Improving the efficiency of aquaculture extension activity in the southeastern provinces of Southern Vietnam.

Abstract

AbstractThe Faculty of Fisheries of the University of Agriculture and Forestry (FoF-UAF) in collaboration with the Aqua Outreach programme of the Asian Institute of Technology has implemented since 1994 farmer-managed on-farm trials in two different agroecological (rainfed and irrigated) areas of four provinces (Tay Ninh, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc and Long An) to develop fish culture in ponds of small-scale households in the southeast region of southern Vietnam. Baseline surveys carried out prior to the trials have pointed out problems of fish culture of farmers in the two selected areas, e.g. pond preparation, cultured fish selection, stocking density, and water quality management. After 3 years implementation of the on-farm trials, appropriate recommendations of low-cost fish culture for small-scale farmers in the two agroecological areas have been produced. The average fish yield of 56 project farms in three provinces (Tay Ninh, Binh Phuoc and Long An), has increased around 40, 25 and 70%, respectively. Since 1996 the project staff have collaborated with Agricultural Extension Centres (AECs) of the three provinces to train about 700 farmers on fish culture based on the proven recommendations. Moreover, three sets of leaflets on fish culture in ponds for different agroecological areas based on appropriate techniques have also been designed to support extension activities of the provincial AECs. To improve the efficiency of the AECs on aquacultural technique transfer, the FoF-UAF has organized several short training courses to upgrade knowledge and skills for AEC staff. In 1996, 64 extension staff of the three provinces were trained on integrated fish culture and extension methods and 41 extension workers have been trained on methods of fish culture on-farm trials and extension material production to date. The fish culture on-farm trials have been shown to be an efficient method to produce appropriate recommendations for small-scale farmers. However, some difficulties in implementation of the trials need to be overcome for further expansion.