AEC News, 27 September 2016: GIZ Programme to Boost Cambodia’s Organic Produce Sector

Fear of the adverse effects of chemically tainted food is seeing an increasing number of Cambodian people choose organic produce, despite its higher prices. The trend mimics that in major international markets such as the UK and US, as well as in Cambodia’s major trading partner China, which is now the world’s fourth largest market for organic produce with retail sales exceeding US$4 billion last year.

According to the Soil Association, the UKs main organic produce certifying body, sales of organic products rose last year by 4.9 per cent to almost $3 billion in the UK. In the U.S the organic market grew by 11.4 per cent last year to $43.3 billion, while in Denmark, the country with the highest organic produce market-share worldwide, organic produce used in food and beverages rose to 7.6 per cent in 2015.

While organic Cambodia rice is already carving a reputation for itself in international markets the lack of certification is holding Cambodia’s fledgling organic produce sector back from tapping into the increasing international demand for clean and green produce.

All this is set to change and soon a wider range of organically certified Cambodia produce could be gracing the kitchens of discerning restaurants and the plates of health-conscious diners globally.

Organic Certification

Seeing the “huge potential” for the Cambodia organic produce sector GIZ Asean-SAS, the local office of Germany’s official overseas aid provider, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH., is ramping up assistance to help organic producers get their produce certified.

In a deal with local organic food retailer Khmer Organic Cooperative (KAC), which currently produces about 300kg (about 660lbs) of non-certified organic produce each week for its stores in Phnom Penh, GIZ will provide technical support to develop better organic vegetable production and assist the firm in obtaining certification for its products. The assistance programme will cover two farms, covering a total of 23 hectares (57 acres).

This is not the first programme run by GIZ to boost the quality and yield of organic produce in Cambodia. Claudius Bredehöeft, project coordinator of GIZ Asean-SAS, told the Phnom Penh Post that its existing certification programme for organic rice run in conjunction with the Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture (Cedac), had been expanded from three to six provinces, with more than 1,200 farmers trained in organic production techniques.

Having an institution guarantee that products meet recognised organic standards is essential to the marketing success of Cambodia’s organic produce sector. Certification will help farmers get more return for their products, with farmers globally finding that consumers are willing to pay higher prices for certified organic produce, Mr Bredehöeft said.

The misuse of chemicals and fertilizers in the Cambodia agriculture sector is a rampant problem. Many chemicals are imported from neighbouring Vietnam or China, often with no Khmer or English translation on correct usage or handling methods. The result is farm produce that contains high residual levels of chemicals, and fields that under produce due to chemical over use.

Cambodia Organic Rice Output Growing

Photo: John Le Fevre File photo: Certified organic Cambodia rice output is expected to come in at between 1,000 and 1,500 tons this year

A draft law on food safety in Cambodia that would address the entire supply chain from farm to table is still waiting to be approved by parliament, more than two years after the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) started assisting with its development.

Speaking with The Phnom Penh Post, Leng Sotheara, KAC’s founder said: “Certification is important to build the confidence of consumers as it proves that fruits and vegetables are really organic”. Additionally, “We cannot export our organic vegetables, if they are not certified as organically grown”.

According to Keam Makardy, field operation program manager for Cedac, organic produce not only provides farmers with a good income, but also higher yields than chemically-grown crops. One hectare (2.47 acres) of land cultivated using organic methods can yield up to 66 per cent more than crops farmed using traditional fertilizers and chemicals he told The Phnom Penh Post.

The poor state of Cambodia’s agricultural sector is no secret. Vongsey Vissoth, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MoEF), recently told the Khmer Times that agricultural yield in Cambodia is so inefficient that about $200 million a year in produce is imported into the kingdom.

These claims have been verified by the UK-based think tank the Center for Policy Studies’ (CPS), whose own study found that up to 400 tons of vegetables and produce are imported daily from nearby countries, putting the total value of imports at up to $250 million annually.

While 60 per cent of Cambodia’s organic rice harvest is shipped abroad where it commands a premium price, the balance is sold locally according to Mr Makardy. Despite prices for organic produce being up to 30 per cent higher than their non-organic counterpart demand is increasing, he said.

Mr Makardy said it is hoped certified organic Cambodia rice output will come in at between 1,000 and 1,500 tons this year. Last year certified Cambodia organic rice producers doubled output from 400 tons in 2014 to more than 800 tons, he said.

It’s not only yield rates that are up for those farmers choosing organic. In a separate interview with The Phnom Penh Post Yang Phirom, CEO of Organic Farm Enterprise (COFE), the primary distribution arm for Cedac said that Cambodia farmers growing organic rice are guaranteed of earning KHR 1,650 (about $0.41) per kilogram (2.20lbs), about double the current market price for unmilled.

With help from Germany’s GIZ, Cambodia’s fledgling organic produce sector could soon be garnering a much bigger name for itself internationally, while also providing a much needed boost to the earning capacity of Cambodia’s rural sector.

23/12/201617/07/2017

Horticulture trade held in Cambodia promotes self-sustainability and extra income among the locals

Public and private partners based in Cambodia shared their efforts to promote the better livelihood of local farmers as well as consumers through horticulture trade at a fair in Preah Vihear. About 600-700 visitors visited this one-day fair in Cambodia.

The Horticulture Trade Fair held on 30 November 2016 showcased knowledge products of approximately 20 institutions from international development cooperation, government, non-profit organisations, inputs retailers, vegetable traders, agriculture cooperatives and financial institutes based in Cambodia. About 31 booths were exhibited with a number of 108 exhibitors.

The fair was hosted by Cambodia Horticulture Advancing Income and Nutrition (CHAIN) and co-organised by the German supported ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems (ASEAN SAS) project, Action Against Hunger Organization, World Vision Cambodia, Private Sector including Ankor Green company, Eco Agri Co., Ltd, KENVOS company, Sinamyang company, SOKHAPOL company, HLM company, Micro Finance Institution, Idemistu Saison Micro Finance and ACELEDA Bank.

Its aims were to showcase the Cambodia’s horticulture sector and inform farmers on financial availability for agricultural investment and opportunities to expand their production area as well as to promote safe food and nutrition to farmers and consumers and give a platform for stakeholders for business dialogue and business matching.

Ms. Marieke Van Schie speech about CHAIN project

CHAIN project through SNV Netherlands Development Organization focuses on improving the value chain in horticulture on vegetable and fruit in order to improve livelihood of Cambodia’s farmers. It implements in four provinces in Preah Vihear, Steung Treng, Kratie, and Ordor Mean Chey.

The project works with all supply chain actors, but at the end of the day, Ms. Marieke Van Schie, team leader of CHAIN expressed her strong hope to see farmers being able to produce vegetable for their own consumption and make extra money from the surplus of family consumption. She said she hoped farmers got better access to agricultural supplies and inputs and turn their agrifood products to additional money through processing, packaging and grading.

“CHAIN has been implemented for two years and I observed the farmers have been changing, and private sector and new company have shown their interests in participating in horticulture. Also, traders have confidence to work together with farmer to improve horticulture in Cambodia,” said Ms. Van Schie.

