Đề tài Developing Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) systems for dragon fruit producers and exporters in Binh Thuan and Tien Giang provinces - Milestone

1 Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development 037/04VIE Developing Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) systems for dragon fruit producers and exporters in Binh Thuan and Tien Giang provinces Milestone 8 Southern Fruit Research Institute (SOFRI) staff competent in GAP application and training 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. 2 CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................... 3 1. A CADRE OF SOFRI, PPD AND OTHER PROVINCIAL AND NATIONAL STAFF COMPETENT IN TRAINING AND APPLICATION OF GAP AND EUREPGAP METHODS AND PRINCIPLES ............................................................................................... 3 Situation at the start of the project ......................................................................................... 3 Training programme............................................................................................................... 3 Current capability ................................................................................................................... 5 2. STAFF OF PPD AND EXTENSION STAFF IN BINH THUAN EVALUATED AS TO THEIR AWARENESS AND UNDERSTANDING OF GAP AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR APPLICATION BY SMALLHOLDERS .................................................................................. 6 Attempts for involvement....................................................................................................... 6 Ongoing level of activity and understanding ......................................................................... 6 3. STRATEGY FOR APPLICATION OF GAP TO OTHER DRAGON FRUIT PRODUCERS OR OTHER FRUIT SECTORS DOCUMENTED AND TESTED.................. 7 Pilot development, quality and sustainability ........................................................................ 7 Pilot and project efficacy........................................................................................................ 8 Access to the pilot as an outreach tool ................................................................................... 9 Delivery of the pilot model to other dragon fruit production areas ..................................... 10 Benchmarking survey data ................................................................................................... 11 Manual development ............................................................................................................ 11 End of project options .......................................................................................................... 11 SOFRI company development ............................................................................................. 12 Vietnam quality initiative..................................................................................................... 13 4. FINAL DRAFT OF GAP/EUREPGAP MANUAL INCORPORATING FEEDBACK FROM TRAINING PROGRAMMES AND LESSONS LEARNT IN APPLICATION ........ 14 Manual preparation .............................................................................................................. 14 Translation of the document................................................................................................. 14 Distribution........................................................................................................................... 14 Copyright issues ................................................................................................................... 14 Current manual status and future development and availability .......................................... 15 APPENDIX 1 ........................................................................................................................... 16 Specific training documentation table from Milestone #7 ................................................... 16 APPENDIX 2 ........................................................................................................................... 19 Dragon fruit project environment..........................................Error! Bookmark not defined. APPENDIX 3 ........................................................................................................................... 19 So Tay San Xuat Trai Cay Theo Tieu Chuan Gap publication ............................................ 19 APPENDIX 4 ........................................................................................................................... 30 Dragon fruit quality manual cover and index....................................................................... 30 APPENDIX 5 ........................................................................................................................... 35 BRC Copyright approval for the Dragon fruit Quality Manual ........................................... 35 3 INTRODUCTION Much of the reporting requirements for Milestone 8 have been included as part of the project’s regular six monthly reports and in the previous Milestone No.7 report. The purpose of this report has been to briefly cover the Milestone No.8 bullet points and elaborate on those areas not previously reported on. 1. A CADRE OF SOFRI, PPD AND OTHER PROVINCIAL AND NATIONAL STAFF COMPETENT IN TRAINING AND APPLICATION OF GAP AND EUREPGAP METHODS AND PRINCIPLES SITUATION AT THE START OF THE PROJECT At the start of the dragon fruit GAP project many SOFRI staff had a significant understanding of Good Agricultural Practice theory but very little experience in the practical application of quality systems. With specific regard to the dragon fruit project, the combination of that lack of practical experience and a dearth of knowledge about dragon fruit production meant that SOFRI personnel were not confident/knowledgeable enough to undertake project responsibilities. It was necessary for the project to overcome these constraints early, so training efforts concentrated on gaining acceptance of the project leader by the SOFRI project team, and enhancing their GAP and crop skills not only to implement the project but also to understand the GAP quality processes to a level that ensured project interventions would be completed and that they were sustainable at project end. Figure 1. Non-compliant on-the-floor Figure 2. Compliant packing. packing. TRAINING PROGRAMME The training provided by the project firstly concentrated on the those SOFRI staff with the responsibility for implementing project initiatives and this was undertaken through strong mentoring and some presentations by the project leader during his periodic visits to Vietnam and intermittent communication and correspondence between visits. 