Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development 010/06/VIE Training and Extension Milestone 9A Competency Assessment - Monitoring & Evaluation March 2010 2  Abbreviations ADG AI Average Daily Growth Rate Artificial Insemination BCFRC Bavi Cattle & Forage Research Centre Co Company Demo Demonstration DM Dry Matter FA Farmer Association FFS Farmer Field School g Gram Ha Hectare Kg Kilogram KjME Kilojoules of Metabolisable Energy Ltd Limited LWT Live weight ME Metabolisable energy PA Per Year ToT Trainers of Trainers W/S Workshops WM Wet Matter Yr Year 3  Milestone 9 – Objectives 2 & 3 Competency Assessment & Monitoring & Evaluation Overview The Nghia Dan District is a very large district and part of the project area has little technical support for animal husbandry. A new sub-district is being formed that will include the project site; however, this will have little effect on extension for a number of years. One weakness of the project is the lack of technicians (trainers) to extend the project technologies around the district. The use of key farmers, demonstration sites and farmer technicians has been effective, but their contact is limited to nearby farmers or relatives in nearby villages. The concept of Farmer Field Schools (FFS) and farmer discussion groups should be promoted in the district. Of the nine key farmers, three have been excellent at taking up the technologies and embracing change and the challenges; four have been slower to adopt the technologies, one has not been active and another has withdrawn due to ill health. The 19 th May Company has lacked the structure or skill base to be able to develop a model farm. This is disappointing as it was hoped that the 19 th May Company would have provided the district with a larger scale model as well as a supply of genetic material in the future. The Company was developing some animal husbandry skills and had developed a 34 cow dairy herd with 16 milking cows; but in 2010 handed its dairy development to the HT Dairy Processing Co with the development of a 6,400 cow farm. The nine key farmers have been active in involving their local farmers in training and especially in project activities such as animal breeding with village bulls and detection of cows being “in heat” for successful mating, sowing and harvesting new pasture species and silage making. The key farmers were supplied with small forage choppers, small silage tanks, new species of pasture; eartags for their cattle and weigh bands to record cattle liveweights. Five of the key farmers have been active in being key speakers at project workshops around the area at district level. This has been one of the best aspects of the key farmers programme. Five key farmers were taken on a field trip to Thailand in April 2008. This was very effective in encouraging the key farmers and demonstrating the opportunities to developing beef production. Many of the new technologies were completely new to the region and it was very important to trial the technologies and make sure that they were robust and suitable. Mullato II and Ubon paspalum had never been planted in Vietnam at the beginning of the project. The use of Napier grass and Rhuzi as a forage was just starting. Silage had never been made in the 3 project villages. Cross breeding of cattle was new and farmers had little or no understanding of nutrient balancing. 4  The project (through the project farmers) now have working examples showing the effectiveness of some very important key developments i.e. bi-product silage, new pasture, crossbreeding and increased cattle growth rates). These examples are only now reaching for wider implementation and adoption. For many farmers new pastures (hybrid Napier (elephant grass) and green-feed maize are providing good feed supplies across nearly the whole season, that they feel comfortable managing without silage. Trainers of Trainers (ToT’s): The project trained three ToT’s. The key ToT has been Mr Toan; a senior member of the BCFRC with a strong academic background in his position. Mr Toan developed training material and build on his previous experience. Knowledge developed by Mr Toan has been the experience with the new pasture species as well as providing training to both farmers and technicians in beef and dairy farming and animal husbandry management. Toan has managed the delivery of the village bull project and worked closely with the project key farmers, the distribution of pasture seed to project and non-project HH, and the distribution of pasture tillers for transplanting in two new non- project villages (names xx). He has taken responsibility in arranging farmer training at Bavi Mr Ly is the Senior Extension Officer in the Nghe Dan District. Mr Ly is based in Thai Hoa Township and has a team of six technicians and is responsible for all aspects of