Since 2015, Provincial Department of Agriculture has cooperated with CHAIN in seven districts in Preah Vihear province including districts of Preah Vihear, Tbaeng Mean Chey, Choam Khsant, Kuleaen, Chhaeb, Rovieng, and Chey Saen in oganising farmer groups for training, following up on technical support, providing demonstration on vegetable seed and assisting in market linkage.

Deputy of Provincial Department of Agriculture Mr. Kan Salorn said at the opening of the fair SNV supported the sustainable production of vegetable and fruit to increase income and nutrition for the local Cambodians.

During an opening remark, H.E Chek Heng, Deputy Governor of Preah Vihear told that in the province almost 90 per cent of its population mainly relies on agriculture sector and in that 82 per cent is rice farmers, 5 per cent is vegetable and fruit growers, 0.15 per cent is fisherman, 0.05 per cent raises animals such as chicken, cow, ducks and pig and others rely on forest product.

The total population of Preah Vihear province is approximately 170,000.

Deputy Governor said Preah Vihear is an upland area, therefore, the main challenge of growing vegetable and fruit is water. She asked CHAIN project to continue to tackle the water issue in agriculture by providing well or pond to the farmers in order to increase crop productive in the province.

During the trade fair, Eco-Agri Co. Ltd (EAC), an environmental friendly agricultural input provider, an initiation supported by ASEAN SAS, also displayed various types of vegetable seeds, biological crop protection Trichoderma, and organic fertilizer.

EAC staff urged the visitors about the effect of chemical food, and suggested organic agriculture for both production and consumer. In Cambodia the demand for organic products has become higher.

By Saody So, ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems

19/12/201610/07/2017

Public and private partners explore solutions to reduce financial risks of climate change

GIZ & Swiss Re workshop with Asian government representatives in Jakarta

More than 90 representatives from eleven Asian countries participated in an executive consultation forum and capacity building seminar in Indonesia to learn and share their experiences on mechanisms how to deal with financial risks resulting from climate change.

Mr. Suriyan Vichitlekarn (left) – Regional Project Director of BRIA (Better Rice Initiative Asia) moderates a session with Dr. Marqueza Reyes (ASEAN DRFIP), Dr. Aryusri Kumbunlue, Thai Office for Insurance Commission, Norman Cajucom (PCIC, Philippines) (from left).

The event was organized by the “Strategic Alliance on Climate Risk Transfer Solutions” (Strategic Alliance) which is a Public-Private-Partnership project between GIZ and the international reinsurer Swiss Re with the objective to improve access to smart climate risk transfer solutions at sovereign and sub- sovereign level for selected Asian and African governments. It was the first of its kind in the Asian region organized by the two partners and took place between 17 and 21 October in Jakarta.

Asia is one of the most disaster-prone areas in the world has experienced the highest number of natural disasters worldwide in the last 115 years. Since these damages have strong peaks over the years resulting in large economic, social and financial losses, the question arises how states can financially deal with those very strong disasters.

In his keynote presentation Dr. Alexander Jaeger, the Project leader of the Strategic Alliance at GIZ, emphasized that the financial impact of climate change represents a growing financial burden for societies across Asia and that climate risk transfer solutions such as insurance is one promising option how governments can address this worrying situation.

The overall objective of the event, therefore, was to enhance the understanding of government officials on sovereign risk financing and risk transfer mechanisms with regard to climate change risks as well as to increase their technical capacities. Participants represented a wide variety of government institutions (e.g. Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Finance), the private sector (e.g. insurance companies) and development partners (e.g. ASEAN and the World Bank), which further increased learning and knowledge sharing.

Members of ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems (ASEAN SAS), Better Rice Initiative Asia (BRIA) and Remote Sensing-based Information and Insurance for Crops in Emerging Economies (RIICE) teams supported the organization and facilitation of the workshop as their field of work and the partners they cooperate with are strongly linked with the participating audience.

Mr. Suriyan Vichitlekarn, Regional Project Director of BRIA moderated the whole event. Ms. Susan Gille, Project Manager of RIICE facilitated a group work session on Developing a Sovereign Climate Risk Financing Strategy in which country groups with participants from different government institutions jointly work on their specific country issues, looked at existing gaps and developed ideas how to strengthen the disaster risk insurance framework in their countries.

The RIICE project has supported partner countries in Southeast Asia in developing and operating an innovative remote sensing technology which enables them to regularly monitor their rice production and to assess damages in case of natural disasters such as typhoons, floods and droughts. The European Space Agency’s Sentinel radar satellites are the backbone of the RIICE technology. This risk management tool enables policy makers to better respond to the impacts of natural catastrophes in particular when it is embedded in new or existing crop insurance programmes. In 2016/17 the first crop insurance pilot which integrates satellite-derived information is conducted under the umbrella of RIICE.

The activities of the RIICE project complement the goal of the “Strategic Alliance on Sovereign Climate Risk Transfer’s”: Providing governments with smart climate risk transfer solutions. RIICE can play an important part in an integrated disaster risk management approach, consisting of risk identification, assessment, prevention and mitigation and adaptation (risk transfer) by providing the underlying technological backbone. For the future, RIICE intends to strengthen its collaboration with the “Strategic Alliance on Sovereign Climate Risk Transfer” and Swiss Re in Southeast Asia.

Further information:

https://jakarta-2016.climate-risk-insurance.org/
GIZ Sector Programme “Global Initiative for Access to Insurance”: Innovations and emerging trends in agricultural insurance
GIZ Publication Database
Swiss Re Library

Ms. Susan Gille, RIICE Project Manager, presents in a market place session on regional activities and international support on disaster risk insurance solutions.

By Benedikt Lemnitzer, Remote Sensing-based Information and Insurance for Crops in Emerging Economies (RIICE)

16/12/201610/07/2017

Sustainable Rice Platform Standard: The world’s first sustainability standard for rice

Sustainable Rice Platform Standard:
The world’s first sustainability standard for rice

Sustainable Rice Platform Certified Rice

Thailand’s Rice Department, Better Rice Initiative Asia project, OLAM International, and Bayer have jointly initiated pilot testing of the Sustainable Rice Platform Standard with farmer groups in the north-eastern province of Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand.

The Sustainable Rice Platform Standard on Sustainable Rice Cultivation can be regarded as the world’s first sustainability standard for rice.

To strengthen Southeast Asia’s rice sector, Better Rice Initiative Asia (BRIA) project, a sister project of ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems, has facilitated various interventions in collaboration with different stakeholders. Beyond the project implementation, the BRIA Regional Secretariat engages in various rice forums which can support the project in achieving its objective of raising the livelihoods of rice smallholder farmers.

The Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) is one of the most prominent of these forums, in which GIZ-BRIA is also a member. With a mission to promote resource efficiency and sustainability in the global rice sector, SRP aims to offer the global rice supply sector a proven set of instruments to facilitate wide-scale adoption of sustainability best practices.

The SRP Standard on Sustainable Rice Cultivation – the world’s first sustainability standard for rice, defines an overall framework for climate-smart sustainable best practice in any rice-based system. The Standard was developed by a dedicated SRP Working Group and launched in October 2015. At the same time, a set of Performance Indicators (PIs) developed by IRRI (International Rice Research Institute), was launched as a quantitative tool to measure impacts of adoption of the Standard, or indeed any other farm-level intervention towards sustainability. SRP is now focusing on a multi-country field validation programme of the Standard, PIs, and assurance system, an activity to which BRIA is also actively contributing.

