Đề tài Developing GAP systems for dragon fruit producers and exporters in Binh Thuan and Tien Giang provinces - MS3

Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CARD Project Progress Report 037/04VIE Developing GAP systems for dragon fruit producers and exporters in Binh Thuan and Tien Giang provinces MS3: Second Six Monthly Progress Report February 2006 1. Institute Information Project Name Developing GAP systems for dragon fruit producers and exporters in Binh Thuan and Tien Giang provinces Vietnamese Institution Southern Fruit Research Institute Vietnamese Project Team Leader Nguyen Van Hoa Australian Organisation The Horticulture and Food Research Institute of New Zealand Australian Personnel John Campbell, Jim Walker Date commenced 30 June 2005 Completion date (original) March 2007 Completion date (revised) Reporting period Second six monthly progress report Contact Officer(s) In Australia: Team Leader Name: John Campbell Telephone: +64 3 528 9106 Position: Project Leader Fax: +64 3 528 7813 Organisation HortResearch Email: jcampbell@hortresearch.co.nz In Australia: Administrative contact Name: Mrs Leonie Osborne Telephone: +64 9 815 8819 Position: PA, Bioprotection Group Leader Fax: +64 9 815 4202 Organisation HortResearch Email: losborne@hortresearch.co.nz In Vietnam Name: Dr Nguyen Minh Chau Telephone: +84 73 893 129 Position: Project Champion Fax: +84 73 893 122 Organisation SOFRI Email: mch@hcm.vnn/vn 2. Project Abstract Producers of dragon fruit in Vietnam have seen prices for their fruit decline by about 60% since 2000, which can be attributed, in part, to their dependence on local and nearby export markets. There are about ten major dragon fruit exporters in Vietnam but a significant proportion of the total production is sourced from many small farmers. Returns from dragon fruit could be significantly improved if small growers and exporters can gain access to new high value markets in Europe and North America. Unfortunately, regulatory requirements and recent consumer concerns over food safety and security mean that Vietnamese growers can now only export to these high value markets if they have Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) programmes in place. EUREPGAP is a comprehensive and auditable GAP programme which is now the minimum fruit quality, safety and sustainability standard required by most supermarket chains in Europe. This project will develop the basis for EUREPGAP implementation amongst groups of dragon fruit growers in Binh Thuan and Tien Giang provinces, to enable Vietnamese growers to export dragon fruit to high value European markets. If successful it will also provide a model GAP system for potential adoption by other Vietnamese fruit sectors. 3. Executive Summary This report is the second progress report for the Collaboration for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) project 037/04VIE and covers the period 1 September 2005 to 28 February 2006. The HortResearch project leader has made two visits to Vietnam during this reporting period: 3 to 30 September and 10 November to 13 December 2005. There have been no changes to project personnel during the reporting period. Mr Vo The Truyen, who had an involvement with project establishment departed for Massey University, New Zealand to undertake his studies towards a PhD in October as planned. Mentoring of the Vietnam project team has been ongoing. Southern Fruit Research Institute (SOFRI), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) and commercial personnel are included in the training which covers all facets of Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) at the various levels. Enhancement of the national capability of people and infrastructure is being given high priority by the project for ultimate sustainability obligations. Field observations for the farmers’ benchmarking survey were completed in the first reporting period. The data have now been translated into English, entered into a web based database and are currently being analysed. The benchmarking survey report will be prepared by HortResearch and delivered to farmers, MARD and DARD of Binh Thuan and SOFRI personnel during the proposed March 2006 visit. Selection of a packer/exporter and farmer group for the Top Down Pilot to receive project input was confirmed during the September visit. Training of the Pilot members for improvement towards British Retailers Consortium: Global Standard – Food (BRC) for the packer and Euro-Retailer Produce Working Group; Good Agricultural Practice (EUREPGAP) for the farmers has commenced. The training involves quality systems, health and safety, technical, traceability and environmental issues that will, when adopted, prepare the members to meet compliance with the required standards. A component of the field visits by the project leader has been to observe the current practices of the dragon fruit farmers and packers. These findings have formed the basis for the quality manual preparation. The manuals for the farmer and packer are being developed to: closely relate to the current practices, include improvements to enable the farmer and packer to meet compliance with the standards, and be user friendly. The first draft will be ready by the end of March 2006. High value markets are being identified and evaluated for dragon fruit to be exported from Vietnam, both for fruit when certified and for the project-improved fruit exported during the transition period towards certification. Inputs identified in the project document for Year 1 have been purchased. The CARD dragon fruit project has been well publicised in the local and national newspapers and television during this reporting period. 