops indicated they wanted further
training
• 79% of SIAEP and SOFRI staff at the workshops indicated that they were highly
satisfied with the training with the remaining 21% indicating they were mostly
satisfied

New supply chains were developed with Metro Cash & Carry and various retailers in TP Ho
Chi Mint City for mango and pomelo. This project was not involved in the business to
business negotiations but assisted in developing GAP and quality assurance systems. As part
of the development of these new supply/value chains an economic analysis was conducted
and a report was prepared and provided to the CARD Project Management Unit as part of
Milestone 10. This training and monitoring and results of the analysis of the new supply

chains, development of the quality standards for mango and pomelo; fulfil the CARD Project
activities 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12 and 13.


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The objectives of the project were:
• Improved pre-harvest technologies to produce high quality mango (integrated pest
and disease management (IPDM), integrated crop management (ICM), fruit fly
control, maturity indices, reduced pesticide residues, better environmental and human
health issues in Vietnam)
• Improved mango and pomelo post-harvest technologies (e.g. cool chain management,
packaging, post-harvest dipping, ethylene ripening, waxing, washing and wetting
agents)
• Improved quality standards and quality assurance programs for mango and pomelo.
The approach and methodologies developed for these crops through this project can
be applied to other fruits and vegetables
• Mapping of current supply chains to domestic and selected export markets, with
particular emphasis on determining consumer preferences and needs, and reporting
results back to farmers
• Provide a better understanding and possible improvements of the supply chain by
Vietnamese fruit industries for mango and pomelo

Achievements and outputs of the project objectives
Pre-harvest manuals developed
The Australia team assisted SIAEP and SOFRI staff to developed technical and field guide
pre-harvest manuals based on GAP. These manuals were written in Vietnamese for
Vietnamese farmers. Specific subjects covered were:-
• Mango Cultivation Handbook
• Mango Pest Control Handbook
• Mango Disease Control Handbook

• Pomelo Cultivation Pest and Disease Control Handbook.

Manuals covering pre-harvest training and were provided by the Australian team in
conjunction with our Vietnamese collaborators. These manuals were:
• Best practice manual for mango (Mango Information Kit)
• Mango and citrus orchard design
• Citrus training and pruning manual
• Farmer citrus training and pruning manual
• Using chemicals (A chemical handling and safety manual)
• Citrus pest and disease manual
• Integrated pest and disease management (IPDM) system for pomelo
• Mango pest management manual
• Improving mango harvest systems

Postharvest manuals developed
Manuals covering post-harvest training were also provided by the Australian team in
conjunction with our Vietnamese’s collaborators. These manuals covered:
• Optimising harvest quality in mangoes
 Hazards to quality
 Maturity
 Disease breakdown

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 Managing sapburn and skin browning
 Ripening and storage
 Quality and grading
 Monitoring quality
 Quarantine pests packaging and labelling
• Mango postharvest manual
 Fruit ripening and quality loss

 Harvesting and field handling
 Pack-house operations and practices
 Ripening and storage
 Main causes of postharvest defects
• Ripening room design

Supply Chain manuals developed
Manuals covering supply/value chain development and improvement were also provided by
the Australian team in conjunction with our Vietnamese’s collaborators. These manuals
covered:
• Introduction to value supply chains
• Developing food value supply chains
• Understanding and monitoring quality flows
• Principles of supply/value chains
• Supply/value chian analysis
• Developing supply/value chains
• Developing strategic plans
• Developing action plans
• Developing new improved horticultural supply/value chains
• Supply/value chain management of fresh product quality and food safety
• Understand supply/value chain and product quality
• Processes used to manage fresh product quality and food safety
• Handling and transporting of fresh produce along a supply chain to maintain produce
quality and deliver safe produce to the consumer
• Marketing and focus group training
• Designing Training Workshops for mango and pomelo growers in Vietnam
• Socio-economic analysis of mango and pomelo supply chains in Vietnam

All manuals were provided to SIAEP and SOFRI and to farmers, collectors, traders,
wholesales, retailers and exporters who attended the CARD Project training workshops.

