Impacts of farmer-based training in seed production in Vietnam

Key words: farmer seed production school, farm-saved seed, formal seed sector, impact assessment, improved practice, local practice, rice (Oryza sativa), seed production, seed quality, Vietnam Rice (Oryza sativa) is the most important food and cash crop of Vietnam. It is cultivated in all provinces of the country since ancient times. Farm-saved seed is the most important seed source covering more than 80% of the farmers’ seed needs. However, farmers not always use the best techniques of producing and selecting seeds. Inadequate seed quality is an important yield limiting factor in rice production. To improve the farmers’ capacity to produce, process, store and use good rice seed, the farmer seed production school (FSPS) training programme was conducted in seven provinces of Vietnam during the period 2003−2007. The study reported in this thesis took place in four out of those seven provinces, i.e. Nam Dinh, Nghe An, Binh Dinh and Dong Thap. The objective was to assess to what extent farmers’ knowledge in seed production practices and seed quality management had increased and whether that knowledge increase was reflected in an increase in potential rice yields and profits, and in diffusion of retained practices after training to other farmers in communities. A long seed production training programme with the farmer field school approach was combined with field demonstrations including plots with either local practices or improved practices which were conducted in each FSPS. We recorded and analysed data on on-farm demonstrations at 429 FSPSs and on ex-ante and ex-post tests of knowledge at the FSPSs. Moreover, we carried out a survey among 240 rural households. Results of the study indicate that some rice varieties were better adopted in the farming systems than other varieties: well adopted ones were KD18 in both Nam Dinh and Nghe An province and OM1490, Ai32 and MO2718 in Binh Dinh and Dong Thap. With local practices in the farm-saved seed system of the transplanted rice crop, farmers used old seedlings, planted many seedlings per hill, planted too many or too few plants per unit area and applied unbalanced quantities of fertilizers; for the directly sown crop farmers used high seed rates in the traditional system. Rice yields showed larger differences between local practices and improved practices in the dry season than in the wet season all across Vietnam. With improved practices at the FSPSs, rice yields were 8.5% higher in the wet season and 13.6% higher in the dry season; additional profits associated with the improved practice in both the dry and wet seasons averaged 212 US$ ha-1. The majority of the FSPS-farmers moved from food production to seed production, reduced seed rates by about 50%, and used high quality seed to produce seeds with much better quality. More important is that the FSPS-farmers diffused improved practices (79%) and shared good seeds (57% of respondents) with other farmers in their communities to help other rice growers to improve their productivity. A large proportion of non-FSPS farmers learned and applied improved practices for rice production through neighbouring FSPS-farmers within the community. Besides, evaluation in acquired knowledge during training showed that FSPS-farmers with lower scores (<20%) in the ex-ante test realized an enormous improvement of 55.4% points in the ex-post test. There was a clear trend: the higher the scores in the ex-ante test, the smaller the increase in the score, suggesting that the tests provided insight into the knowledge gaps for improvement in training programmes. The FSPS is considered as a good training model for farmers. The FSPS-farmers well retained the acquired knowledge and applied the improved practices to enhance the farm-saved seed system in the project provinces. The community capacity was strengthened through establishing seed clubs by FSPS-farmers. It created a seed supply and production network to ensure seed security for small farmer’s seed needs in the rural areas. Thus, it promoted seed policies to strengthen the informal seed system in Vietnam. Impacts of farmer-based training programme in seed production illustrate that in a country like Vietnam where more than seventy percent of the population live in rural areas and depend on agricultural production, farmer education is a very effective way for agricultural development

Effects of steel corrosion to BFRP Strengthened columns under eccentric loading

The experiment consists of twenty-four mid-scale rectangular RC columns (200x200x800mm) strengthening by BFRP sheets and research variables include: BFRP layer (0, 1, and 3 layers); eccentricity (25mm and 75mm); and 4 levels of steel corrosion. The results reveal that SEL (ratio of ultimate load of strengthened member to that of corresponding controlled member) is direct proportion with steel corrosion while SEV (ratio of ultimate vertical displacement of strengthened member to that of corresponding controlled member) is inverse proportion with steel corrosion; SEL slightly increases with the increase of BFRP layer and eccentricity; but SEV decreases noticeably with the increase of BFRP layer and eccentricity. In addition,the interaction between FRP sheets, stirrups, and longitudinal reinforcement in steel degraded BFRP strengthened columns is very strong.However, column design basing on current design manuals and codes as ACI 440.2R and CNR DT 200R1 has not mentioned this affect. Thus, the load capacity prediction of column being strengthened by BFRP sheets should include levels of steel corrosion for reality, reasonable, and integral of the design

Effects of steel corrosion to BFRP Strengthened columns under eccentric loading

The experiment consists of twenty-four mid-scale rectangular RC columns (200x200x800mm) strengthening by BFRP sheets and research variables include: BFRP layer (0, 1, and 3 layers); eccentricity (25mm and 75mm); and 4 levels of steel corrosion. The results reveal that SEL (ratio of ultimate load of strengthened member to that of corresponding controlled member) is direct proportion with steel corrosion while SEV (ratio of ultimate vertical displacement of strengthened member to that of corresponding controlled member) is inverse proportion with steel corrosion; SEL slightly increases with the increase of BFRP layer and eccentricity; but SEV decreases noticeably with the increase of BFRP layer and eccentricity. In addition,the interaction between FRP sheets, stirrups, and longitudinal reinforcement in steel degraded BFRP strengthened columns is very strong.However, column design basing on current design manuals and codes as ACI 440.2R and CNR DT 200R1 has not mentioned this affect. Thus, the load capacity prediction of column being strengthened by BFRP sheets should include levels of steel corrosion for reality, reasonable, and integral of the design