4 The project leader also gave presentations to the wider SOFRI staff during his visits. It has been extremely pleasing to note that the leadership provided at SOFRI by the director and Project Champion Dr Nguyen Minh Chau has created an excellent environment for the advancement of GAP quality capability in Vietnam horticulture, which has proved to be a great base in which to manage and deliver this dragon fruit GAP project. It has been Dr Chau who has drawn the project leader outside the specific terms of reference of the Collaboration for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) project on many occasions, to ensure the maximum benefit was gained from the project. Some of those extra activities include: • Presentations to SOFRI staff based on the project leader’s experience in quality systems (GAP) • Project updates • Formal presentation at the Can Tho International Agricultural Fair on GAP • Introduction to Internal Auditing: presentation of training course for SOFRI staff • Mentoring. From the project leader’s perspective, there have been two very significant contributions during the project that have enhanced the development in capability and confidence of the national project team. One was the implementation of the benchmarking survey, collection and processing of the data and the presentation of the findings to SOFRI personnel and back to the dragon fruit industry. The knowledge gained during the benchmarking exercise enhanced the team’s understanding of the status of the commercial crop, production methods being applied and a realisation that they knew a great deal about the crop and could contribute very strongly to the support and improvement as intended during project intervention: Confidence gained! The second, and major, contribution to national capability enhancement was the undertaking of a study tour to New Zealand by Mr Nguyen Huu Hoang. Ong Hoang’s study tour is detailed in the August 2006 project report. The understanding from observing applied GAP/quality systems in a different environment, plus the formal training and confidence gained by Ong Hoang during the study tour has been immense. It has been a delight for the project leader to observe how this knowledge is being delivered to all areas of the project, to other areas of his responsibilities at SOFRI, to other SOFRI staff and to those with other crop responsibilities. Figure 3. Packer management training. Figure 4. First Aid certificates for trained staff. 5 Figure 5. Packer senior staff training. Figure 6. Packer/farmer linkage training. Figure 7. Farmer training. CURRENT CAPABILITY The response to project training by the Vietnam project team at SOFRI has been fantastic. The key Vietnamese project people of Dr Nguyen Minh Chau, Project Champion, Dr Nguyen Van Hoa, Project Leader and counterpart to the Project Leader, and Mr Nguyen Huu Hoang, Project Implementer, are leaders of the project initiatives that will ensure sustainability in the future. All three have strongly supported the project and reports of the project exceeding expectations can be largely attributed to their efforts: • Dr Chau for his setting up of the overall quality initiative at SOFRI and his respect and influence across other Institutes, Government Departments and the private sector and for creating the environment for successful project management and delivery and infrastructure development • Dr Hoa for his leadership of the dragon fruit project, his role on the Agricultural Chemicals Board, his technical and technology transferring skills and his knowledge of the crop and the GAP project initiatives to the level of the customers’ demands • Ong Hoang for his thorough knowledge of the dragon fruit crop, his expertise, understanding and delivery of GAP, quality systems. Ong Hoang fully understands the quality systems for horticulture, the standards as set by the customer; the practical application of those standards complete with documentation, auditing and improvement. He is very skilful at delivering his considerable expertise to the 6 horticulture industry in general and the dragon fruit project in particular in both Vietnamese and in English. The training programmes of the project have developed over the two years of project delivery, from initially the project leader doing all the presentations in English to farmers/packers with translations, to a situation where the training is given in Vietnamese with the project leader providing a resource support role – very effective teamwork has developed! A table of project training was presented in the Milestone 7 report and reproduced here as Appendix 1. 2. STAFF OF PPD AND EXTENSION STAFF IN BINH THUAN EVALUATED AS TO THEIR AWARENESS AND UNDERSTANDING OF GAP AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR APPLICATION BY SMALLHOLDERS ATTEMPTS FOR INVOLVEMENT At the commencement of project implementation, the team gave presentations to the senior and field personnel of Binh Thuan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD). The presentations included an overview of the dragon fruit project scope, the proposed activities during the life of the project and an invitation for DARD staff to be closely involved with project implementation. The project team highlighted the need for DARD personnel to contribute strongly to the project in the areas of farmer selection using local knowledge and to become proficient in GAP as being applied by the project to ensure sustainability following project completion. Channels of communication between SOFRI and DARD in Binh Thuan were set up by the project team and prior to each visit to the province by the project leader a formal letter requesting permission for the visit has been sent to Local Government. Through the visit permission request letter, DARD personnel are warned of the project activities in advance. ONGOING LEVEL OF ACTIVITY AND UNDERSTANDING One person on the DARD staff was nominated as the liaison person between the project team and DARD. The nominated person accompanied the project team on several occasions during the benchmarking survey, farmer selection for project input and for some of the training sessions. However, it has been disappointing that DARD involvement to the level required by the project’s customer-driven quality standards has not reached expectations. Private sector packers and farmers, through the receipt of project initiatives, have a far greater understanding of GAP and its application to the level of the customer-driven standards than do the DARD extensionists. 