BRIA has supported the development and adoption of the SRP Standard in the four BRIA pilot countries, apart from on-farm activities for farmer empowerment. BRIA has been conducting pilot studies as part of the SRP’s multi-country field validation programme to assess the applicability, relevance and acceptability of the Standard to BRIA farmers as well as piloting the implementation of assurance schemes including the Internal Management System (IMS) for farmer groups in key rice producing countries. BRIA works with local authorities and private partners in these interventions.

BRIA Thailand and BRIA Indonesia have been actively participating in the SRP pilot testing. In Thailand, the pilot testing covers an assessment of the applicability of the standard, farmer training, establishment of an IMS, and a group assurance system. In Indonesia, BRIA is conducting a farmer survey to assess compliance of BRIA farmers to the SRP Standard.

Thailand’s Rice Department (RD), BRIA, OLAM International, and Bayer have jointly initiated pilot testing of the SRP Standard with farmer groups in the north-eastern province of Ubon Ratchathani. RD, Olam, Bayer are among the 55 SRP members. Besides, Olam, a major commodity trader, is also a partner in BRIA’s market linkages component. The pilot testing of the standard in Thailand is also considered as one of BRIA’s interventions to improve market access for rice farmers in this area.

This year, pilot testing of the SRP standard in Thailand has been verified through a 3^rd party audit. The audit results demonstrated improvements in farm performance compared against the baseline. Twenty-eight farmers from Bua Ngam Community Rice Centre (CRC) and 43 farmers from Klang CRC have been verified as “working towards sustainability” (as provided for in the SRP’s Communication and Assurance Guidelines (Pilot Phase). According to this independent 3^rd party assessment, the farmers’ compliance levels to the SRP Standard average 84% against the SRP Sustainable Rice Cultivation Standard. Since improvement at farm level may not be enough, BRIA believes the Standard will offer innovative business models to help strengthen business relationships among rice value chain actors and to enhance market linkages.

In Indonesia, an assessment survey was carried out by a local university at the end of August to early September. BRIA farmers from the three districts of Serdang Bedagai, Langkat, and Deli Serdang in North Sumatra Province, have been selected. According to this self-evaluation, BRIA ID farmers have complied at an average score of 68.7% against the Standard. The result of this study will later form the basis for further assessment by the Ministry of Agriculture on adoption of the SRP Standard in Indonesia.

The results of the pilot studies in this year will be collected and provided as feedback to SRP in order to improve the Standard and refine the assurance system. All in all, it can be concluded that the Standard has been proven as a helpful tool to assess sustainability performance of rice farmers and as an impact monitoring tool identify the risk and areas for improvement.

By Kamol Taukitphaisarn, Better Rice Initiative Asia

17/11/201610/07/2017

Agribusiness model: ‘No green agriculture, no agro-eco tourism’

Over 15 years since it has started, Taman Simalem Resort in Karo Highlands, Indonesia well combines business, agriculture and tourism and becomes a model to many. Eddy Tanoto Sukardi, its Director shares a good mix of success recipes.

‘Simalem’ in Batak Karo language means cool and pleasing.

Bringing up eco-agro tourism

“Taman Simalem Resort (TSR) started an infrastructure project in year 2001-2002. The vision is to provide eco-agro tourism aspect and to visualize the North Sumatra’s tourism industry especially the Lake Toba. [TSR is located on the hills of north-western part of Toba Lake, which is one of the highest and deepest crater lakes in the world.] The project is sub-financed by the group of [private] investors.

“We started this project with 60 hectares of a bear land with no trees in the first year. In a year later, we acquired another 140 hectares which comprise with forests. The reason why we acquire land with forests is to try to stop the villagers from cutting trees for logging. We also rely on water supply from this forest and it supplies water to the whole project.”

Getting out of a comfort zone

“In 2003, we built orange farm followed by loquat farm. Around 2005, we started planting coffee and tea. At that time, we still did not do organic farming yet. We still did it in the conventional way, still using chemical. We started converting to organic in 2011. About five years ago, we started working with the farmers and that was when GIZ came in. Initially, the team first brought the trainers and persuaded us to convert into organic. They found us a consultant, technology and everything. They supplied us, motivated us and showed us success story from elsewhere. It is GIZ’s sustainable initiative project. [GIZ is an implementing agency on behalf of German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.]

Taman Simalem Resort is located on the hills (1,500 above the sea level) of north-western part of Lake Toba, one of the highest and deepest crater lakes in the world, in Indonesia. It is located 45 minutes away from the resort town of Brastagi and can also be reached in 2.5 hours by road from Medan, the provincial capital of North Sumatra. The 206 hectare resort is arguably Indonesia’s first tourist destination that integrates agro-and-eco tourism activities within the same compound.

“Simalem in Batak Karo language means cool and pleasing”

“Also, from 2005 to 2011 we saw that the use of chemical had increased, but the productivity had not risen. At the same time, we met a group of farmers nearby who grew tomatoes and potatoes who came to us for help in 2007. They told us about their problems that the use of chemical had increased 10 per cent but their productivity had in fact decreased by 15 per cent. Other than that, they also suffered a lot from insects that pierced into their tomato plantation [due to the pesticide resistant] from the chemical spray. After that, we met the GIZ officer, Mr. Sulaiman. [Sulaiman Ginting is Regional Project Coordinator of ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems based in Medan, Indonesia.]

“It took us four years from 2007 to 2011 to take courage to convert [from the conventional farming practice to organic]. We, initially, did not believe it. We were also very scared. We were worried about our young coffee plantation, our tea plantation and our orange farm. But, our motivation to move into organic is really on the production aspect and also the soil fertility.

“We actually investigated our soil and the result showed that the level of chemical residue had increased. CN ratio [Carbon-to-Nitrogen Ratio] was not that good. The Carbon was increasing very fast so that in 2011 we decided to convert into organic with the encouragement from GIZ team who also wanted to help us to get certified [organic] after one year.

Growing trust

“GIZ help us work with the farmers. And, we have implemented the initiative until today. We still go with farmers—we still supply them with seeds, fertilizer, organic fertilizer, liquid fertilizer, organic pesticide until we buy their products at higher prices than the market rate. This is how we convince the farmers to join us. From five types of crops we have increased our yield up to 55 crops. And thanks to the technical support of GIZ, all our commodities are certified organic. The main organic products are avocado and coffee. The rest are vegetables and fruits. The compost that we use is made of cow dungs. The cows are checked by inspectors. [The process has to be] all organic to make sure that we do not feed chemical to the cows. The cows actually eat only grass.

“We have about 50 contract farming farmers. The most active ones are about 30. The rest depends on the season. These are very new to the farmers that we train them with all kind of vegetables [growing]. We harvest vegetables three times a week, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday about 800 kg to 1,000 kg of 35 varieties of vegetables, about 3,000-4,200 kg per week. Some certain crops are difficult to be organic. They depend on the seasons.

“[In the future] It is to have more vegetable crops like sweet potatoes, red beans, and something that will last longer in the supermarket, maybe, also increase plantation crops like coffee or asparagus since it grows well in the weather here. These are easier crops to be organic.

