Key activities undertaken since the commencement of the project include a project inception meeting in Gia Lai Province, Vietnam, in May 2004, a project workshop at Ingham, Queensland, in August 2004, and a project planning visit to Vietnam by the Australian project leader in November 2004.

Objective A1
Two sites have been selected in Gia Lai Province for detailed assessment of management strategies for overcoming soil constraints to productivity. The Ferralsol site is at Ia Kha village, near Pleiku, while the Acrisol site is at An Thanh village in Dak Po District. Initial soil samples to 30 cm have been taken from each block of the proposed trials. These samples will be analysed for pH, EC and fertility status to allow selection of appropriate treatments. The constraints of both sites have been assessed using SCAMP and are: Ferralsol: P fixation, Al toxicity (?), N and P deficiency, low K reserves (?), low ECEC (?), low organic C (?); Acrisol: N and P (?) deficiency, compaction, low infiltration rate, waterlogging, hard-setting (?) Where the constraint is designated (?), confirmation will depend on the results of outstanding analyses.

At the November planning meeting, a sampling protocol was sorted out for the proposed Ferralsol and Acrisol surveys. Ferralsols on different parent materials will be sampled in 3 areas of differing elevation and rainfall in Gia Lai Province. Soil properties will be characterised and SCAMP used to define constraints, allowing assessment of the variability required in management practices across Ferralsols. A similar assessment will be made of variation in the management of Acrisols of An Thanh village, Dak Po District, using recent NISF soil survey data.

The proposed monitoring sites of the World Vision project CTE/2000/165 were visited and their constraints assessed using SCAMP. Based on this assessment, decisions are being made by the CTE/2000/165 project team on appropriate treatments (one of the treatments will be 'farmer practice') at each site.

Objective A3
Following the Ingham workshop (where SCAMP was applied to several soils in the Herbert catchment), further soil properties (soil structure, soil consistence, hard setting tendency, low soil organic C, permeability class, drainage class) have been added to SCAMP to increase its comprehensiveness. To facilitate the adoption of SCAMP, it is proposed that 3 application 'levels' will be developed: Level 1 based on field observations only, Level 2 based on field observations and field measurements, and Level 3 incorporating Level 2 measurements plus lab measurements. A manual describing the levels is in preparation.

Objective B1
Queries have been made of an Access database containing SCAMP categories for several soil constraints and geo-coded soil survey data for the Herbert catchment (north Queensland), and a series of risk and constraint maps have been produced. These maps have validated the queries and data sorting protocols that have been developed in this project to link geo-coded data and SCAMP attributes. Presented below is the soil acidification risk map indicating the number of years under sugar cane cropping required to reduce soil pHwater to 4.5. It is based on the Net Acid Addition Rate of the sugarcane cropping system, the current soil pH and the pH buffer capacity of the soil.

Key results and activities of 2005 include:
Vietnam: Objectives A1.3, A2.1- Maize biomass and grain yield responses were obtained on a Ferralsol soil to Tithonia residue addition (at 3 tonnes/ha) and bentonite addition (5 tonnes/ha), and these yields exceeded those obtained at the recommended rate of NPK fertiliser addition. It appears that increased productivity from these treatments is probably associated with increased CEC (and therefore increased capacity for retention of nutrient cations) and improved availability of phosphorus when added in organic form, but confirmation of these causes will depend on completion of soil and plant analyses.

On an Acrisol soil, maize biomass and grain yields were higher where bentonite (5 tonnes/ha) or a soil conditioner that increased soil water holding capacity (at 20 kg/ha) had been applied than where the recommended rate of NPK fertiliser had been applied. The reasons for these differential responses will be clarified when soil and plant analyses are completed, but it is suggested that improved soil moisture status may be the primary cause.

The results from these two sites indicate that different management strategies are required on different soil types to overcome soil constraints to productivity.