7 3. STRATEGY FOR APPLICATION OF GAP TO OTHER DRAGON FRUIT PRODUCERS OR OTHER FRUIT SECTORS DOCUMENTED AND TESTED PILOT DEVELOPMENT, QUALITY AND SUSTAINABILITY As has been previously reported, the project has established a pilot group of exporter/packer and farmers to provide a working model, firstly to show the viability of GAP production of dragon fruit to high value markets and secondly to be able to demonstrate the commercial model to the wider dragon fruit production areas of Binh Thuan, to Tien Giang and also to other fruit crops. Every effort has been made to establish the commercial model so that it is of a high standard that exceeds the quality levels required by the customer-driven quality standards, is sustainable through ongoing good management, has staff that completely “understand” their areas of responsibility, and can operate at a profit. Figure 8. High quality dragon fruit. 8 PILOT AND PROJECT EFFICACY Indications that the dragon fruit pilot has responded to the project’s intensive training programme to a level of achievement close to meeting the quality standards of British Retailers Consortium (BRC) and EUREPGAP include: • Product traceability, a major component of the quality system, from the farm through the packer and exporter to the market is clear and robust. At any time, product identified in the market can be traced back through the supply chain to the farm, production block, date of harvest/packing/despatch and all associated documentation (e.g. spray diary etc.). The packhouse administrator responsible for the development, operation and maintenance of the traceability system has a complete understanding of traceability requirements and importance and the system’s integration with the packhouse and quality system management • Farmer diaries are accurate and complete, signed off by the trained and certificated operator and are available to be evaluated by the appropriate authority to give clearance for product to be exported • Internal auditing of the pilot entities has developed from the formal training through to the practical application. Formal Internal Auditing trained capability has been passed on to other stakeholders, greatly enhancing their understanding of quality systems and the customers’ needs • Word of the project aims, intentions and potential have reached high value export markets and enquiries for supply of dragon fruit that meet the selected standards are being received • TESCOs have already employed a third-party auditor to undertake an ethical audit of the pilot packhouse. The audit report showed the packer to be close to the expected standards. The packer implemented the recommendations for improvement immediately, with most being completed during the audit. The third-party audit greatly assisted the project quality initiative, by demonstrating to the pilot leaders how seriously the standards are interpreted by high value markets such as TESCO. Figure 9. Farmer spray diary audit, Figure 10. Farm documentation: e.g. spray improvement and training. diary, fertiliser application records. 9 Figure 11. Farm location and planting Figure 12. Farm block identification. maps. ACCESS TO THE PILOT AS AN OUTREACH TOOL The project, in its negotiations during the dragon fruit project pilot establishment, has ensured that the commercial working pilot model will be available to be used as an extension tool when developing GAP systems to the wider dragon fruit industry and for other crop quality improvement. A memorandum of understanding between the pilot packer and the Project Champion formalises this close association between the pilot and the project team. It is intended that initially only the project team will be responsible for the outreach programme and interaction with the pilot. However, as extensionists become proficient, they too will have access to the pilot. Indeed, as more commercial units modelled on the pilot become certified, it is expected the burden of the outreach programme on the initial pilot will become less, especially when the initiative shifts to other regions/crops. Figure 14. Compliant fertiliser storage. Figure 13. Compliant agrichemical storage. 10 Figure 15. Packhouse staff cloak room and Figure 16. Packer purchase order and protective clothing. export presentation of product. DELIVERY OF THE PILOT MODEL TO OTHER DRAGON FRUIT PRODUCTION AREAS Project delivery was intended for both the Binh Thuan and Tien Giang Provinces. It was important for the project to establish the pilot to demonstrate viability and a working quality system model for replication. As the pilot nears the standard that will achieve Certification by the selected Certifying Body, outreach activities are becoming more active. Networking between the pilot and other dragon fruit farmers and packers has commenced, as have study tours by small groups visiting the pilot from Tien Giang. It has been a high priority for the project to prepare both the pilot and key personnel to a high level, so that the effect of quality dilution during the replication process is minimised. It is also believed by project personnel that industry control will be needed in the future, to avoid the quality momentum being damaged by insincere operators. Figure 17. Transfer of quality farmer Figure 18. New dragon fruit practices to other farmers. development. 11 Figure 19. New compliant packhouse Figure 20. Field visit to almost being constructed. compliant farmer during expression of interest (EoI) preparation. BENCHMARKING SURVEY DATA The benchmarking survey u