These manuals are one measure to ensure sustainability of this project. These manuals are a
way of ensuring long-term project impacts. Manuals are of then used a source of reference
material for SOFRI and SIAEP staff as well as the local mango and pomelo farmers. On
several of the farm visits in the Mekong Delta, farmers would bring out their manuals,
proudly displaying them and discuss various aspects they have read or need help with in
trying to implement on their farms. These manuals are part of the CARD’s Project activity
11.

Practical on hands training conducted for capacity building
Several experiments were set up to provide hands on training for SIAEP and SOFRI staff.
This was done so staff had first hand knowledge of how fruit quality deteriorated along the
supply chain and how manipulating the supply chain by using various post-harvest

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technologies can stop the loss in fruit quality. These reports on the effects on fruit quality
were presented to the CARD Project Management Unit in Milestone 9.

Monitoring of results for pomelo showed that all farmers, collectors, traders, packing agents,
wholesalers, retailers and consumers use colour as one of the indicators of maturity in the
Mekong River Delta of southern Vietnam. Results established that skin colour is not a good
indicator of Nam Roi pomelo fruit maturity. The
o
Brix (sugar) and acid content continued to
increase after the fruit were harvested. This may be due to the significant moisture loss
which occurs within the pomelo fruit after harvest and the concentration of sugars and acid in
the fruit. The testing of the new mango supply chains and quality monitoring showed
sorting, grading and packaging and cooling the fruit by the farmer groups significantly
reduced fruit weight loss and damage and increased the shelf life for mango. These
outcomes and training provided covers part of this CARD Project activities 8, 9, 11, 12 and
13.

Pomelo outcomes
Results from experiments indicated that fruit treated with Citra Shine Special Wax had an
increased the shelf life. The increase was about 2 weeks compared to the control and
Vacuum Wrapping treated fruit. The change from green to yellow was about one week later
for the Citra Shine Special Wax and Vacuum Wrapped treated fruit compared to the Control
treated fruit. This delay in colour change may have some effect on the supply chains
operating in the Mekong River Delta in southern Vietnam by allowing traders, collectors,
packing agents and wholesalers to hold fruit back from marketing for about a week. This is a
significant advantage considering there are no cool chains or other post harvest treatments
applied to pomelo fruit before marketing.

Vacuum Wrapping and moisture condensation inside the wrapping also played a significant
role in increasing the incidence of disease. Fruit that are vacuumed wrapped, or have a
special anti-transpirant applied must have no physical damage to the surface of the skin.
Fruit must also be sanitised thoroughly to eliminate any possible disease infection before
applying postharvest treatments. This is especially critical for fruit destined for export due to
quarantine requirements of importing countries and developing a reliable trade mark and
reputation for Vietnamese pomelo fruit.

Mango outcomes
Keeping mango fruit cool along the supply chain in the high humidity and high temperature
conditions in Southern Vietnam significantly reduces fruit weight loss by 35% to 61% and
extended shelf life by a minimum of 4 days.

Combinations of new fibreboard packaging, hot water dip treatment, plastic crate packaging
and cooling the fruit along the supply chain significantly reduced disease infestation by 55%
to 93% respectively.

As with most fruit, mangoes are best ripened at the wholesale market end of the chain. This

will allow the fruit to travel along the chain in a hard green state reducing handling damage
and disease development. Mangoes should be ripened at 18
o
C to 22
o
C as these temperatures
will allow the fruit to develop maximum colour, flavour, texture, taste, and limit the loss of
Vitamins. If these temperatures are maintained along the supply chain, fruit will still be in a
high quality state and capable of being sold at the highest market prices.


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Development of new cool supply chain systems, packaging and disease control methods to
extend shelf life of Cat Hoa Loc mango in Southern Vietnam must be a key initiative of
Government and Institutes to ensure farmers in the Mekong Delta remain economically
viable.