Exercise Motivation among Fitness Center Members: A Combined Qualitative and Q-Sorting Approach

This study aimed to explore the components of Exercise Maintenance Motivation (EMM) and identify its consensus and distinguishing aspects among members of fitness centers (FCs) in Vietnam. The study incorporated both qualitative and Q-sorting methodologies across two stages. The first stage involved conducting ten in-depth and four focus-group interviews with 39 members of six different FCs in Vietnam, resulting in the generation of 40 EMM statements. In the second stage, these statements were subjected to Q-sorting by 39 participants. The KADE application for the Q method was used for data analysis, and Principal Component Analysis was employed to determine the optimal number of factors. The analysis yielded four factors, encompassing 34 statements and accounting for 86% of the variance in EMM components among participants. These components, labeled “F1. Exercise achievements”, “F2. Exercise environments”, “F3. Exercise enjoyment”, and “F4. Workout-aholic”, achieved consensus among 17 (37%), 14 (30%), 5 (12%), and 3 (7%) participants, respectively. The leading motivational expressions were “get to be healthier”, “a better-looking appearance”, and “get a fit body appearance”. These were followed by FC-based supportive exercise conditions, positive feelings, and exercise addiction. There were five consensus statements that spanned all four factors. The numbers of distinguishing statements varied across factors, with F1, F3, and F4 each contributing 11 (28.2%) and F2 contributing 15 (38.5%). This study contributed to the four central drivers of EMM. To facilitate the development of a comprehensive EMM scale, future research should incorporate larger samples, allowing for a dissection of motivational paradigms.   Doi: 10.28991/HEF-2023-04-03-07 Full Text: PD

From bits to bites: Advancement of the Germinate platform to support prebreeding informatics for crop wild relatives

Management and distribution of experimental data from prebreeding projects is important to ensure uptake of germplasm into breeding and research programs. Being able to access and share this data in standard formats is essential. The adoption of a common informatics platform for crops that may have limited resources brings economies of scale, allowing common informatics components to be used across multiple species. The close integration of such a platform with commonly used breeding software, visualization, and analysis tools reduces the barrier for entry to researchers and provides a common framework to facilitate collaborations and data sharing. This work presents significant updates to the Germinate platform and highlights its value in distributing prebreeding data for 14 crops as part of the project ‘Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change: Collecting, Protecting and Preparing Crop Wild Relatives’ (hereafter Crop Trust Crop Wild Relatives project) led by the Crop Trust (https://www.cwrdiversity.org). The addition of data on these species compliments data already publicly available in Germinate. We present a suite of updated Germinate features using examples from these crop species and their wild relatives. The use of Germinate within the Crop TrustCropWildRelatives project demonstrates the usefulness of the system and the benefits a shared informatics platform provides. These data resources provide a foundation on which breeding and research communities can develop additional online resources for their crops, harness new data as it becomes available, and benefit collectively from future developments of the Germinate platform

Participatory selection of CWR-derived salt-tolerant rice lines adapted to the coastal zone of the Mekong Delta

publishedVersio

Comparative analysis of local and improved practices used by farmer seed production schools in Vietnam

Farmer seed production schools in combination with participatory field experimentation might be effective instruments to enhance the skills of farmers to produce high-quality seed in the informal seed system in Vietnam. Four hundred twenty nine, unreplicated on-farm experiments were carried out in four different provinces and analyzed by the farmer seed production schools. These experiments consisted of two adjacent seed production plots: one with common local practice and one with improved practice. Differences between the two plots in yield and profit were assessed. Averaged across provinces, yields of the ¿improved practice plots¿ were 0.43 Mg ha¿1 higher in the wet season and 0.78 Mg ha¿1 higher in the dry season than the ¿local practice plots¿. In the Nam Dinh and Nghe An provinces more hills per m2, more input of potassium and muck, and fewer seedlings per hill at transplanting contributed to the higher yields in the ¿improved practice plots¿. In the provinces Binh Dinh and Dong Thap, using a drum seeder for sowing, reduced seed rate, less input of nitrogen fertilizer and more potassium contributed to the yield advantage of the ¿improved practice plots¿. The profit of the improved practice plots was 212 US$ ha¿1 higher than the profit in the local practice plots. Rice growers can benefit from lower seed rates, better yields and higher prices when grains are sold as seeds. These findings may direct the seed policies and extension approaches in Vietna

Participatory selection of CWR-derived salt-tolerant rice lines adapted to the coastal zone of the Mekong Delta

publishedVersio

Profiling SNP and Nucleotide Diversity to Characterize Mekong Delta Rice Landraces in Southeast Asian Populations

Recent analyses using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) are a feasible mean for local collections which potentially possess useful, but not large, genetic variations. Genomic sequences of more than 3000 accessions released by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) can be used to characterize various local rice (Oryza sativa) populations. The aim of this study was to develop a method to facilitate genomic characterization of local rice populations. We mainly used 99 indica rice accessions (81 landraces and 18 improved varieties) from the Mekong Delta Development Research Institute (MDI). We obtained 2301 SNPs after a genomic sequencing analysis of the 99 rice accessions and subsequent filtering. Within the IRRI's dataset, the landraces fell into a cluster consisting of accessions from Southeast Asian countries (Ind3 cluster), and the MDI improved varieties were grouped in a cluster containing IRRI improved varieties (Ind1B cluster). A principal component analysis suggested that geographical location strongly affects phylogenetic relationships, and the MDI landraces were placed into a Vietnam+Cambodia group. To detect the nucleotide diversity within a population, pi-value is commonly used. We think that whole genome distribution of pi-values representing the nucleotide diversity of each population can be used to characterize local populations. Our simple profiling using low pi-value genomic regions was able to reveal regional characteristics of rice genomes and should be useful for identifying local rice populations