Curtin University of Technology

The project inception meeting was held at CIC, Goroka on 24 February 2010, where the work plan for Year One of the project was presented, discussed and accepted.
Following the project inception meeting the research team visited several potential field sites and chose the following core field sites for the research:
1. Asaro area (high accessibility site). Mateyufa Village where one project member from NARI has been involved in soil nutrition studies for some time. High level of livelihood diversification and some famers leaving coffee. Nahoma and Kenenba are two villages near Mateyufa which have been receiving CIC PRAP extension. They will be part of the Asaro investigation.
2. Bena area (relatively accessible site). Fumali and Kokiniga villages/hamlets. Have a very good service provider who appears to be having some success in raising productivity amongst his farmer group.
3. Marawaka site (remote site). There are several villages in close proximity and it is likely that sample households will be drawn from at least three of the following villages: Garipmei, Marawaka Station, Kwasilo, Marawaka Village, Managiri, Jomuru and Wauko. Farmers in this area practice a complex nutrient management system with pig husbandry an important component of the farming system.
4. Baira Village (remote site). Monpi Sustainable Services are working with growers in this area and have obtained coffee certification for groups of farmers. Coffee farmers have two types of coffee gardens - high altitude gardens in forested areas and lower altitude and more productive coffee gardens in Imperata dominated vegetation. There are very few pigs in Baira, but large numbers of goats thereby providing important contrasts with the Marawaka farming system.
On a second field trip in the last two weeks of May, the project team designed and field tested the survey instrument for the 100 household survey in each of the core field sites. The questionnaire incorporates sections on household livelihood strategies, an assessment of farmer technical knowledge of coffee and NRM practices of farm families.
The first round of surveys is to be carried out in June.

The project has three broad objectives:
Identify the main socio-economic factors affecting the productivity of smallholders, including how they interact with nutrient management strategies and the uptake of extension and new technologies to design better targeted intervention strategies to strengthen smallholder livelihoods.
Document the current status of soil fertility and the pathways of nutrient movement into, through, and out of smallholder coffee and food gardens to identify points of vulnerability to nutrient loss and points of intervention to maximise nutrient retention or accumulation.
Design and test farmer-driven extension initiatives for mobilising labour and improving nutrient acquisition, retention and use in coffee and food gardens to improve the uptake of technologies and extension strategies.
Four core field sites have been selected for the study:
1. Asaro area, Daulo District (high accessibility site). From 26 September to 10 October, 2010, a socio-economic survey of 103 households and 103 coffee gardens was conducted in Kenemba and Nahoma villages. The villages have relatively high levels of livelihood diversification with many farmers engaged in vegetable production (carrots, broccoli, cabbage, bulb onion and potato) for the Goroka, Lae and Madang markets. At the time of fieldwork vegetable production was severely affected by an extended drought. The primary coffee gardens were inspected for coffee health, shade and ground cover condition, and a selection of coffee trees were measured for height and trunk diameter. Coffee garden boundaries were recorded.
From 9th to 23rd May, a more intensive survey was conducted. A subset of the above households (24) was selected and all coffee gardens (42) located and boundaries recorded. Farmers were interviewed about daily activities over a period of 10 days. Where such activities involved gardens; a further set of questions relating to nutrient management were invoked. A smaller subset of these gardens (26) was chosen for soil, leaf and berry sampling from all coffee gardens. Samples are being processed for analysis.
2. Bena area, Bena District (relatively accessible site). The original field sites of Fumali and Kokiniga village/hamlet were not able to be visited because of an outbreak of tribal war in the area. The research was moved to the new site of Sogomi Village. Sogomi consists of five large hamlets and several smaller ones, and the area is renowned for its pineapples and many farmers also produce vegetables for the Goroka, Lae and Madang markets. From 15-27 November, 2010, a socio-economic survey of 91 households and 91 coffee gardens was conducted in the hamlets of Kayufa, Sapanaga, Gelehi, Kopona and Meiyawe. Like the Asaro site, Bena was badly affected by a prolonged drought and people were dependent on store foods and their distant 'bush' gardens near the rain forest (their village gardens were severely drought affected). The primary coffee gardens were inspected for coffee health, shade and ground cover condition, and a selection of coffee trees were measured for height and trunk diameter. Coffee garden boundaries were recorded.
Tribal fighting is a major problem in Bena District, but Sogomi Village has a reputation as a model community that promotes peace amongst the Bena tribes.
3. Marawaka area, Obura-Wonenara District (remote site). From 10-25 August, 2010, a socio-economic survey of 96 households and 96 coffee gardens was conducted in the hamlets of Garipmei (Ward 1), Marawaka station (Ward 2), Kwasilo (Ward 3), Marawaka (Ward 4), Maningiri (Ward 4) and Jomuru (Ward 8). Families have very limited access to markets and are highly dependent on coffee for cash income. Farmers practise a complex nutrient management system, with pig husbandry an important component of the farming system. Incomes are very low relative to the Asaro and Bena farmers. The primary coffee gardens were inspected for coffee health, shade and ground cover condition, and a selection of coffee trees were measured for height and trunk diameter. Coffee garden boundaries were recorded.
4. Baira area, Obura-Wonenara District (remote site). Fieldwork at this site has been postponed twice because of accessibility problems. The airstrip was not usable because of very wet conditions, and the site is currently not accessible by walking because rivers are swollen and dangerous to cross. The first round of fieldwork already carried out at the other three sites has been deferred. Coffee farmers have two types of coffee gardens - high altitude gardens in forested areas and lower altitude and more productive coffee gardens in Imperata dominated vegetation. Some of these farmers are producing certified coffee in association with Monpi Sustainable Services.
There are few pigs in Baira, but large numbers of goats thereby providing important contrasts with the Marawaka farming system.
With the deferment of the first round of research at Baira, the second stage of research involving a 30 household subsample of the 100 household survey has been brought forward for Asaro (May 2011) and Bena (June 2011). Second round surveys include semi-structured interviews, labour allocation surveys and soil and leaf sampling of coffee gardens.
The project is also investigating the effectiveness of CIC and private sector extension strategies. Detailed surveys have been undertaken of 85 farmers from 9 farmer groups, 15 extension service providers and 14 extension officers. These data are currently being analysed.