Evidence of project outputs and benefits
A final workshop attended by all stakeholders was held at SIAEP Conference Rooms in Ho
Chi Minh City from the 18
th
and 19
th
December 2008, with a field trip to on the 20
th
of
December 2008 to inspect pomelo and mango grower group operations. The final CARD
project workshop was attended by CARD Officials, Vietnamese Ministry Officials, SIAEP,
SOFRI, Metro Cash and Carry, VACVINA and pomelo and mango farmer group
representatives and this fulfil this CARD Project activity 14. See Appendix B for a list of

speakers and the workshop program.

Highlights from the workshop were:-
Mango growers with high levels of management practices and high input levels obtain a
profit of VND 15,105,000 per 1000m
2
, 2.1 times greater than growers with mid level
management practices and mid level inputs and 3.7 times greater than grower with low level
management practices and inputs (See table 1 below). For example:- a framer with a 1000m
2

area of mango the average farmer input is VND 6,405,000 and the average yield per 1000m
2

is 960 kg. The unit cost per kg of “Cat Hoa Loc” mango is VND 7,600.


Table 1. Input profit by farmer groups for “Cat Hoa Loc” Mango farmers in the Hoa Hung
Commune, Cai Be District, Tien Giang Province in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam.
Description High
Level
Group
Medium
Level
Group
Low
Level
Group
Average Ratio
(times)

High vs.
Medium
Ratio
(times)
High vs.
Low
Unit production cost
(VND 1000/kg)
6.7 7.8 8.7 7.7 0.9 0.8
Unit production profit
(VND 1000/kg)
11.4 8.6 6.8 8.9 1.3 1.7
Input profit (%) 2.1 1.2 0.8 1.4 1.7 2.6
Unit of Profit of area
(VND 1000/1000m
2
)
15,105 7,332 4,112 8,850 2.1 3.7


If farmers or farmer groups implement new GAP methods and develop new supply/value
chains that market to high value retailers in Ho Chi Minh City, their returns would increase
by about 20%.

Bagging mango of fruit
Bagged fruit were only sprayed once with pesticides (before bagging), while non-bagged
fruit were sprayed a further seven times. This bagging method provides to consumers a
chemical free, safe product. An 87% reduction pesticides costs was achieved using fruit
bagging. Table 1 below show 10% to 20% increase in fruit quality achieved using fruit bags

15
across all fruit grades. Table 2 below, show the price received in VND/kg for each fruit
grade for bagged and non-bagged fruit.


Table1. Comparison of fruit grades, bagged fruit versus non-bagged fruit.
Grade Fruit Bagging (%) Non-Fruit Bagging (%) % change
Class 1 60 40 20
Class 2 30 40 10
Class 3 10 20 10


Table 2. Comparison of prices per fruit grade for bagged fruit versus non-bagged fruit.
Grade Fruit Bagging
(VND/kg)
Non-Fruit Bagging
(VND/kg)
% change
Class 1 35 000 30 000 17
Class 2 25 000 20 000 25
Class 3 10 000 7 000 43

Comparing production costs of fruit bagging on one Cat Hoa Loc mango tree to one tree that
was not bagged was 231 200 VND vs. 128 000 VND. Comparison of income from one Cat
Hoa Loc mango tree with bagged fruit versus one tree where the fruit were not bagged was
2 573 000 VND vs. 1 824 800 VND. Profit earned from one Cat Hoa Loc mango tree that
was bagged was 2 341 800 VND compared to a non-bagged tree of Cat Hoa Loc 1 696 800
VND. These studies found that fruit bagging during the May to August period could
significantly increase incomes by 27%, lifting socio-economic standings.

Pomelo Growers with high levels of management practices and high input levels obtain a
profit of VND 3,576,000 per 1000m
2
, 2.4 times greater than growers with mid level
management practices and mid level inputs and 3.9 times greater than grower with low level
management practices and inputs (See table 2 below). For example:- A pomelo farmer with
a 1000m
2
area of pomelo, the average farmer input is VND 3,244,000 and the the average
yield per 1000m
2
is 1,648 kg. The unit cost per kg for Buoi “Nam Roi” is VND 2,100, with
most pomelos sold at the local markets.