agriculture, with 2 technicians on animal and forage extension in the District. Mr Ly and his team have worked mostly with non-project villages, introduced project technologies, and new pasture species are now established on 26 farms. In 2009 they had 30 village training seminars to 1060 farmers of which 1/3 was pasture and livestock focused. Mr Hoa is a senior animal breeding technician from BCFRC that was seconded to the project for 6-months in 2007 to provide training in animal breeding, AI and forage management. He was effective during his 6 months assignment of living and working in the village. Table 1 provides a summary of the number of farmers receiving and adopting technology from TOT’s. 5  Table 1. Trainer-of Trainers (TOT), technology, number of farmers receiving and adopting technologies. Person & Area Technology No. Farmers knowledge transfer No. Farmers adopting new technology Toan Village bull 5 HH as bull managers 4 using & keeping records Cross breeding 120 75% adoption Animal health 80 70% adoption Silage 20 30% adoption New pastures 60 75% using 1 year later Feeding guidelines Ly (Thai Hoa) New pastures 38 provided seed 18 continued after 2 years Hoa AI & breeding 45 (mostly non- project) 40% conception rate Nutrition na na Key Competencies Transferred to ToT’s: 1. Introduction of new training methods, i.e. use of Powerpoint, participatory training and the use of a practical demonstrate approach 2. Use of demonstration training techniques, on farm demonstration and practical workshops 3. Management of project coordination and farm management systems 4. Introduction to adult training methodologies 5. Introduction and evaluation of new pasture species 6. Introduction to silage technologies 7. Training in nutrient balancing and the use of bi-products 8. Undertaking training technicians in animal breeding concepts and methodology 6  Trainer of Farmers: Farmer Association leaders in each village The Farmer Association (FA) leaders do not have strong depth in animal husbandry and do not fill the role of farm advisors; their role seems more like a coordinator of activities; they could fill the role of coordinator and facilitator for FFS. Technicians from the 19 th May Company, The technicians at the 19 th May Co are now totally committed to the new T&H international company and are not available as ToT’s within the beef project. These technicians over time will increase their knowledge of animal husbandry and dairy production. Nghe Dan District Animal Husbandry Department . Their impact has been strongest around their base in Thai Hoa with non-project cattle farmers and especially small village dairy farmers. Technologies adopted by farmers include chopping forage to enhance intake, feeding leafy grasses, using new grass species introduced by project, silage making Farmers teaching Farmers. This has been very successful within the project, where the key project farmers are seen within their community as trainers. At formal and informal workshops these key project farmers have provided training directly to farmers’ within and outside the project villages. The number of trainers of farmers that have been directly trained by the project has been: ¾ Technicians from 19 th May Company 5 ¾ Technicians Nghe Dan District 21 ¾ Farmer Association Leaders 3 ¾ Farmer trainers 5 Farmer Training: Training over the period of the project fell into three distinct approaches. The first approach was providing hands on practical demonstration training directly to the farmers. This practical training involved members of the project team, using the key project farmers farms as demonstration sites where technicians undertook practical tasks such as LWT recording, silage making and pasture establishment. Over the first 2-years of the project 20 demonstration training events were undertaken. The accumulated number of farmers attending was 131, technicians 72 and 152 hours of training was given. The events are listed in Table I. The list does not include normal farm visits where informal training and discussion is undertaken. Approximately 50 informal visits have been undertaken in a wide range of locations, which includes the 3 project villages as well as farmers in Nghia Dan and Bavi areas. 