“The agro-facilities were built in 2005. The agro-center, the greenhouses were started to build in 2012. So, all of these projects, the hotel, the agriculture are sub-financed by the investors because we are looking forwards to the long term and we do not really want to get bankrupt. We are motivated by profit and we know that in agriculture it takes time to be profitable. It may take more than 10 years, more than 50 years to be profitable.”

Investing in the young: Part I

“We have an initiative to work with the students. We try to educate the local farmers’ kids. We sponsor them, about 60 students for every four months. So, one year we sponsor more than 120 students.

“Initially, about three years ago before the government started the initiative education programme that school fees were free, we subsidised their school fees. But, since now the government pays for the school fees that it is free for the education, we change to supporting pocket money for them. And, every week we have to observe them. I spend one hour myself talking with them. The fruits of this after we are doing it for three and a half years since 2012. We start to reap some benefits. One day, they will go back and learn to use more compost. Some try to do organic farming in their own farm.

“It is difficult to change the people’s mindset. The only way to change their mindset is from the young. When I came back from Singapore in 2005, we tried to approach the farmers. We tried to talk to the farmers that they supposed to plant this way, but they still refused to change. They said that they had been planting this since my grandfather, my grandmother time and they were enjoying it. Even we told them that they could increase their productivity two times, they still refused.

Investing in the young: Part II

“We have to start with the young generation. There are school kids that have graduated from the school and come to work with us before they further their studies. We always encourage them to further their study and become a leader. To have enough funds to further their studies they can work with us for one year and after that they continue their studies. What we want from these school children is that they can educate the others like we educate them and become leader of farmers’ groups.

“[At TSR] On the supervisor’s level, they are all university graduates. On the lower level, we use a lot of school students. After they graduate, they want to have work experience for one year and we encourage them to go to school instead of being labors. Since they are graduated, they should go to the university. This is how we ensure the quality of workforce as well. So, we make sure that after graduation, they will come and work with us for one year before they continue their study.

Organic: Losing or winning?

“In 2013, we received a local Indonesian organic standard. Organic leafy vegetables although do not last very long, they do not have a bitter-after-taste compared to the one with chemical spray. Because those use a lot of Urea and that causes a bitter taste especially the spinach. Second is the carrot. Our organic carrots are sweeter compared to those with chemical spray. The guests are aware on that.

“The demand for organic products has increased. In terms of the supply chain, we also supply our organic products to the supermarket every three months as well. I have my people over there standing inside the stores to tell the consumers the benefits of organic and give them flyers [every three months].

“That is also the cause of the increasing demand. We can see that the supermarkets are ordering more from us. There comes a lot of motivation although we are still at loss. We still cannot educate people from the supermarkets yet. They still want to see something very nice. But at least, we manage to educate the consumers that if you see holes in the vegetable, it means they are very pure organic. The insects are not running away from the vegetables [because of the chemical]. We overspend about 5 years since we go organic. But, our loss is cut about 25,000 USD to 15,000 USD. So, that motivates us to continue with this programme.

“The loss is subsidized by the rooms and the meals. So, the tourists subsidize the agriculture. But, if there is no agriculture, there is no tourism. They are related. If you only start a hotel with no agriculture, people will be bored. They are not going to see the scenery for three hours. So, we have to start these agro-activities. At least, take a look around the greenhouse and then appreciate the food better. You know that the vegetables are from the farm. We just want to show this feeling to the guests.

“We show most of our guests that visit us the organic farming and provide them activities that relate to organic farming. One is the coffee processing, tea processing and agro-tour. There is also agro-trekking as well. From 6 am they can trek around our agro-farm and then we also tell them our farm-to-kitchen concept. They can harvest the vegetable in organic farm. They can eat the vegetable they harvest themselves to be served on their plate.

“In term of benefits, because we are certified organic, our food gets more appreciation than before that we sprayed chemical. In term of indirect result, we get impressive feedback and that motivates others to come and see and enjoy the food as well as Lake Toba.

“One thing is that there should be a concern or awareness in this kind of eco-tourism industry. We should not serve bad breakfast or other bad meals to the guests. There should be a revolution that tourism must have education activities. The guests spend more time doing activities. So, we provide eco-activities for them like the jungle trekking, mountain bike and dinner at bonfire. We also have a handicraft center, a shopping mall with local culture.

Strong and healthy from the within

“We sell our organic vegetables to five big supermarkets in Medan. Almost every supermarket in Medan orders from us. Currently, even lower income supermarkets start thinking of us. So, the awareness of organic products is being raised. We export our organic products to another two provinces, Batang and Riau. We tried to export to Singapore but the transport cost is too huge.

“One of our visions is that we plant something healthy and we should promote it to the people nearby first. That means we should encourage people in Medan, our own place, to eat organic vegetable before we spread them to Singapore, Malaysia, or any other countries. We have to make our own people healthier first.

“We are the biggest certified organic veggie producer in Medan, in North Sumatra. There are a lot of vegetable producers that claim that they are organic but they are not certified. We are the only one organic producer in the Sumatra. We claim we are, because actually in other provinces, they are looking for the organic producers and they only call us. But, because of the low production, we cannot supply them. We send them about 100 kg per time, which is not much.

“One of the things we are doing is trying to develop our own website so that people in Medan or in nearby regions can send order to us through the website. So, this is one of the initiatives that we want to start maybe this year or early next year.

“We have a plan [in an oversea market]. We are looking for the serious customers. I mean a joint partnership. They are also willing to invest and want us to supply seeds. They are willing to make contract with us. That is a kind of partner that we want because we are worried that if we make contract with the farmers, after that, they just cut off the supply. It will not be able to be accountable to the farmers.”

Taman Simalem Resort, the Islamic University of North Sumatra, and the German supported ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems (ASEAN SAS) worked jointly together in a project ‘Empowerment of Farmer’s Communities for Sustainable Eco-friendly Practices on Growing Horticultural Crops in the North Sumatra’ from 2013-2015. The objective was to promote sustainable production of horticultural in the Karo Highlands.

The interview was conducted during the ‘In-house Workshop on Market Linkages’ organised by Better Rice Initiative Asia (BRIA) Regional Secretariat at Taman Simalem Resort in North Sumatra, Indonesia. The Workshop was attended by 30 participants from BRIA, ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems (ASEAN SAS) and private sector during 30 August to 2 September 2016. The objective was to exchange experiences and discuss lessons learnt to better develop the market linkage strategies. BRIA is a sister project of ASEAN SAS.

[wpdm_package id=’8491′]

By Giri Arnawa, Napaporn Rattanametta, Thitirat Uraisin and Rojana Manowalailao, ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems and Kamol Taukitphaisarn, Better Rice Initiative Asia

31/10/201610/07/2017

Integrated pest management in rice demonstrates promising results in Vietnam

Demo plots using integrated pest management (IPM) practice in Dong Yen Commune in Kien Giang Province, Vietnam showed rice crops grew better while farmers saved more from a reduction of chemical use.

Farmers in Dong Yen Commune grew rice in a demo field using integrated pest management in a comparision with a farmer’s convention practice.