Table 2. Input profit by farmer groups for Buoi “Nam Roi” farmers in the My Hoa
Commune, Binh Minh District, Vinh Long Province in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam.
Description High
Level
Group
Medium
Level
Group
Low
Level
Group
Average Ratio
(times)
High vs.
Medium

Ratio
(times)
High vs.
Low
Unit production cost
(VND 1000/kg)
1.8 2.1 2.3 2.1 0.8 0.8
Unit production profit
(VND 1000/kg)
2.5 1.8 1.6 1.9 1.4 1.6
Input profit (%) 150 90 80 110 1.7 2.0
Unit of Profit of area
(VND 1000/1000m
2
)
6,427 2,624 1,652 3,567 2.4 3.9



16
To improve income it was recommended that mango and pomelo farmers they should
develop new pre harvest practices and market opportunities in HCMC and northern Vietnam
and look at ways of direct selling to the consumer at this final workshop.

Farmer difficulties experienced in implementing GAP
Due to economics of redesigning their mango orchards, many mango farmers believe it will
take considerable time to implement. Farmers still have to generate a living from their farms
during the redesign phase. Two forms of change were highly acceptable to the farmers.
These are:-
• gradual tree removal and replacement planting to an GAP system orchard design

• gradual lopping of large trees (reducing tree height). The implementation of canopy
management and pruning practices to increase fruit quality by allowing:-
o greater light penetration into the canopy
o better spray penetration (This will give greater control of pests and diseases
thereby reducing effects on fruit quality and help reduce chemical costs and
application costs)
o all the crop to be harvested (reducing pests and disease pressures)

Benefits of Training in GAP
Many pomelo and mango farmers are now planting monoculture blocks of trees to ensure
they can obtain GAP accreditation. For example, Hoang Gia Company has planted
monoculture blocks of pomelo (about 600 trees) in the Binh Minh District. The Viet Hung
Company has also planted about 180 hectares of mango. Mr. Hung, an orchardist and
director of the Viet Hung Company, has about 15000 m
2
or 480 mango trees planted at a
spacing of about 6 m x 6m. Trees are kept to a manageable height of less than 4 metres via
canopy management techniques such a pruning and training, tree lopping and top-working
trees to new varieties.

After training, Mango groups have initiated new harvesting procedures and process to ensure
quality standards and GAP are adhered to. For example:-
o mango fruit are harvested in the morning, but on occasions when rain or other
crop management factors intervene, fruit may be harvested at any time of day.
o Harvesting poles are used to harvest the fruit from the ground and from high
up in the tree canopy.
o All fruit are harvested with long stems (up to 10 cm if possible) and placed
into paper-lined baskets.
o Harvested fruit stems are usually cut to 2 cm in length and placed on wire
trays with stem down to allow sap to ooze.

o Paper is also placed between each layer of fruit in the baskets to protect fruit
from sap burn or rub marks.
o Fruit are left on the ground for approximately 2 hours then wrapped in
newspaper and placed into 20 kg baskets.
Mango branches, paper or banana leaves are used to cover fruit in these baskets whilst in the
field.

Farmers have now introduced a maturity index for Cat Hoa Loc Mango. Fruit are harvested
when:
• length of time from flowering to harvest maturity (84 days)
• fruit change from a dark green colour to light green colour
• fruit shape is full

17
• shoulders of the fruit are full and fruit beak has filled out
• no visible line down the centre of the fruit.

Quality guides for both mango and pomelo were developed in conjunction with the various
farmer groups collectors, wholesalers and traders via discussion group training. These
manuals were provided to the CARD Project Management Unit in milestone 9 report. These
manuals were also provided to the various farmer groups to use to develop their new supply
chains.

Activities undertaken
The achievements and outputs on this CARD project components and objectives above also
provide evidence of the activities undertaken. The activities were reported on in the six
monthly progress reports provided to the CARD Project Management Unit.