The project is making satisfactory progress with several major objectives met in oil palm and cocoa.
Oil Palm
In oil palm, the mobile card payment scheme which guarantees payment of family and hired labour for work on smallholder oil palm blocks has been introduced at Bialla. The payment initiative, which was developed and trialled under ASEM2002/014, will be introduced to Hoskins smallholders.
In addition, a draft Clan Land Usage Agreement (CLUA) has been developed after extensive consultation with OPIC, customary landowners and migrant smallholders growing oil palm on customary land in Bialla, Hoskins and Popondetta. OPIC supports introducing the new draft CLUA on future smallholder blocks involving land transactions between "outsiders" and customary landowners. The project is in the process of seeking agreement with OPIC to conduct a trial of the new agreement to late 2009 or early 2010.
Cocoa
Cocoa Pod Borer (CPB) is now having a devastating impact on the livelihoods of smallholder cocoa growers in ENBP with almost 90% loss of production in areas with high CPB infestation rates. A social and economic impact assessment of CPB was completed in May 2009, which included a strategy for addressing the problem. Managing CPB requires farmers to raise inputs of labour to undertake CPB management techniques such as weekly harvesting (every mature pod), centralised pod breaking and pod burial. High levels of block management (pruning, shade control and weed control) must also be maintained for effective control of CPB. PNG cocoa farmers conventionally use a low labour input system of production (the foraging strategy) which, with CPB present, can lead to over 90% crop losses. The project is working with commercial sector partners to deliver new forms of extension that aim to mobilise labour for effective control of CPB. While still early days, there are promising results emerging for the monitoring programme with some farmers switching to a high input system and effectively controlling CPB.