The summer growing season in Vietnam recently brought about 1000 farmers in three provinces of Hau Giang, Dong Thap and Kien Giang to a six-month GIZ/ Croplife International’s IPM training for safe and sustainable agriculture environment.

Set up by GIZ and co-funded by Croplife International, the programme expects additional 4000 farmers to be trained indirectly through “farmer to farmer” knowledge exchange with an involvement of specialists of the Plant Protection Department (PPD) at provincial and district levels, extension services and farmer organizations. The programme runs from July 2015 to December 2017.

Thirty-four groups of farmers in the three provinces of the Mekong Delta met on a weekly basis during March to September 2016 to exchange experiences on IPM and plant protection related issues through a specific training module guided by PPD technical staff as the Master Trainers. For demonstration purposes, each farmer group established two experimental fields: one with IPM measures and another with farmer’s conventional plant protections.

At the end of the planting season, the lesson learnt was collected and summarized and the results of both IPM demonstration and farmers’ practice fields were analyzed.

Sample results in Dong Yen commune in Kien Giang Province are presented as below.

Organizing farmer group

Farmers: Thirty active farmers (28 males and 2 females) who were interested in new agricultural production technologies were selected to participate as a directly trained farmer group. The group consisted of a leader and a deputy and was divided into four smaller sub-groups for discussion on farmer field school activities.
Master trainers: Two master trainers who earlier participated in Training of Trainers on IPM at the Southern Regional Plant Protection Center (SRPPC) took care of the group.

Activities

Every week two master trainers organized IPM training classes including field survey, rice eco-system analysis, evaluating the development of rice crop as well as emerging pests to prepare suitable control decisions. The training classes were organized through the 12-week of the rice growing season.

Sowing preparation:

Land preparation: Clean the field, leveling, GAS (Golden Apple Snail) control.
Sowing preparation: Seeds were soaked for 24 hours and put in heap for 36 hours before sowing.
Two DAS (Day After Sowing) spraying pre-germinate herbicide

Monitoring Indicators

Rice crop was monitored during 21, 35, 49 and 63 DAS. In each field, four plots were selected 50x50cm) and data was taken from these four plots.

Plant height: Count from soil surface to top of the rice plant (tip of the leaf or panicle). Five plants per plot were randomly selected for data.
Number of tillers: Count number of tillers with at least three leafs.
Root length: Three plants were selected in each plot. Roots were cleaned and measured (unit: cm)
The population of main pests and their natural enemies were counted in both IPM demonstration and farmer practice fields.
Disease level was evaluated both in demonstration and farmer practice field.

Results

Seed

Both IPM demonstration and farmer practice fields used OM6976 rice variety.

IP demo: 120 kg/ha
Farmer practice: 170 kg/ha

IPM demonstration is saving 50kg of certified seed per ha compared to farmer practice. (In comparison with usual farmers’ practice, the seed rate was reduced at the demonstration plot. Achieving the same yield of 7.5 t/ha, this cultivation practice reduced the production costs significantly and contributes to a higher farmers’ income.

Fertilizer

Table 1. Applied fertilizer for IPM demo and FP field (kg/ha)

DAS	IPM Demo			Farmer Practice
DAS	Urea	DAP	Kali	Urea	DAP	Kali
15	40	70	–	50	70	–
25	50	50	–	70	60	–
42	70	–	40	70	–	50
Total	160	120	40	190	130	50
Nutrients:	95,2 N – 55,2P₂O₅–24 K₂O			110.4 N – 59,8 P₂O₅– 30 K₂O

According to Table 1, nutrients in IPM demo were more balanced and suitable for the demand of the crops in each growing stage. The seed rate in IPM demo was lower than farmer practice (FP), and the applied fertilizer was also lower. IPM demo saved 15.2 kg N, 4.6 kg P₂O₅, and 6 kg K₂O per ha compared to farmer practice.

Pesticide application

Observation from pesticide application (see Table 2):

IPM demo: Low seed rate and balanced fertilization according to crop stages facilitated a healthy crop from the beginning of the season. Moreover, insecticide was not applied during the first 40 days, and as a result, natural enemies were conserved. Consequently, the application of insecticide was not necessary during the whole rice growing season. For disease control, four applications were used, including two applications for sheath rot at 56 and 63 DAS (appearance of disease), and two preventive applications for neck blast and grain discoloration at flowering stage.

Time (DAS)	Pest/disease	IPM demo applications		FP applications
Time (DAS)	Pest/disease	Name	Dosage	Name	Dosage
3	Weed	Sirus 10WG	0,2	Sirus 10WG	0,2
7	Weed	Co 2,4D 500DD	0,2	Co 2,4D 500DD	0,2
42	BPH	–		Chess 50WG	0,3
47	Sheath rot	Validacin 5L Anvil 5sc	0,7 L 1 L	Validacin 5L Anvil 5sc	0,7 L 1 L
59	Sheath rot	Validacin 5L Anvil 5sc	0,7 L 1 L	Validacin 5L Anvil 5sc	0,7 L 1 L
63	Leaf folder Blast grain discoloration BLB	Tilt Super 300 EC Visen 20SC	0,3	Indosuper 150SC Chubeca 1.8 SL	0,3 0,3
73	BPH	—		Chess 50WG	0,3
77	Rice Blast Grain discoloration	Tilt Super 300 EC	0,3	Tilt Super 300 EC	0,3

Table 2: Pesticide application, name, dosage, and time

Farmer practice: High seed rate and excessive nitrogen application made pest and disease developing faster. Moreover, the farmer relied on chemicals for insect control especially in the early crop stage. As a result, the population of natural enemies decreased, and insect pest population developed faster. Finally, in the farmer practice field insecticides were applied three times and fungicides were applied four times for combating pests and diseases.

Result: IPM demonstration reduced three applications of insecticides compared to farmer practice.

Farmers in Dong Yen Commune learn about integrated pest managment for safe and sustainable agriculture environment.

Agronomic Indicators

Number of Tillers (tillers/m²)

In FP field, a higher seed rate was applied so they get a higher number of tillers. Tiller density reached the highest number at 35 DAS. Weaker tillers which could not compete for nutrients and light with others became ineffective and had low yields. At the end, the number of panicles in IPM demo and FP was nearly similar. It was found that the low seed rate did not affect the rice yield but contributed to saving farm inputs and expenses.

Root length (cm)

IPM demo applied better land preparation and water management at the early crop stage; as a result, the root system developed better, so root length is higher than FP, which protects the plant from lodging.

Pest and Diseases Indicators

* Brown Plant Hoppers (BPH)

Insect Pest and Natural Enemies’ Population in IPM Demo

Insect Pest and Natural Enemies’ Population in FP

IPM demo: Low seed rate, no insecticide application, balanced fertilization, protection of natural enemies; as a result, BPH population could not develop.

FP field: High seed rate and high nitrogen application facilitated BPH population development. At 42 DAS, a new generation of BPH hatched. As a result, farmers needed to spray against BPH. At 63 DAS, leaf folder appeared so the farmer needed to apply insecticide for controlling the leaf folder. At 70 DAS a second generation of BPH hatched and the farmer had to spray once more against BPH. In total, three insecticide applications were used in the FP field.