Activities 1 and 2
Project activities 1 and 2 was undertaken at the local farmer, local farmer group, local

authorities, including the Peoples Committee at the Province and District level, officials of
DARD in each province. Each group was introduced to the project activities and objectives
in November 2005 and April 2006. Eleven workshops on this CARD project, aims,
objectives and benefits to stakeholders were held in:-
• Tien Giang Province
• Vinh Long Province
• Khanh Hoa Province
• and Ho Chi Minh City Region

Activities 3 and 4
Project activities 3 and 4, participatory action learning was undertaken with all supply/value
chain participants. A strategic planning process was conducted, encompassing a strategic
SWOT analysis, documentation of supply chain customers and consumers, creating shared
value, getting the product right, logistics and distribution and information gathering and
communication on the mango and pomelo supply/value chains operating in Vietnam.
Strategic plans were developed by all the supply/value chain participants and key priorities
identified and action plans compiled and undertaken for both mango and pomelo industries in
Southern Vietnam by the selected champion farmers and champion groups. These groups
implemented the action and strategic plans that they helped developed as part of this project
and reported to the CARD Project Management Unit in Milestone 4 and Milestone 7.

Activities 5, 6, 7 and 8
The pre- and post-harvest technologies in activity 5, 6, 7 and 8 were implemented and
processes develop to improve the quality of the product being handled be the supply/value
chains participants in Southern Vietnam. For example, postharvest technologies
implemented for mango and pomelo were:-
• implementation of quality assurance measures to ensure market access (Viet Gap for
mango and Global Gap for pomelo)
• disinfestation or sanitizisation of product (de-sapping, washing in chlorine, hot water,
dipping).

• sorting and grading, including the implementation of grade standards and adherence
to those standards by the various mango and pomelo groups

18
• packaging (vacuum wrapping, waxing, and packing of their product into fibreboard
cartons and plastic crates)
• development of new supply/value chains (e.g. high value retailers in Ho Chi Minh
City, Metro Cash and Carry, agreements to exporters who export to Japan (Mango)
and Pomelo to Europe

These are being carried out by the Cat Hoa Loc Mango Group, Viet Hong mango groups and
the My Hoa pomelo group.

Testing of postharvest technologies also undertaken as part of this CARD project and
reported on in the following reports:
• Maintaining fruit quality and increasing shelf life of pomelo in the Mekong Delta of
southern Vietnam
• Fruit quality comparisons of three Cat Ho Loc Mango Supply Chains in Southern
Vietnam

Pre-harvest activities implemented were:-
• mango and citrus orchard design
• canopy management and pruning and training of mango and citrus orchards
• integrated pest and disease management for mango
• integrated pest and disease management for pomelo
• optimising harvesting and infield handling systems

A list of manuals produced in Vietnamese by the Vietnamese Institutes in conjunction with
the Australian team members for this CARD Project was:
• Mango Cultivation Handbook

• Mango Pest Control Handbook
• Mango Disease Control Handbook
• Pomelo Cultivation Pest and Disease Control Handbook.

In Milestone 9 an economic analysis on the mango supply chains were carried out and
information provided to the CARD Project supply/value chain participants.

All ideas were tested in Vietnam and the Australian and Vietnamese specialists assisted in
the development of these supply/value chains and markets. All project participants provided
feedback via evaluation surveys conducted and these were provided in Milestone 10 report.

Activities 8, 9, 11, 12 and 13
In completing activity 8, investigations into the mango and pomelo supply chain operating in
Southern Vietnam were undertaken and reported on to the local farmers, farmer groups,
wholesalers, and collectors. Two reports on these chains were produced and provided to the
CARD Project Management Unit in Milestone 9. From this work, preliminary grade
standards were developed for both pomelo and mango and quality manuals developed in
conjunction with all CARD project participants.

Testing of mango and pomelo varieties supply/value chains, plus the experiments carried out
on fruit quality and shelf life and the training conducted in quality monitoring which
completed activity 9.


19
The above work reported on and coupled with the development of the quality standards and
training manuals in pre-harvest and post-harvest and supply/value chain activities in
Southern Vietnam for pomelo and mango completes activity 11, 12 and 13.

