(i) Progress and development of IPM in vegetables in Viet Nam
The Vietnamese national IPM programme has been implemented by the Plant Protection Department (PPD), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, with FAO support since 1992. In 1994, the national programme started developing curricula for training farmers in vegetable IPM. Currently, a cadre of 158 vegetable IPM trainers are posted throughout the country. They have facilitated 782 vegetable IPM farmer field schools (FFS) with FAO funding, training approximately 20 000 farmers. Since 1996, Phase I of the FAO intercountry programme for the development and application of integrated pest control in vegetables in south and southeast Asia has been providing additional technical assistance and financial support.
FAO has helped to develop a broad range of follow-up activities for vegetable farmers who graduate from FFS. These follow-up activities give IPM farmers an opportunity to continue learning, to solve more production problems, and to gain skills that are useful for all sorts of community-based, participatory development. Important among these follow-up activities are:
Participatory action research by farmers on IPM of vegetable diseases and on biopesticides, with technical support from CAB international and Viet Nam’s national institute of plant protection;
Biological control of diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella, in the central highlands by farmer study clubs using the introduced parasitoid Diadegma semiclausum; and
In collaboration with the FAO community IPM programme, farmer studies on pesticides and health, to raise vegetable farmers’ awareness about exposure to pesticide-related risks and how these risks can be reduced.
Several donor- and NGO-funded vegetable IPM and pesticide management projects now operate under the umbrella of the national IPM programme, with coordination from PPD’s IPM group and FAO-IPM in Hanoi. Mutually beneficial collaborative partnerships are enriching the national programme and offer opportunities for productive synergy between projects. The national programme hopes to expand its present collaboration with the Viet Nam Women’s Union and the Viet Nam Farmer’s Union. Key initiatives for the future include an FAO-supported IPM in schools initiative, special certification, labelling, and marketing programmes for IPM and organic vegetables, strengthening farmers’ skills for implementing scientific field studies and participatory impact evaluation, and farmer research on biological control of diamondback moth in lowland vegetables.
(ii) Progress and development of the FAO programme for community IPM
The FAO programme for community IPM in Asia is the fourth phase of the FAO programme for IPM in rice-based cropping systems in Asia which began in 1980. Over this long history, the programme has progressed through several stages:
Phase I (1980 to 1987) This phase focused upon the verification of IPM technology and the development of pilot extension activities with farmers plus ‘strategic extension campaigns’ to promote IPM understanding and application.
Phase II (1987 to 1993) The second phase of the programme emphasized on a shift towards human resource development and saw the introduction of season long training of trainers programmes and the now well known ‘IPM Farmer Field School’ approach. This approach was successful in bring IPM to hundreds of thousands of farmers for the first time.
Phase III (1993 to 2000) During this phase the programme focused upon the development of national IPM programmes based upon season long training and farmer field schools. This period also saw the development of various ‘farmer led’ activities including farmer to farmer training, farmer-led research, action research, health impacts research and other innovative programmes. Large scale national programmes began in numerous countries, such as Indonesia, India, Viet Nam, and Cambodia.
Phase IV The current, and last, phase of the programme is called Community IPM due to the emphasis upon ‘IPM by Farmers”. In this phase farmers have been the focus for a broad range of activities in member countries. The programme has also succeeded in starting new, and innovative, national IPM programmes in several member countries such as Nepal and China.
Current status: a very thorough mid-term review was conducted in late 2000. The review team concluded that the phase IV programme had been highly successful. In fact, most quantitative targets for the entire 5 year period had been met in the first 3 years of the project.
The emphasis of donors now is placed upon developing an ‘exit strategy’ that would ensure the sustainability of IPM capabilities in member countries while building upon the broad and strong foundations laid by the programme. New donors need to be brought in, and it is recognized that many donors now work from a broadened ‘livelihoods’ framework where in agriculture is seen as key to the areas of natural resource management, the development of civil society, and the creation of rural institutions representing more effectively the interests of rural farming majorities.
The first and foremost recommendation made by the mid-term review was the establishment of an independent ‘Community IPM Foundation’ in the Asia region that would keep pushing new innovations and maintain the strength of networks of farmers, trainers, and organizations. supportive of IPM in member countries. As of this meeting, numerous steps have been taken toward the development of this mixed-membership organization designed to carry-on the work of the Community IPM programme. The development of this organization is also based upon the fact that traditional donors have said that it is time that stakeholders in the region commit to the sustainability of the capabilities established through this programme.
FAO will maintain a crucial role in normative areas and in the promulgation of specific projects in the region in areas such as policy and regulatory development. The foundation’s main role will be to keep alive the strong network of IPM farmers and IPM trainers as well as to serve as the source of new information and innovations.
The phase IV FAO programme for Community IPM in Asia will terminate by the end of 2002, if not before. It is essential that in the time remaining an organization be put in place to capture all the gains and progress made over the history of the programme such that the millions of IPM farmers in the region can still be supported effectively.
(iii) Progress and development of the FAO programme for cotton IPM
The EU-funded FAO programme on Integrated Pest Management for Cotton in Asia (GCP/RAS/164/EC) has six member countries. These are Bangladesh, China, India, Pakistan, Philippines and Viet Nam. The Implementing Agreement of the programme was signed in March 1999 for a scheduled duration of five years. The total budget for the programme is US$ 12 million.
(iv) Programme objectives and progress
Development goal:
“Sustainable, profitable and environmentally sound production of cotton in the participating countries through the development, promotion and practice of IPM by farmers and extension staff”
The immediate objectives of the cotton programme are as follows:
1. “To develop a cadre of cotton IPM facilitators from existing extension or field plant protection staff to educate farmers in farmer field schools (FFS).”
Progress: Training of Facilitator (ToF) activities started in China and India in 2000, and eight ToF are being implemented in all member countries in 2001. It is planned to train 90 000 farmers in cotton IPM-FFS by the end of 2004. Maintaining high quality standards while preparing for program expansion will be given special attention.
2. “To promote co-operation for cotton IPM among governments, research institutions, development agencies, extension services and farmers and other non-governmental organizations and to improve access for all interested parties to information from within and outside the programme area.”
Progress: In collaboration with the FAO’s global IPM facility, a general survey of the world-wide state of IPM is being conducted. Furthermore, a newsletter and a website focusing on the development of cotton IPM are planned. A farm-based study involving local Chinese agencies and international collaborators is underway in China to investigate the impact of Bt cotton at farm level. To assess the project’s impact will include special studies conducted by NGOs, research institutions and farmers.
3. “National policies on plant protection re-oriented to support IPM development in the six programme countries.”
Progress: To provide credible evidence on the potential impact of cotton IPM on the economic, natural, human and social resources of the member countries, impact studies are being set-up as integral parts of the programme. Such evidence will be supplemented by field results from ToF and FFS. The FAO-EU cotton programme supports the emerging concept of IPPM 2015 with its goal to replace persistent organic pollutants from the cotton fields by the year 2015. It will participate by sharing information, conducting experiments and encouraging policy changes towards a stronger role of IPM in national plant protection policies.