Conclusion: Growing a healthy crop and conserve natural enemies would prevent a BPH outbreak in the late crop stage. As a result, reducing chemical applications contribute to lower farm input expenses, avoid pesticide residues and protect the environment.

* Natural Enemies

Table 3: Natural enemies’ (NE) population in IPM demo and FP field; Units/m2

Day after sowing	Spider		Water bug		Mirid bug
Day after sowing	IPM	FP	IPM	FP	IPM	FP
28 DAS	1	3	—	—	2	5
35 DAS	10	7	5	8	9	9
42 DAS	16	16	10	12	12	15
49 DAS	20	11	17	9	20	4
56 DAS	24	10	35	10	23	9
63 DAS	23	12	25	8	21	4
70 DAS	17	8	20	4	19	4
77 DAS	18	3	—	—	15	5
84 DAS	12	5	—	—	10	7

Observation: In the early crop stage up to 42 DAS NE population in IPM demo and FP field was similar. However, at 42 DAS farmer applied insecticide to control BPH and, consequently, the NE population reduced significantly. In IPM demo insecticide was not applied; as a result, the NE population was higher.

Diseases

During the rice eco system analysis sheath rot disease was found in both IPM demo and FP demo so two chemical applications were used.

Thirty farmers in Dong Yen met on a weekly basis to exchang experiences on plan protection and intergrated pest managment practices.

Yield calculation

Table 4: Projected Yield of IPM demo and FP

Field

Panicle/m²

Fertile spikelet/ panicle

Grain weight

1000 (g)

Yield (kg/ha)

IPM Demo

555

7.50

613

7.50

According to Table 4, IPM demo had a lower number of panicles compared to FP field. The reason is IPM demo used a lower seed rate, which leads to a lower number of tillers and panicles. However, in IPM demo there was a higher number of fertile spikelet per panicle than in the farmer practice field. Under good farming practice, a balanced fertilization and pest and disease control, and a higher number of fertile spikelet was recorded. As a result, IPM demo and FP field expect the same yield.

Gross margin calculation (see Table 5)

– IPM demo expected the same yield as FP. The revenue from both fields would be 36,750,000 VND/ha. Gross margin of IPM demo would be 25,780,000 VND/ha (1028 EUR), and FP field would be 23,709,000 VND/ha (945 EUR).

– Farm expense of IPM demo was 10,970,000 VND/ha, and of FP field is 13,041,000 VND/ha, so IPM demo saved 2,071,000 VND/ha compared to FP (83 EUR).

– Conclusion: At the IPM demo, the gross margin is 2,071,000 VND/ha higher than at the FP.

Table 5: Farm Expenses and Gross Margin Calculation

No	Description	IPM demo		FP				Diff.
		Amount	Cost	Amount		Cost
1	Rice seed	120 Kg	1.560.000	170Kg		2.210.000		+650.000
2	Land preparation	1 ha	1.000.000	1 ha		1.000.000		–
3	Fertilizer	320 Kg	2.750.000	370 Kg		3.158.000		+408.000
4	Pesticide	1 ha	1.560.000	1 ha		2.363.000		+803.000
5	Other cost	1 ha	2.000.000	1 ha		2.210.000		+210.000
6	Harvesting	1 ha	2.000.000	1 ha		2.000.000		–
7	*Farm expense*		*10.970.000*			*13.041.000*		*+2.071.000*
8	Yield (kg/ha)		7.5			7.5
	Paddy price	4.900 VND/kg
9	*Revenue (VND)*		*36.750.000*		*36.750.000*
10	Grossmargin (VND)		25.780.000		23.709.000		*+2.071.000*

Conclusions

Directly trained farmers improved their knowledge in farm management, especially safe and sustainable agriculture, reduced chemical applications, and conserved NE. As the result, environment pollution was reduced, farmers’ health was less affected, and product quality was enhanced.
Leaf cutting of 25 per cent and 50 per cent of leafs in 21, 42 and 63 DAS showed that leaf folder may not damage the rice yield. Farmers were convinced on avoiding defoliator pesticide applications.
IPM application in the early crop stage will reduce the number of spraying.

A wide range of pests affects rice cultivation in South East Asia including Vietnam. In the recent years outbreaks of pests as brown and white-backed plant-hoppers caused by poor agronomic practices such as asynchronous planting, poor choice of variety and, particularly, misuse of pesticides have been reported.

Vietnam continues to face a challenge of an overuse and misuse of pesticides with a need to optimize pesticide treatments and eliminate unnecessary pesticide applications. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is widely considered as most appropriate to prevent crop losses through insects, diseases, weeds, rodents and others. Relevant stakeholders in crop protection including farmers and various associates in the pesticide supply chain have a common interest in maintaining the sustainability of effective pest management including the responsible and safe use of pesticides.

[wpdm_package id=’8223′]

By ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems Vietnam team

21/10/201604/08/2017

In different shades of green agriculture

Public and private sectors in Cambodia give green agriculture a pat

A recent Cambodian-German forum received 146 attendees from both public and private sectors in Phnom Penh, which made it one of the biggest green events in Cambodia to promote the use of environmental friendly inputs for crop protection.

The participants comprised regulators, extension workers, researchers, entrepreneurs, and farmers from Cambodia and overseas. The 3^rd National Forum on Regulation, Use and Trade of Biocontrol Agents (BCAs) in Cambodian Agriculture was held on 22-23 September 2016 to provide a platform to the relevant stakeholders to exchange and discuss the benefits in using the BCAs, and showcase the green agricultural success.

Highlights included a visit to three demonstration fields in Kien Svay district, Kandal Province about 90 minutes from Phnom Penh. Responsible by three private companies, each field grew different crops. Eco Agri Centre provided green inputs and technical supports to farmers at the cucumber demonstration plot, while Angkor Green took care of the sowing tomato trials, and Fertikal gave advices and supplies to farmers at the yard long bean demonstration trials.

Mr. Doeun Thuk, a farmer at the cucumber demonstration plot said the cucumbers grew better using Trichoderma when compared to his traditional practice.

“I would apply the Trichoderma again for the next crop season, said Mr. Thuk.

Mr. Tak Tok, a farmer at the tomato trial observed that with the use of biocontrol inputs mixed with compost the germination of sowing tomatoes seeds grew quick and looked healthy. Besides, the roots did not rot.

Mr. Chea Vanda, a farmer who took care of the yard long bean demonstration plot, said he was happy to see his crop growing well

“To get the same result, I will need to spray the Nitrogen chemical twice,” Mr. Vanda said.

The three demos started at different periods and each crop varied in terms of the productive stages. For the cucumber plot, it was planted on 15 August 2016 and took 38 days for the total productive stage. The farmers got 66 kg of cucumber for a two-time harvest. Yard long bean trial was transplanted on 2 September 2016 and took 21 day for the growing stage. The tomato plot was sown on 17 September 2016 and took seven day in the seedling stage.

The participants were divided into three groups consisting of 30 to 35 people and rotated to visit all the three plots.

The two-day forum consisted of presentations and discussions between the public and private sectors including a working group session for a Learning Alliance on Policies Supportive of Rice Integrated Pest Management which is a discussion among groups of farmers, companies, NGOs, and government agencies.