7  Table I: Project site demonstration & practical field training Date Locatio n Type Presenter Subject No. Participants Farmer s Technicia ns Duratio n (hours) 12/07/07 19 May Co Demo Phil Rolston Pasture Establishment 5 5 4 17/07/07 Nghia Son Demo Tim Harvey Silage 8 6 2 2 17/07/07 Nghia Son Demo Tim Harvey Silage 8 7 1 2 17/07/07 Nghia Son Demo Tim Harvey Silage 9 6 3 2 18/07/07 Nghia Lam Demo Tim Harvey Silage 5 4 1 2 18/07/07 Nghia Lam Demo Tim Harvey Silage 9 6 3 2 18/07/07 Nghia Lam Demo Tim Harvey Silage 8 6 2 2 19/07/07 Nghia Yen Demo Tim Harvey Silage 4 3 1 2 19/07/07 Nghia Yen Demo Tim Harvey Silage 7 6 1 2 19/07/07 Nghia Yen Demo Tim Harvey Silage 8 7 1 2 22/09/07 Nghia Son Demo Tim Harvey Silage 12 10 2 2 28/09/07 Nghia Lam Demo Tim Harvey Silage 7 3 4 2 28/09/07 Nghia Yen Demo Tim Harvey Silage 6 2 4 2 30/11/07 Project site practica l Mr Hoa AI Training 10 9 1 100 20/09/08 19 May Co Demo Tim Harvey Pasture management 5 0 5 4 23/09/08 19 May Co Demo Tim Harvey Silage 10 8 2 4 26/09/08 19 May Co Demo Tim Harvey Pasture management 22 16 6 4 12/03/07 19 May Co Field Harvey/Rolst on Beef Nut/Ensiling Bi-Prod 38 30 8 4 20/09/07 19 May Co Field Michael Hare Pasture Nursery Mgmt 10 10 4 26/09/07 19 May Co Field Tim Harvey Condition Score 12 2 10 4 TOTALS 203 131 72 152 AVERAG E 10.2 7.3 3.6 7.6 No Of Demo 20 8  The second training approach was based on more formal workshops within the project site. These workshops were normally held in a classroom environment and had duration of approximately 4-hours. The project team presented technical data as well as undertaking some training on trainer methodology, adult learning and systems management. The programme normally involved both technicians and farmers and in year 2 the use of key project farmers as trainers of farmers was encouraged and developed as a concept. Over the first 2- years of the project 14 workshop training events were undertaken. The accumulated number of farmers attending was 203, technicians 119, and 62 hours of training was given. The training events are listed in Table II. 9  Use of Key Farmers as an Extension Method within the Project Table II: PROJECT SITE WORKSHOP TRAINING IN NGHE DAN DISTRICT Date Location Typ e Presenter Subject No. Participants Farmer s T echnicians Duratio n(hours ) 05/03/07 19 May Co W/S Tim Harvey Farm Management /Beef Nutrition 14 14 4 13/07/07 19 May Co W/S Phil Rolston Project Goals 20 15 5 4 18/09/07 19 May Co W/S Michael Hare Tropical Pastures 8 5 3 4 24/09/07 19 May Co W/S Averill Ramsey- Evans Cattle Database Management 4 4 4 29/09/07 19 May Co W/S Tim Harvey Training Schedule 20 10 10 4 19/03/08 19 May Co W/S Tim Harvey Tropical Pasture & Farming Systems 15 3 12 4 20/03/08 19 May Co W/S Tim Harvey Tropical Pasture & Farming Systems 30 25 5 4 19/06/08 19 May Co W/S Rolston/Hare Tropical Pasture & Farming Systems 34 26 4 8 27/09/08 Thao Hoa W/S Tim Harvey Beef Production 26 14 12 6 03/03/09 Nghai Lum W/S Tim Harvey /Chesterfield Beef Production 22 18 4 4 04/03/09 Nghai Yen W/S Tim Harvey /Chesterfield Beef Production 22 18 4 4 05/03/09 Nghai Son W/S Tim Harvey /Chesterfield Beef Production 22 18 4 4 06/03/09 Thai Hoa W/S Tim Harvey /Chesterfield Beef Production 25 6 18 4 04/03/10 Nghia Som W/S Harvey/Hare/ Rolston/Toan Final workshop, breeding, forages, nutrition balance, 65 45 20 4 TOTALS 327 203 119 62 AVERAG E 23.3 14. 5 8.5 4.4 No of W/S 14 10  The third training approach was international and national specialised training. Three specialised workshops were undertaken by BCFRC at Bavi with project farmers and technicians travelling from Nghia Dan to Bavi. The workshops were delivered in Vietnamese by experience Bavi staff. These workshops were normally of 3-days duration. The format involved classroom training as well as more practical farm visits and discussion with farmers.International training involved a 5-day filed trip to Thailand to look at new pasture species and beef production systems. This training was most successful and has led to extension and use of new tropical pasture species. These new species have proved very successful and Dr Michael Hare, who led the trainings in Thailand, has now established an agency in Vietnam for the formal importation and distribution of pasture seeds. Over the first 2-years of the project 4 workshop training events were undertaken. The accumulated number of farmers attending was 31, technicians 20, and 307 hours of training was given. The events are listed in Table III. One formal training event in NZ was undertaken in 2007. This training involved 2 people Mr Deip and Mr Toan and included training in beef production systems, beef marketing, conservation of forage and training methodologies. A second training event for 2 people was held in Queensland, Australia in Feb 2010. One Massey University scholarship was completed at the beginning of the project with Mr Toan spending 2-months in NZ undertaking practical and formal training in NZ farming systems. Table III INTERNATIONAL & NATIONAL SPECIALISED TRAINING EVENTS Dats Locatio n Type Presenter Subject No. Participan t s Farmer s Technicians Duratio n (hours) 12/08/07 to 28/09/07 BCFRC W/S BCFRC Staff AI Training 1 1 250 2& 3/10/07 BCFRC W/S BCFRC Staff Beef Cattle 25 15 5 16 12& 13/12/08 BCFRC W/S Toan Pasture & Seed Production 18 13 5 16 15- 19/03/08 Thailand training Intensiv e Michael Hare Tropical Pasture & Farming Systems 12 3 9 25 6-12/02/10 Queens- land, Aust Intensiv e Tim Harvey J. Groaks Tropical cattle breeds and management 3 0 2 50 25/02/10 BCFRC W/S Tim Harvey Phil Rolson Michael Hare Pasture, Nutrition 50 15 35 4 26/02/10 BCFRC W/S Tim Harvey Phil Rolson Michael Hare Final workshop, breeding, forages, nutrition balance 60 10 50 4 TOTALS 169 56 107 365 AVERAG E 24.1 8.0 15.3 No of W/S 5 4 5 5 [...]