IAPPS NEWSLETTER

Number IX      September, 2005

PLANT PROTECTION IN VIETNAM:
A CAPSULE VIEW OF THE PLANT PROTECTION DEPARTMENT, SOUTHERN REGION

During a recent visit to explore possibilities for the transfer of fruit and vegetable IPM technology between Vietnam and current IPM CRSP sites in Asia, I had the opportunity to visit some of the facilities of the Plant Protection Department (PPD), Southern Region, Vietnam. I had last been in Vietnam in early 1976, less than a year after the ending of the war. At that time I was an IRRI entomologist and Vietnam was having major problems with the rice brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens. Almost 30 years later, it was again my privilege to visit Vietnam to view the most amazing economical and agricultural transition that I have seen in my 35 years working in international agriculture. I would like to share some of my observations regarding the PPD in Southern Vietnam.

Major Crops: Major crops in southern Vietnam are fruits, vegetables and rice. Vietnam has abundance of tropical fruits including the Mango, Dragonfruit (see vendor in photo), Rambutan, Mangosteen, Star apple, Durian, Polemo, Longan, Pineapple, Litchi, Banana, Papaya, Persimmon, Sapodilla, Custard apple and Jackfruit.

Mandate: The PPD was established in 1961, under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). It employs about 465 staff working in the areas of plant protection, plant quarantine and pesticide management. Its mandate is to carry out plant protection extension activities, administer plant quarantine activities and to conduct pesticide management activities including pesticide registration.

Plant Protection Network: The Plant Protection Network is responsible for formulating policies and pest control programs. There are four Regional Plant Protection Centers, 2 in the North and 2 in the South, which guide provincial plant protection authorities in pest control activities. In addition, there are 64 Plant Protection Sub-departments at the field level under the jurisdiction of provincial People's Committees. The Plant Protection Network consists of nearly 3,000 Plant Protection Officers. Activities include (1) pest surveillance and forecasting to provide early warning, (2) implementation of pest control programs, and (3) training of trainers and farmers on IPM using the participatory non-formal education process.

National IPM Program: The National IPM Program was initiated in 1992 with support from FAO. The goal is to empower small-scale farmers to become decision makers in managing the crop production system. The main activity is the Training of Trainers for the Farmers Field Schools and follow up FFS activities. The PPD is responsible for implementing the National IPM Program and works closely with the major donors including FAO, World Bank, EU, DANIDA, AusAid and NORAD. There are currently 11 IPM related projects involving many stakeholders including farmers, NGOs, government ministries, national and international research institutions and bilateral and multilateral donors. Projects include the FAO Program for Vegetable Production, Tea IPM, IPM academic exchanges with Norway, DANIDA IPM program, Biodiversity Use and Conservation Program, and Citrus IPM. Training of Trainer (TOT) programs have been conducted for FFSs in rice, vegetables, bio-diversity projects, citrus, maize, cotton, and sweet potato. With IRRI support, the major emphasis has been on rice with the "3 reductions, 3 gains" approach which has been popularized throughout the south via a mass media campaign.
Plant Quarantine: Vietnam has 9 Regional Plant Quarantine Sub-departments with 40 Plant Quarantine Stations responsible for phytosanitary inspection of cross border plant commodities at seaports, airports and land border ports with 284 staff. Activities include phytosanitary inspection services, supervising phytosanitary treatments, and conducting research in the plant quarantine area. International cooperation in plant quarantine involves bilateral agreements with Mongolia, Chile, Bulgaria, Russia, Cuba, Hungary and Romania, MOUs with Thailand, USA, China and the Republic of Korea, and harmonization of phytosanitary measures within ASEAN.

International Cooperation: Vietnam is a contracting party to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants and the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International trade, Harmonization of MRLs of Pesticides in ASEAN and Harmonization of the Pesticide Regulatory System in ASEAN.

Pesticide Management and Registration: Pesticide Control Centers located in Hanoi, and HoChiMinh City conduct pesticide quality assurance, residue control and field trials for bio-efficacy of pesticides to be registered in Vietnam. As of May 2005, about 490 active ingredients (a.i.) with 1,403 trade names have been registered for use. Seventeen a.i. including 29 trade names of pesticides are restricted in use and 29 a.i. are banned. Bio-pesticides are widely applied with 58 products being registered and used in Vietnam in 2005.

Acknowledgement: I thank Mr. Nguyen Huu Huan, Deputy Director General, Department of Plant Protection, HoChiMinh City, for the information presented herein.

Dr. E. A. "Short" Heinrichs
IAPPS Secretary General
Program Director, IPM CRSP
Virginia Tech University
Blacksburg, VA, USA
Email: ipm-dir@vt.edu

The IAPPS Newsletter is published by the International Association for the Plant Protection Sciences and distributed in Crop Protection to members and other subscribers. Crop Protection, published by Elsevier, is the Official Journal of IAPPS. IAPPS Mission: to provide a global forum for the purpose of identifying, evaluating, integrating, and promoting plant protection concepts, technologies, and policies that are economically, environmentally, and socially acceptable. It seeks to provide a global umbrella for the plant protection sciences to facilitate and promote the application of the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach to a the world's crop and forest ecosystems. Membership Information: IAPPS has four classes of membership (individual, affiliate, associate, and corporate) which are described here. The IAPPS Newsletter welcomes news, letters, and other items of interest from individuals and organizations. Address correspondence and information to: Dr. Manuele Tamo, Editor IAPPS Newsletter Biological Control Center for Africa, IITA-Benin 08 B.P. 0932 Tri Postal, Cotonou, Republic of Benin E-mail: m.tamo@cgiar.org