H.E Hean Vanhan, Deputy Secretary of State said at the forum that the main functions of BCAs consist of plant protection, soil fertility improvement, and pathogen. He furthered that BCAs regulations and products in Cambodia were quite limited because the country did not produce BCAs or chemical pesticides, but mostly imported them from foreign countries. The BCAs products could be registered only when they had gone through a laboratory and field experimentation.

At the forum Dr. Kean Sophea, a Deputy Director of Department of Horticulture and Subsidiary Crop talked about ‘Trichoderma’ which was fungal organism that controlled a variety of fungal and bacterial diseases which could help farmers produce better crops and have higher income while protecting the soil environment. The Trichoderma left no residues, dissolved excessive soil salts, and naturally provided a long-term immunity to crop and soil.

In addition, Mr. Bun Saborn from Netherlands Development Organization (SNV), a non-profit international development organization presented the result of BCA trials on the insect control by using Pheromones and Bacillus Thuringiensis. The fields were implemented in Stung Treng and Preah Vihear provinces in Cambodia and the target crops were yard long bean and green mustard. There were five different types tested in each field: BT (Xentari), BT (strain 911), Neem liquid (oil), Farmer practice, and Check (apply nothing). BT (Xentari), BT (strain 911), Neem liquid (oil) are BCAs. It was found that the fields using BT (Xentari) and BT (strain 911) had higher yields than the others (Table 1).

Table 1: Result of experimentation

Rep	Average Yield in two provinces
Rep	Yard Long Bean (T/ha)	Mustard (T/ha)
Check	16.88	18.61
BT -Xentari	17.21	25.75
BT-Strain 911	17.72	26.44
Farmer’s practice	16.20	22.38
Neem oil	15.99	23.39

Moreover, Mr. Saborn did a comparison between Pheromone Lures for Spodoptera litura, and plutella xylostella and Check. As seen in the Table 2, an average yield of the yard long bean trials using the BCAs was higher.

Table 2: Result of experimentation

Rep	Average Yield in two provinces
Rep	Yard Long Bean (T/ha)	Mustard (T/ha)
Check	9.52	15.53
Pheromone lures for Spodoptera litura	11.33	16.32
Pheromone lures for plutella xylostella	11.20	17.03

Mr. Trinh ViSieu from ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood System project in Vietnam presented an application of Metarhizium against brown plant hopper. Metarhizium is an entomopathogenic fungus that was used as control agents against insect pests. They were naturally occurred in the field, and could be found on infected insects.

In his study Mr. ViSieu compared among Metarhizium, Chemical Control and Farmer’s Practice, and the result showed that ‘Metarhizium’ was an effective control agent against brown plant hopper and rice bugs, and significantly had less damage to natural enemies such as mirid bug and spiders. Also, Metarhizium had prolonged effect against brown plant hopper and was not likely to cause brown plant hopper resurgence. It could be used as preventive and curative measures.

There were five private companies displaying their products, mainly organic fertilizer, bio pesticide, drip irrigation, seeds, and training books related to agriculture at the forum.

Ms Lim Lili, a farm manager at Pepper Hill Farm in Cambodia said she found the forum very interesting.

“I gained a lot of knowledge on the theory concept of BCAs and practical sides of how to germinate tomato seeds, grow yard long bean and cucumber, and apply Trichoderma and bio fertilizer and pesticide during the field visit. Also, the effectiveness of BCA is impressive. It is really good not to use chemical,” she said.

Ms Lili plans to share what she learnt from the forum to her colleagues and other partners.

The event was launched in cooperation between the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) through the “Development of Ecologically based Participatory Integrated Pest Management Package for Rice in Cambodia or” (EPIC) project and the German International Cooperation (GIZ) via ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems (ASEAN SAS) Project.

[wpdm_package id=’8225′]

By Saody So and Rojana Manowalailao, ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems

13/10/201604/08/2017

Cambodia’s Minister supports environmental friendly plant protection in promoting sustainable agriculture

H.E Veng Sakhon, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) recently received a visit of agricultural representatives from five International development cooperation projects and organisations to discuss constraints in promoting the sustainable agriculture systems in Cambodia.

The six representatives came from the German International Cooperation (GIZ), ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems in cooperation with SNV Netherlands Development Organization CHAIN project, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) through the Ecologically-based Participatory Integrated Pest Management for rice in Cambodia (EPIC) Project, Virigina Tech and World Vegetable Center.

The aim of the meeting was to discuss gaps and receive the Minister’s advice on how to promote the regulation, use and trade of biocontrol agents in Cambodian agriculture. The group met on 4 October 2016 at the Minister Hall of Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in Phnom Penh.

Referring to the meeting, there is a lack of specified registration and management regulations for environmental friendly crop protection which is seen as a barrier to trade and farmer to access to the biocontrol agent products.

The ASEAN Guidelines on Regulation, Use and Trade of Biological Control Agents (BCAs) which was supported by the ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems (ASEAN SAS) project although have been approved by the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) and translated into Khmer language, it needs to be finalized and adapted to fit the Cambodian context and regulation.

The application for registration of biocontrol agents is now drafted with supports of GIZ and in a process of seeking approval from the MAFF.

Agriculture is an important economic sector in Cambodia and plays a key role in the fight against poverty and hunger. However, its productivity is impeded due to the misuse of chemical inputs which cause poor soil conditions and lead to high incidences of pesticide resistances. Cambodia’s products are still competitive on the world market because they are acknowledged for having low chemical residues. But, the regulatory management of synthetic pesticide and fertilizer application need to be strengthened in order to keep this reputation.

Biocontrol agents are known as effective organism and are used for over hundred years throughout the globe to improve agricultural productivity, especially nowadays in Integrated Pest management (IPM) approaches to minimize the use of chemical inputs. There are a lot of research shown that biocontrol agents do not have a risk to human health and environment.

In Cambodia, there is an increased interest from the farmers to work with biological plant protection methods. And already a number of Cambodian companies offer biocontrol agents for plant protection and fertilization. However, the companies have experienced obstacles in the registration of such products, slowing effective distribution. The registration will also help farmers and users because currently some companies claim their products as natural even though they are actually chemical.

The followings were agreed among the international development cooperation projects and organisations for their urgent implementation in promoting the sustainable agriculture systems in Cambodia

Enhancement and improvements of knowledge and capability of official at department of agricultural legislation and general directorate of agriculture by providing training, exchange studies and field demonstration with biocontrol agents on different crops.
Working closely with private sectors in term of quality control and dissemination.
Establish working group to draft and finalize Cambodian regulation on use and trade of Biocontrol Agents (BCAs).
Evident-based to apply and see effectiveness of BCAs for controlling root rot disease in black pepper farm, Kirivong district, Takeo province by involving General Directorate of Agriculture and other experts

By Mr. Samorn Channa, ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems

06/10/201604/08/2017

Food safety project manager says the government body would complete her missing jigsaw.

Food-safety-project-manager-of-the-ASEAN-SAS-shares-her-experiences-on-her-fruit-juice-pr

‘I have missed but I have gained…’ Food safety project manager reflects on her past to better the future.

A question raised at a market linkage workshop I recently attended in Indonesia made me look back and ask myself: What could I have done better in my finished project ‘Improved product safety and quality for the Thai fruit juice industry’?