Objective A1.1-The transect of Ferralsol soils in Gia Lai has revealed the existence of soils with minimal surface charge ('geric' soils according to the FAO soil classification system). These soils present a challenge to nutrient management because of their inability to retain cation and anion nutrients for plant growth. Similar soils occur in tropical Australia. Development of appropriate fertiliser management strategies for these soils will be investigated in a Master's Degree program which will be undertaken by one of the Vietnamese project staff following the award of a John Allwright Fellowship for study in 2006-2007.

Australia: Objective A3.1- A draft SCAMP manual has been produced detailing the measurement, interpretation and management implications of key soil properties grouped into categories of water and climate constraints, soil pH and acidity constraints, cation constraints, clay fraction constraints, landscape constraints, and soil structural constraints. This manual will be the basis of the training workshop to be held for agricultural extensionists in Vietnam.

Objective B1.2-The inclusion of a simple soil water partitioning model into SCAMP has allowed identification of the major pathway of water movement (runoff, ponding or drainage) for any soil based on its drainage and permeability ratings. This information has been used to produce a map of the major pathways of water movement in soils of the Wet Tropical Coast of Queensland (see Figure 1). This output will be enhanced by further programming that will link this dominant water movement pathway with timing and placement method of fertiliser application to assess the risk of off-site nutrient movement and denitrification.

Key results and activities of 2006 include:
Vietnam: Objectives A1.3, A2.1- In the 2006 growing season, a second maize crop was grown on the Ferralsol site at Ia Kha. Maximum grain yield (4.7 T/ha) was obtained in the treatment where Tithonia residues at the rate of 1T/ha were mixed through the planting row soil to a depth of 10 cm (1/3 total area) and additional NPK fertiliser was applied to meet the recommendation of 115N 42P 100K. It is likely that the success of this treatment was due to the correction of excessive soil acidity (soil pH was increased) and the gradual release of N and P from the plant residues better matching crop demand than in treatments where inorganic fertiliser was applied. This treatment also provided the highest gross margin of VND 7.1 M/ha.

A maize field experiment was also carried out on an Acrisol soil in Dak Po at a site (Tan An village) different from where the 2005 Acrisol experiment was undertaken. The highest grain yield (5.3 T/ha) was obtained where the fertiliser recommendation (92N 29P 75K) had been applied together with 10 T/ha bentonite mixed through the planting row soil to a depth of 10 cm (1/3 total area) to increase CEC and water holding capacity. However, the maximum gross margin (VND 9.2 M/ha) was obtained from the treatment receiving the fertiliser recommendation and where mounding and application of roots and stems of Peuraria and Mucuna at 500 kg/ha had been used to improve soil structure and drainage. The grain yield from this treatment (5.2 T/ha) was not much less than the former treatment. These results suggest that drainage and soil physical characteristics are constraints to productivity for this soil.

The results from the field trials support the conclusion of the previous year's trials that soil-specific management practices are needed for sustainable productivity.

Objective A1.1- Field data and lab analyses for the soils collected during the Ferralsol transect and the Acrisol soil survey have been input into the SCAMP database and constraints and management strategies identified as outputs. Data summary reports and SCAMP constraints reports have been produced for each of the 14 Ferralsol and 16 Acrisol sites.

Australia: Objective A3.1- A second draft of the SCAMP Field and Laboratory Handbook has been prepared. Compared to the first draft it contains: more interpretive information on the Emerson dispersion test; a table using structure, texture, mottling and colour to assist in the allocation of drainage and permeability ratings. These modifications have not yet been translated into Vietnamese, and the first draft (in Vietnamese) has been the basis of the training workshops held for agricultural extensionists in Vietnam.

Objective B1.2- A major enhancement to SCAMP has been the development of the 'Safegauge for Nutrients' decision support system (DSS). This DSS will import basic soil information from the SCAMP database to allocate a qualitative risk of off-site nitrogen and phosphorus movement as a result of fertiliser practices. The DSS allows the user (extensionist, farmer) to assess the effects of different fertiliser management scenarios (time of application, method of application, rate of application, fertiliser form) on risk. Following anticipated completion by mid 2007, the SCAMP-Safegauge DSS will be trialled by a group of Queensland canegrowers to assess its usefulness as an awareness/education package for the Australian sugar industry.