Activity 10

Training of SIAEP and SOFRI staff in running focus group was conducted and a manual
developed by the Australian team. Also training was conducted and manuals developed by
the Australian team on external and internal forces affecting produce quality management
and transport and handling for the Vietnamese CARD Project Participants.

Unfortunately, the excursion to China to develop markets and gain consumer information
was cancelled due to importation regulations imposed by the by Chinese. These regulations
stopped our group from taking mango and pomelo fruit into China and conducting focus
group meetings. The CARD Project Unit directed us to increase our efforts to develop
supply/value chains to Ho Chi Minh City by developing new type supply/value chains,
similar to those supplying Metro Cash and Carry.

Activity 14
A final CARD Project workshop was held for supply/value chain participants at SIAEP
Conference Rooms in Ho Chi Minh City from the 18
th
and 19
th
December 2008, with a field
trip to on the 20
th
of December 2008 to inspect pomelo and mango grower group operations.

Inputs
Allocation of Resources
The Australian team members spent considerable amount of time collating information
suitable for the Vietnamese mango and pomelo industries. Australian team members wrote
training manuals, workbooks and develop PowerPoint presentations which were used to train
SIAEP, SOFRI staff, and the CARD Project participants:- farmers, farmer groups, collectors,
traders, wholesalers, exporters and retailers.

For example:- the Australian team leader (Mr Nissen) exceeded his time allocation of 226
days in Australian by a further 30%. Mr Nissen also far exceeded his initial project allocated
time to be in Vietnam by 40%. Mr Nissen combined CARD project travel with other
overseas ACIAR project travel commitments to reduce costs and travel time commitments.
The extra time Mr Nissen spent in country enabled this project to achieve better than
expected sustainable outcomes for the mango and pomelo CARD Project participants.

Workshops and training conducted
More than 50 workshops were conducted during this project and with:-
• Mr Nissen conducting more than 30 workshops
• Dr Hofman conducting 3 workshops
• Mr Holmes conducting 3 workshops
• Mr Tucker conducting 2 workshops
• Dr Marques conducting 2 workshops
Ms Rankin, when working on the project assisted the Australia team with more than 12
workshops.


20
More than 572 farmers and 79 collectors and wholesalers were trained by this CARD project.
In-field, participatory action learning workshops provided a better understanding for
participants of how improvements to the supply/value chains of mango and pomelo operating
in Southern Vietnam.

Manuals and reports produced
Greater than 40 manuals and workbooks were developed for this CARD Project and subjects
covered have been reported on in Milestone 7 and in the achievements of the projects
objection section above.

More than 20 reports were produced covering:-
• Investigation into the mango and pomelo supply/value chains operating in
Southern Vietnam (2 reports)
• Strategic Plans and supply/value chain maps for pomelo and mango (2
reports)
• Mango post harvest physiology manual and quality assurance manuals for
mango and pomelo (5 reports)
• Maintaining fruit quality and increasing shelf life of mango and pomelo (2
reports)
• Survey of mango fruit quality offered for sale in Northern Vietnam (1
report)
• Economic evaluations of the mango supply/value chains and orchard
practices for mango and pomelo (5 reports)
• five six monthly reports

This project also provided benefits not only to Vietnam, but back to the Australian mango
and citrus industries.
For example:- exports to Vietnam of more than $250,000 of citrus (mandarin) by Ironbark
Citrus and Grapes occurred in 2006. Assistance was also provided to Emu Exports, (a
private Queensland company) set up a 100 ha mango orchard and $3 million dollar packing
facilities in Khanh Hoa Province Vietnam.

Smallholder Benefits
Benefits to mango farmers
A good example is a group of mango grower/farmers who have been stimulated into
proactively addressing and developing new and improved harvesting, handling and
packaging systems which resulted in improved net returns in 2007. This cooperative has
increased Class 1 fruit sales by 10%. New methods for picking and handling of fruit after
harvesting and packaging of fruit in fibreboard cartons were developed and are carried out at
the cooperative level. Fruit are marketed under this group’s own cooperative trademark.