4. Introduction & Background Objective 1 To increase small holders’ competitiveness and capacity to supply dragon fruit to high-value international markets, introducing new concepts of food safety, environmental responsibility, sustainability and worker safety into their production practices Objective 2 To provide technical support and training for Vietnamese extension/researchers to improve their capacity in group training procedures for GAP implementation in dragon fruit The outputs expected include adoption of new practices that are required for entry into the European market, and empowerment of small farmers to negotiate improved supply arrangements. Vietnamese personnel from SOFRI, DARD and the private sector will be trained in the field in Vietnam and two SOFRI members will undertake a study tour to observe GAP systems in the fruit industry in New Zealand. It is intended that the development of the Vietnamese personnel, both in the public and private sectors, will be through the practical application of: • Establishing the current status of the dragon fruit industry against EUREPGAP standards through a benchmarking survey • Improving the current understanding of dragon fruit agronomy within SOFRI and establishment of systems for constant improvement and problem solving • The development of pilot models of EUREPGAP-compliant Exporter/Packer/Farmer groups in the field • Establishing manuals, Codes of Practice and the development of training material that is appropriate, user friendly, developed by the Vietnamese extensionists, and appropriate to the dragon fruit industry for transfer to subsequent “models” and ultimately other crops • Establishing the required quality systems for the dragon fruit industry to adopt and obtain proof of the system robustness, by obtaining EUREPGAP certification for the pilot model • Maximising the impact of current initiatives to develop GAP in the dragon fruit industry through full participation in the Dragon fruit GAP Project. 5. Progress to Date 5.1 Implementation Highlights 5.1.1 Benchmarking The field portion of the benchmarking survey was completed by the SOFRI team in late July 2005. Some 124 farmers from Binh Thuan and 30 farmers from the Tieng Giang Province were questioned. The SOFRI team recorded farmer information for the formal EUREPGAP oriented questionnaire (Inception Report: August 2005 Appendix 2) and also recorded additional current agronomic and technical information relating to the surveyed farmers dragon fruit production practices. HortResearch developed a web based database for the benchmarking data to be entered into. The decision to use a web based system allowed the project team to enter data at the Vietnam end, for HortResearch personnel to observe input and to assist with problem solving to ensure data accuracy. During the Project Leader’s September visit Mr Hoang translated the raw benchmarking survey information and entered data to test the web based system; initial problems were rectified and data entry was completed by the end of December. HortResearch are currently analysing the benchmarking data. Following the data analysis a report will be prepared in PowerPoint ready for presentation to SOFRI and the Binh Thuan farmers and DARD personnel. The presentations will form part of the work programme of the scheduled March visit by Dr Jim Walker or his substitute. 5.1.2 GAP Manual Development Manual development has commenced. Initially there are two sections to the manual with the farmer portion based on EUREPGAP requirements and the packer portion being based on BRC (British Retailers Consortium, Global Standard: Food). A section for the exporter will be added later in the project. Writing of the farmer portion of the manual has been based on the current practices as observed by the project team with achievable improvements for farmers to meet EUREPGAP standards and is almost complete. The Packer portion of the manual is yet to be developed; however, a lot of material for the manual has been accumulated, packer staff training has commenced, packhouse layout and quality systems improvements have been initiated. It has been observed that infrastructure to support a horticulture industry based on quality in Vietnam needs to be improved. A considerable amount of effort has been dedicated to the development of essential components that support the quality systems being developed: Hazard analysis and Critical Control Point Health and Safety Safe Agrichemical Handling Approved service providers for: First Aid Soil, leaf and water analysis laboratories Trainers of industry training. Most of the components that are being developed form part of the GAP Manual and are intended as the basis for improved Vietnam horticulture industry infrastructure. An additional compliance layer to the Manual is being developed in the form of Codes of Practice for several aspects of dragon fruit production: Agrichemicals – approved chemicals, residue levels, withholding periods, etc. Agrichemical diary – clearance to export Crop production – Individual components Training material. The Manuals are being developed to closely reflect current practices in the dragon fruit industry, to comply with the certifying agencies of EUREPGAP and BRC and to be user friendly to the operators. 5.1.3 Develop Implementation Plan – Completed: First Progress Report 5.1.4 Establish pilot GAP programme for year one During the New Zealand project leader’s second visit to Vietnam in September the Top Down Pilot was established. At this stage the Pilot consists of a Packer/Exporter, his own farm and some of the packer’s contracted farmers and a project selected farmer group: The suitable farmer group for the Top Down Pilot was identified during the benchmarking survey. This group was selected on the basis of meeting the directive of the project document to target poorer farmers who are capable of change/improvement. It is intended that this group of farmers will, at an appropriate time, be developed into a Cooperative. The project is concentrating on training of this group in GAP and ultimately EUREPGAP certification as the “model” for subsequent project expansion to other dragon fruit farmers of the Binh Thuan and Tieng Giang Provinces. The selected farmer group are given priority to receive project GAP training although the packer’s farm and his contracted supply farms also participate in the project training sessions. It is expected that EUREPGAP Certification will be achieved by the three groups at a similar time. The project team are very aware of the need to concentrate on improving the revenue earning ability of the poorer farmer but recognise that it is also important to produce sufficient compliant dragon fruit later in the project to be able to reliably test high value markets. Combining the compliant fruit from the farmer group, the packer’s farm and his contracted supply farmers as well as fruit from the Vietnam Competitiveness Initiative (VNCI) dragon fruit farmers group will provide the critical mass of compliant fruit to test high value markets. Queen Farm, Hoang Hau Dragon Fruit Farm Co Ltd, Director Mr Tran Ngoc Hiep, was selected as the packhouse for the project Top Down Pilot. Mr Hiep has two packhouses (on the one property) packing dragon fruit, one of which packs using the traditional packing system for the local and near country export packing and one dedicated to high quality packing of dragon fruit for high value markets. It is the high quality packhouse that is receiving project input as it most closely meets the requirements of GAP and can be brought up to standard quicker than any other packhouse observed in the region by the project team. Another advantage that was apparent in the “Pilot packer” decision making process was that Mr Hiep had a very strong desire to improve his packing facility to meet the standards required by high value markets and a willingness to provide the resources for any improvements needed. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Mr Hiep and the project has been prepared and both parties are working towards implementing this “Project supported Quality Packer” improvement. The main aim of the MOU, from the project perspective, is for the packer, when packing fruit for the project pilot, to be paid for service instead of buying the fruit from the collector or farmer then packing and on-selling. If successful, implementation of the MOU will enable the project to install traceability from the farmer to the retailer and clearly demonstrate all costs and benefits of GAP dragon fruit production for high value markets. 5.1.5 Implementation of Quality Systems Packer: The decision to offer Mr Hiep’s packhouse project support was made during the project leader’s September visit and a programme of mentoring of the packhouse staff commenced, also recommendations for systems to be installed and for packhouse improvements were presented. These include: An MOU was developed as a blueprint of the expectations from the packhouse for project obligations and to define project assistance (Appendix 1) A packhouse flow plan, systems improvement and recommendations was prepared and translated into Vietnamese (Appendix 2) Discussions held with Mr Hiep and his senior staff to gain support for the future association with and the acceptance of the project Mentoring and training of the packhouse senior staff (Quality Manager, Expert Manager, Farm Manager, Administration Establishing lines of communication between the packer and the project (to overcome language difficulties and for the development of the SOFRI project team) A supply contract (between farmer and packer) was developed (Appendix 3). Farmer: Farmer training in GAP is continuous by the project team. Initial training emphasis has been on the identification and development of an appropriate farmer group for project purposes, development of that group into a cooperative, instilling an understanding of GAP and gaining the group’s acceptance of the project and its personnel. Some additional technical presentations have been made by the SOFRI project team to the VNCI “Bottom Up Pilot” initiative as part of the Dragon fruit GAP Project (DGP) MOU commitment. Areas covered during the training sessions include: Identification of an appropriate group of farmers using information collected during the benchmarking survey. Care was taken to settle with average to good farmers as the project requires farmers willing and capable of making the changes necessary: the poorest farmers could not be expected to respond to project initiatives, while rich farmers are capable of applying the improvement changes of their own initiative. Farmers selected by the project will form an excellent “model” for the project to use as a demonstration when delivering the “Project” to the greater dragon fruit industry Development of the farmer group with the aim of forming them into a cooperative in the future, at a stage when the farmer group numbers are stable Application of Good Agricultural Practices, the role of GAP on the global market place, the regional trend towards high quality horticultural production, the demands of the client (Market), advantages of accessing high value markets and what it means to the farmer, his family and employees Health and Safety Good Agricultural Practice: in-depth explanation and discussions Training in specific components of GAP: Safe Handling of chemicals Agrichemical residue levels Water quality Crop production protocols Plant nutrition Traceability of product Health and Safety Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point Documentation A “Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQ) handout for farmers was developed, translated into Vietnamese, laminated and distributed to farmers. It is intended that the FAQ will allay farmers fears of GAP requirements and assist to keep the farmer group together and motivated (Appendix 4) A draft dragon fruit farm registration system was developed with all farms of the project details entered. Efforts are being made by the project team to ascertain if an existing system for farmer registration exists in Vietnam (Appendix 5) The map and location of project farms have been accurately documented using a handheld GPS (Appendix 6). 5.1.6 Review Compliance The project leader has been corresponding with Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS), (in Vietnam, Regional Indonesia and New Zealand) an International Certifying agency, to provide an estimate for certification evaluation of the project initiatives. SGS are keen to be involved in the Vietnam horticulture industry quality initiatives and it is understood that project certification costs will be at a very competitive rate. Quotations for the certification of project farmers and the packer will be requested following compliance as demonstrated by internal audits. A review of the Top Down small farmers, packer and exporter has not been addressed because of the late identification of participants and the current level of training/competence. The review will be undertaken in the form of an Internal Audit with the data analysed and presented to the various groups as part of the project’s training programme. 5.1.7 Expanded Year 1 Programme and deliver to additional farmer groups – to be addressed in year 2 5.1.8 Implement Year 2 training – to be addressed in year 2 5.1.9 Workshop Presentation It was planned to present the findings of the dragon fruit farmers’ benchmarking survey to SOFRI staff, and to DARD/MARD staff and farmers of the Binh Thuan Province during the November/December visit.