The project has two broad objectives: 1) to improve extension delivery through greater commercial sector engagement with smallholders; and 2) to develop effective land use agreements between the commercial sector and customary landowners. The project is making good progress towards these objectives.
In oil palm, the mobile card payment scheme which was designed to mobilise labour in smallholder production by guaranteeing payment of family and hired labour for work on family oil palm blocks has been introduced at Bialla. The payment initiative, which was developed and trialled under ASEM2002/014 is now in the process of being bedded down at Bialla.
In addition, a template for a Clan Land Usage Agreement (CLUA) which was developed last year in consultation with OPIC, customary landowners and migrant smallholders growing oil palm on customary land in Bialla, Hoskins and Popondetta is now available at all OPIC project sites. The template is also being modified for in-fill plantings by the Smallholder Agricultural Development Project, funded by the World-Bank. This new CLUA gives greater recognition to the underlying land tenure rights of the customary landowning group while providing greater tenure security for famers with secondary rights in the land.
The project is also evaluating the range of land use agreements between commercial sector organisations and customary landowners in the cocoa, coffee and oil palm sectors.
In cocoa, the Cocoa Pod Borer (CPB) is having a devastating impact on the livelihoods of smallholder growers in ENBP with almost 90% loss of production in areas with high CPB infestation rates. Provincial production has fallen by around 50% to 10,000 tonnes in 2009, and CPB has now spread to Bougainville where it is anticipated it will decimate the cocoa crop. The pest is causing enormous hardship by undermining people's capacity to earn a living, to meet their needs in education and health and to maintain their general quality of life. However, it is possible for farmers to manage CPB but this requires shifting from the low labour input system of smallholder production that typifies most export cash crop cropping in PNG to a high labour input system involving weekly harvesting, regular pruning and shade control and other new practices to control CPB.
Over the past year project staff have been working with an exporting company, NGIP-Agmark, on new extension strategies to assist farmers make the transition to high input farming. This extension strategy is proving successful with many farmers now adopting the high input system of production. Monitoring of the strategy reveals that those farmers able to make the switch to high input farming are earning good returns on their labour. High input production means much reduced losses from pests and diseases like Black Pod and a yield response to pruning and improved maintenance of cocoa stands. This is leading to much higher yields than those achieved pre-CPB under the low input system of production.
The switch to high input farming involves a lifestyle change for smallholder families. To make the transition easier for families, centralised processing leading to higher quality and higher value dry beans is being trialled by the company. This reduces some of the labour demands on smallholder families by centralising processing, thereby providing more time for growers to undertake maintenance and CPB control practices on their family cocoa blocks. However, not all families are willing or able to make the transition to high input farming. For these farmers the project has been investigating options for diversification into alternative crops that do not depend on the high labour inputs now required for cocoa production in a CPB environment.

The two broad objectives are to: 1) improve extension delivery through greater commercial sector engagement with smallholders; and 2) develop effective land use agreements between the commercial sector and customary landowners.
The mobile card payment mechanism to mobilise labour in smallholder oil palm production by guaranteeing payment of family and hired labour is operating at Bialla. Growers are finding new ways to adapt the payment mechanism to meet their needs. Elderly growers reluctant to hand over block management to their sons because of potential loss of income have adopted the card to guarantee an income in their retirement, thereby lessening the generational conflict and disruption of production often associated with the transfer of block management from fathers to sons. Growers call this the "papa levy".
The new template for a Clan Land Usage Agreement (CLUA) developed in consultation with customary landowners, settlers and other stakeholders is now available at all OPIC project sites, and is being modified for in-fill plantings by the Smallholder Agricultural Development Project, funded by the World-Bank. This new CLUA gives greater recognition to the underlying land tenure rights of the customary landowning group while providing greater tenure security for famers with secondary rights in the land.
The project is also evaluating the range of land use agreements between commercial sector organisations and customary landowners in the cocoa, coffee and oil palm sectors.
The Cocoa Pod Borer (CPB) has spread to eight provinces. By the end of 2010, production in ENBP - the worst affected province - fell by 80% to 5000 t. The pest is causing severe financial hardship to smallholder families with many families reverting to subsistence production as a survival strategy. Smallholders can adapt to living with CPB, but they must adopt much more intensive cocoa management practices including weekly harvesting, regular pruning and shade control and other labour-intensive CPB control techniques.
Working with the exporting company, NGIP-Agmark, the team has been monitoring the delivery, uptake and effectiveness of new extension strategies (Training by Association model) and other services provided by the company. New services for growers include: purchase of cocoa at the roadside edge of the cocoa block, seedling support program including credit and training in cloning techniques and nursery establishment, general extension and advisory services including CPB training and farmer group support, a savings scheme and fermentary credit scheme for farmers, and farm diversification support for growers affected by CPB.
For the 200 farmers participating in NGIP-Agmark's Training by Association model, the results have been remarkable. A relatively high proportion of farmers has successfully made the transition to high input farming, and most of them are achieving yields well above levels of pre-CPB times. General improvements in block maintenance and sanitation mean that losses due to pod rot and Black Pod (around 30% of pods in pre-CPB times) are negligible, and losses to CPB are on average less than one pod per tree.
The switch to high input farming involves a lifestyle change for most smallholder families. However, time allocation surveys reveal that smallholder families that have successfully switched to high input farming have more leisure time and spend more time on community and church activities than families who have not made the transition. This is because the latter group have to spend more time on food garden production for home consumption and sale at local markets. Not all families are willing or able to make the transition to high input farming, and for these farmers the project has been investigating options for diversification into alternative crops that do not require high labour inputs.