This has highlighted the benefits of both public and private sector involvement in such
projects and how ordinary farmer’s can become leaders of change and build capacity at the
local level. This also provided greater socio-economic benefits to the village and wider
community.

The Cat Hoa Loc Mango Group is using the quality manuals developed by the CARD
Project. They are developing their GAP procedures for each of the member farms. They are
keeping records of chemicals and fertilisers used on the orchards for quality assurance

21
purposes and traceability. The Cat Hoa Loc Mango Group have purchased new land and
constructed a new packing and processing shed. With help from the SIAEP staff and the
CARD Project they have:-
• purchased and constructed a cool room
• constructed a ripening room
• constructed drying grading and sorting tables
• developed a specific gravity maturity test
• constructed and are using a washing and hot water heat treatment tanks to
remove contaminates, control fruit fly and diseases on the harvested fruit.
• using fans to dry the fruit on the sorting and grading tables
• packing and grading fruit into fibreboard cartons
• placing the trade mark stickers on each mango fruit in the carton
• implemented quality assurance standards such as:- the pack-house will
only accept extra, first and second grade fruit. Third grade fruit is
returned to the grower and the grower asked not to send any third grade
fruit to the pack-house in the future

In 2008 about 700kg to 1 tonne of Cat Hoa Loc grade 1 fruit were sold to Metro Cash &
Carry Vietnam Ltd., as a trial shipment. This fruit sold from 55,000 to 75,000 VND/kg.
This is about double to triple the normal price. At the end of the CARD Project, a contract

was signed with Metro Cash & Carry to supply 5 tonne of fruit. These trial shipments were
based on a primitive cool chain using an air conditioned van to transport the fruit. The
groups would like Metro Cash & Carry Vietnam Ltd., to send their cool trucks to their
cooperative so a good cool chain and high fruit quality was maintained. Since this project
has finished, Metro Cash & Carry Vietnam Ltd., has asked the group to supply larger
quantities of class 2 fruit at a significantly reduced price.

The group also supplies about 70 tonne of fruit to a processor who exports to Japan. This
processor is in Ho Chi Minh City. They artificially ripen the fruit, remove the skin and
process the pulp. This group supplies a frozen product to a Japanese company.

The Viet Hung group have also now implemented fibreboard packaging for their mango.
They have implemented good GAP for tree training and pruning chemical usage and fruit
bagging as per the pre-harvest capacity building section above.

Benefits to pomelo farmers
The Nam Roi Pomelo My Hoa Farmers Group has 26 members with at total of 23 hectares of
pomelo (and expanding). They had approximately 600,000,000 VND in capital for the 26
members. In September 2008 they obtained Global GAP Certificate 2. In 2008, based on
this Global Gap certificate 2 they exported 18 twenty foot containers to Holland and received
about 10,500 VND / kg. This is double the local price paid for pomelo. In 2009 this group
exported about 70 twenty foot containers (about 1000 tonne) to Holland and Belgium for
about 8,700 VND / kg. They have now signed a contract with Metro Cash and Carry for 34
tonnes of pomelo. They also supply supermarkets in Hanoi with about 18 tonnes of pomelo.
They have been trialing fruit vacuum bagging to reduce moisture loss and extend the fruit
shelf life. They have also trialed Citra Shine Wax. They have implemented GAP process
such as:-
• stock take for each orchard
• production procedure for each member

22
• cultivation procedures

In the pack-house they have also implemented GAP processes. SIAEP staff has helped the
pomelo group with developing, designing and implementing the processing line to facilitate
the sorting grading and packaging of pomelo fruit. Some processes put in place at the pack-
house are:-
• fruit are cleaned by water solution containing chlorine at 150 ppm
• trialling vacuum bagging and drying by fan of pomelo fruit for export to Europe
• trialling the use net bagging of fruit
• placing an origin stamp on fruit
• constructed a cool room
This group ise continuing to expand and has negotiated with the local authority to increase
their pack-house size. They are building new cold rooms on the land next to the pack-house.
They also indicated that they need support from government to enable them to borrow money
at low interest rate.