Ended in April 2015, this project gave consultancy to six Thai national fruit processing factories to improve their product’s hygiene, safety and quality assurance, as well as authenticity in complying with the European self-control standard of Sure and Global Fair or SGF based in Germany. The pilot factories were mostly pineapple juice manufacturers. Thailand is the world largest exporter of pineapple juice concentrate.

Fruit growers who supplied raw materials to the pilot factories were trained on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP). Market surveys on Thai fruit juice safety and authenticity were conducted. Workshops to update the trends including issues and challenged of the fruit juice industry were organised and attended by roughly 100 participants from laboratories, associations and private companies.

“Market Linkages” as described by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is “a physical connection between the producer and the ultimate consumer.”

Mr. Somneug Wantem, Factory Manager of Pranburi Hotei in Kuiburi

But, none involved government agencies.

During the post monitoring and evaluation assessment in August 2016, two pilot factories in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province were visited and found that they increased their quality and assurance measures in meeting the international required standards and as a consequence wider their market accesses.

“Having internationally accepted standard guarantees trust with buyers,” said Mr. Somneug Wantem, Factory Manager of Pranburi Hotei in Kuiburi, “It eases trade barriers, increases market opportunities, and reduces economic loss from rejected products.”

Six pineapple growers from three families were met, and they said they received knowledge updates from the pilot factories through a regular visit. Some of them received funds from the factory for a two-year certificate study in a local agriculture college.

Mr. Amornthep Phummun (right) and his wife, Ms. Lookjieb Yimnoi, Pineapple Farmers in Kuiburi, Thailand

Mr. Amornthep Phummun, Pineapple Farmer in Kuiburi, Thailand said: “The manufacture asked if we were interested in learning about the Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), and, we did. So, my wife went back to school through the financial support of the factory. Since then, my wife and I have had good experiments in applying what she learnt from her classes with the knowledge we gained from our parents, and grandparents.

“Within the same plot of land we produce more pineapples but in less cost. We get better quality fruits and reduce the unnecessary chemical inputs. The soil quality becomes better, and we do not have to worry too much about the chemical exposure,” said the father of three.

Upon the meetings with the factory managers and farmers, everything seemed to fall into place, except the worried-free future. Due to drought and irregular pattern of climate, constantly high demand of concentrate fruit juice from the oversea markets, and lack of regulation and management plan overseen by the government authority, the sustainability of pineapple industry is still too far to reach.

Ms. Prathumporn Kitthakerng, Vice President of Takerng Pineapple Industrial, one of the pilot factories in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, said: “Thailand should have agricultural crop zoning system for pineapple farming, including farmer registration, contract farming, and allocation of farming and food processing quota in order to foresee supply, quality and price of pineapple fruit.

“This will make everyone in the supply chain enjoying their lives better. Farmers and manufactures then do not have to worry about the fluctuation or shortage of pineapples, neither nor the high nitrate or low nitrate residues in pineapples, or the incredibly rocket prices or bottom flat prices of the fruits,” she said.

What did I miss?

To answer the question, “What could I have done better in my finished project ‘Improved product safety and quality for the Thai fruit juice industry’?”, I wish I had involved the government authorities in the project to work more closely together in finding solutions on the issues and challenges the farmers and manufactures had.

I wish I contacted them since an initial stage to plan the project and develop activities together to better the situation in increasing the livelihoods of the farmers and manufactures.

Thanks to the In-house Workshop on Market Linkages to make me ponder about the missing links and key responsible actors who could support and make the fruit juice project delivered with better outcome and impact.

I have missed, but I do not regret. I have gained more careful visions to think a 360 degree to look for options and solutions to complete the gaps in the supply chain.

About 30 participants from Better Rice Initiative Asia (BRIA), ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems (ASEAN SAS) and private sector attended the ‘In-house Workshop on Market Linkages’ from 30 August to 2 September 2016 to exchange experiences and discuss lessons learnt to better develop the market linkage strategies. The event was organised by BRIA Regional Secretariat, in North Sumatra, Indonesia.

The ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood System project implemented the market linkage concept through the Public and Private Partnership project entitled “Improved Product safety and quality for the Thai Fruit Juice Industry”, a partnership between SGF and GIZ.

Ms. Napaporn is the project manager on food safety of ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems.

By Napaporn Rattanametta and Rojana Manowalailao, ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems

04/10/201604/08/2017

From mango orchards to consumers: Value chain analysis makes sure we all get our juicy bits

Vietnamese participants learned how they were linked in a value chain of mango to understand their roles and relations in developing mango production in Vietnam.

Mongo farmers, collectors, processors, cooperative members and government representatives together learn to analyse the value chain of mango in Vietnam.

Twenty actors in the value chain of mango participating in a one-day workshop “Value Chain Analysis of Mango” in Dong Thap Province included farmers, collectors, processors, cooperative members and also some government representatives.

At the workshop, the ‘Link Methodology’, based on the GIZ value links approach, was applied with the aim of getting a participatory understanding of the value chain, the business model that the different actors follow, and the degree of inclusiveness of the small-scale farmers within the value chain. To be inclusive, all actors in the value chain must be equally treated.

The participants were introduced to ‘Mapping the Value Chain’, a technique for the value chain analysis to allow participants to discuss together all the activities taking place from the mango orchard to the final consumer. From this activity, the participants were able to visualize the macro context of the mango market, understand the structure of the value chain, and identify where in the chain they involved in and interlinked. Through an open dialogue the participants expressed their concerns as followings:

“We don’t know what the customers need and we do not know what to do or change.”

“There are many persons buying mango and everyone is requesting different product characteristics. If we follow only one, we run the risk of not being able to sell all the products and then not being able to sell the remaining to somebody else.”

Through mapping of the value chain, the participants discuss all the activities taking place from the mango orchard to the final consumer.

During the workshop, the participants formed four groups according to the type of stakeholder they belonged to: farmers, collectors, farmers’ members of a cooperative, and management board personnel of the cooperatives. The groups created a detailed description of all the links, activities and actors involved in their businesses allowing specifying where to focus intervention efforts that would leverage other links in the value chain.

At the end, the participants filled scorecards with statements that measure the level of inclusiveness among the actors’ relationship. This exercise helped farmers to understand their current situation and identify possibilities of improving their negotiation power with reference to other actors such as collectors. The activity helped them to realize that all actors were working on their own and had no coordination to strengthen their businesses.

Here were some reflections from the farmers:

“One problem is that we do not have contacts with anybody else but with collectors.”

“The only thing we discuss with the collectors is the prices, nothing else.”

“We do not believe in cooperatives.”

“We do not understand why the purchasing price of the cooperative is the same as the collector.”

And, the statement from one collector who participated in the workshop was following:

“I must frequently call the farmers and pay some money in advance to ensure that they will sell to me and not to another collector.”

The workshop results provided an understanding of the mango value chain which in turn would allow tailoring future interventions for a stronger integration and improvement of the relations between the different actors.

The workshop took place in Tinh Thoi Commune, Cao Lanh City on 2 June 2016.

[wpdm_package id=’1162′]

By ASEAN Sustainable Agrofood Systems Vietnam Team