... BCFRC (Bavi) - The BCFRC has been active in the evaluation of the new pasture species and the extension and training of technicians and farmers in a number of other districts closer to Sontay Vietnam Goat & Rabbit Research Centre (SonTay) - The team has visited the Centre twice and has presented the project key findings and discussed the role of different pastures and legumes Other Extension - The project... develop “key-farmers” as an extension methodology And develop the concept of Farmer Field Schools in the area using the Farmer Ass leaders as co-ordinators 3    Appendix 1 Training Material Developed:   This will be supplied to the CARD office on CD     Due to the size of the files   4    Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development 010/06/VIE Training and Extension Milestone 9B Training Study Tour Assessment. ..Farmer-to-farmer training The number of other farmers trained by key farmers and the number adopting the technology is summerized in Table x Table x Farmer to farmer training outcome based on interviews Key Technology Farmer & Village Ly No Farmers No Farmers Reason for knowledge adopting Non-adoption transfer new technology Silage 1 1 New pasture... breeding 45 (mostly project) Nutrition na Na 14    non- 40% conception rate Appendix D Date/ Day Final trip Programme Day Place Activity & people met 24 (W) 1 Singapore Preparation, travel to CHC Airport, Depart CHC 1150 hrs to SIN SQ298 25 (Th) 2 SonTay Travel SIN to Hanoi SQ176, arriving 12:15, met by Trung & Director Tao (Leader 19 May Co); MH &TH Travel to SonTay 26 (F) 3 Thai Hoa (NgheAn) Conference... workshop in Thai Hao Township and at 2 village based workshops and 2 farmers on field events Competence Evaluations At workshops; trainers were assessed for: technology depth trainee involvement material preparation general interaction presentation style In field evaluation was less formal with assessment covering: technology depth training style farmer interaction general outcome 13    Farmer Trainers... Quac Hong) ranked the farmer impact of training in the following order (i) Workshops by the NZ experts; (ii) Workshops by the Vietnamese experts; (iii) farmer-to farmer training While outside experts may be a catalyst for change the role of farmer-to-farmer training will ensure sustainability in learning post project, especially when the District Extension service has a very high number of farmers to service... 8  Study Tour - Australia 9  05 – 10 February 2010 9  Lessons Learnt: 9  Appendix A 10  Report of the 3-month Training Course in New Zealand 11  Appendix C: 14  Appendix D Final trip Programme 15    Abbreviations ADG AI Average Daily Growth Rate Artificial Insemination Bavi Cattle & Forage Research BCFRC... Metabolisable KjME Energy Ltd Limited LWT Live weight 2    ME PA ToT W/S WM Yr Metabolisable energy Per Year Trainers of Trainers Workshops Wet Matter Year 3    Milestone 9B Detailed assessment of 3xMassey Scholarships, including training project reports; trainee assessment and impact of scholarship training on ability to train others Training (and extension materials) including brief reports on open days and... by the activity of the T&H International project which forms the major focus for Nghia Dan area at present I feel some of the benefit of this project will be lost due to the T&H dairy project; however, the technologies introduced will have benefits for the larger scale operations The training provided has also been greatly beneficial to three key personnel now working for T&H Also the project had a... technologies Person Area Toan & Technology No Farmers No Farmers adopting new knowledge technology transfer Village bull 5 HH as managers bull 4 using & keeping records Cross breeding 120 75% adoption Animal health 80 70% adoption Silage 20 30% adoption New pastures 60 75% using 1 year later 18 continued after 2 years Feeding guidelines Ly (Thai Hoa) New pastures 38 provided seed Hoa AI & breeding 45 (mostly . Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development 010/06/VIE Training and Extension Milestone 9A Competency Assessment - Monitoring & Evaluation March 2010 2  . Trainers W/S Workshops WM Wet Matter Yr Year 3  Milestone 9 – Objectives 2 & 3 Competency Assessment & Monitoring & Evaluation Overview The Nghia Dan District is a very. Staff AI Training 1 1 250 2& 3/10/07 BCFRC W/S BCFRC Staff Beef Cattle 25 15 5 16 12& 13/12/08 BCFRC W/S Toan Pasture & Seed Production 18 13 5 16 1 5- 19/03/08 Thailand training