Export markets demand clean fruit; smut or skin disease is not allowed. About 70% of fruit
sent or collected by the cooperative has disease and smut on skin. Handling this fruit adds a
significant cost to the group’s pack-house operations. Special infield fruit bags for pomelo
were supplied to this group to trial. Fruit bagging of pomelo should significantly decrease
pest and disease attacking the fruit.

Capacity Building
Training methods
During the life of this CARD Project, capacity building was conducted using hands on
training in train the trainer methods for both SIAEP and SOFRI staff. This training was
conducted by Australian team (Mr Nissen, Mr Holmes, Mr Tucker, Dr Hofman and Dr
Marques and Dr Rankin) on pre- and post-harvest technologies and supply/value chains
affecting mango and pomelo product in Vietnam.

Farmer training was then conducted by SIAEP and SOFRI staff with the assistance of the
Australian team in the Southern Vietnam Provinces of :
• Ho Chi Minh
• Tien Giang
• Lon An
• Ben Tre
• Dong Thap
• Vinh Long
• Tra Vinh
• Can Tho
• Khanh Hoa

The Australian team members assisted SOFRI and SIAEP Staff in using participatory action
learning methods via participant training participant and farmer schools held at various
locations at SIAEP and SOFRI facilities, local party commune rooms, training halls and on
farmer properties in the Mekong Delta and Khanh Hoa Province of Southern Vietnam. This
training method (adult learning based on participatory action learning principles) is

23
completely different to the traditional Vietnamese training methods they have provided to
their farmers in the past. A summary farmer training conducted by this card project is
presented above in the achievements and outputs of the CARD Project components, training
section above. Further reports on capacity building and how successful this training
conducted was by this CARD project trainers were presented in Milestone 10.

A manual and workbook was developed and written by the Australian team for the
Vietnamese institutes SIAEP and SOFRI. This manual and workbook was titled:-
• Designing Training Workshops for mango and Pomelo Growers in
Vietnam.

Train the trainer training was then conducted by the Australian team to assist SIEAP and
SOFRI staff to develop training programs for Vietnamese farmers based on adult learning
participatory action learning principles. They also received training in the ORID analysis –
evaluating the success of workshops and Bennett’s Hierarchy for Supply Chain Project
Evaluation. These training activities were reported on in the six monthly CARD Project
reports and Milestone 7.

Developing manuals and workbooks suited to educating farmers
The Australia team also assisted SIAEP and SOFI staff to developed technical and field
guide manuals based on good agricultural principles (GAP). These new ideas and
approaches to writing manuals, layout and structure were provided to SIAEP and SOFRI
staff by the Australian team. These manuals were written in Vietnamese for Vietnamese
farmers and then translated into English. Specific subjects covered were:-
o Mango Cultivation Handbook
o Mango Pest Control Handbook
o Mango Disease Control Handbook
o Pomelo Cultivation Pest and Disease Control Handbook.

These manuals were provided to Vietnamese farmers during the training workshops. These
manuals are written in an easy to read format, with easily recognisable pictures showing
critical points which must be implemented to undertake good on farm GAP implementation
practices.

The quality guides for mango (Cat Hoa Loc Mango Quality Guide) and pomelo (2 guides -
Da Xanh and Nam Roi quality guides) were developed by the Australian team in conjunction
with SIAEP and SOFRI staff as well as collectors, wholesalers and retailers participating in
the mango and pomelo supply/value chains in Southern Vietnam. Process on how to develop
these manuals were provided by the Australian team members to the Staff of SIAEP and
SOFRI so they can develop new manuals for different fruit and vegetable industries
operating in Vietnam.

Methodologies and process to develop new supply/value chains
The Australian team trained the Vietnamese institutes (SIAEP and SOFRI), Vietnamese
farmer, farmer groups, collectors, traders, wholesalers and exporters in a strategic planning
process, supply/value chain analysis methods, supply chian mapping, and product quality
monitoring and assessment, and the methodology and processes to development new
supply/value chains. These were reported on in the six monthly CARD Project reports and in
Milestone 10.