Component 1
This report presents a summary of the first year's activities of the contracted ACIAR Project HORT/2007/066/1 "Integrated soil and crop nutrient management in vegetable crops in the southern Philippines". This Component forms a section of a large multidisciplinary Program (HORT/2007/066 'Enhanced profitability of selected vegetables value chains in the southern Philippines').
The aim of this component is to develop integrated soil and crop nutrient management in vegetable crops in the southern Philippines and Australia to facilitate more profitable and sustainable vegetable production.
The key objectives underlying this aim and progress against meeting these objectives are summarised below
1. Define current soil fertility status and management practices
Participatory Assessments and targeted soil survey completed (Sept '08 - Feb '09). Key findings:
i) Growers identified lack of capital and high fertiliser prices as a key constraint to production.
ii) However, evaluation of soil fertility and current fertiliser and nutrient management practices suggests growers are undersupplying some nutrients and oversupplying others, leading to nutrient imbalances in the soil.
iii) Consequently, it is not an issue of lack of capital but an issue of more effective allocation of limited capital (fertiliser) resources.

2. Develop more productive nutrient management systems for vegetables
Research program has been developed and implemented in May/June 2009 with a strong focus on developing fertiliser strategies which are based on supplying the most cost-effective method of supplying the nutrient requirements of target vegetable crops. This is based on the outcomes from the Participatory and Soil Assessments.
The Australian component at the NSW DPI's Centre for Recycled Organics in Agriculture is also yielding valuable information on the longer term benefits of applying compost for improving crop productivity and soil quality in vegetable production systems. Recent results are demonstrating that the compost treatments yielded up to 89% more capsicum than conventional practice. Moreover, soil carbon concentrations in the compost amended soils are up to 50% higher than conventional practice.

3. Promote adoption of management practices best suited to local conditions.
Training activities based on the outcomes of the assessment and field research activities are scheduled for the latter stages of the project. However, a key dissemination activity was performed by Dr Chris Dorahy who presented a Plenary Address at the 12th Annual Philippine Society of Soil Science and Technology Conference in May 2009.

4. Enhance capacity building of local staff to promote and develop more sustainable and profitable vegetable production.
The key capacity building activities for Partner Country collaborators have been the Inception and Research Methods Workshops in July 2008 and March 2009, respectively.
In addition more than 100 farmers attended the workshops which were facilitated by Partner Country Collaborators during the Participatory Assessments.
Leading farmers are also involved in undertaking the 5 research trials which are currently underway.

Component 2
VSU site
Protected cropping structures have been designed and built at the VSU site and farmer sites at Cabintan and Maasin. At the VSU site, there are four "house" type structures, two built from coco lumber and two from bamboo. All are covered in UV-resistant plastic, two have trickle irrigation and plastic mulch installed, and two use bare soil and hand watering.
There are also two low tunnel structures at VSU, one covered with plastic and the other with fine netting. Tomatoes, sweet peppers, lettuce and cabbage varieties were evaluated for yield, quality and bacterial wilt resistance (tomatoes and peppers). Temperature, humidity and light intensity data was collected inside each structure and outside. Temperature inside plastic tunnels reached 46C compared to net covered tunnels where the maximum was 36C.
Pest and disease incidence both inside the structures and outside at VSU were monitored by Dr Mandras. The main pest problems were tomato fruit worm (Helicoverpa armigera) and diamond back moth, and the most damaging disease was bacterial wilt on the solanaceous crops. Excellent resistance to bacterial wilt was discovered in the tomato varieties Diamante and Atlas, and the sweet pepper varieties Emperor and Majesty.
An unexpected result was that solanaceous crops grown inside the structures were much less affected by bacterial wilt than crops grown outside. Inside the structures, growing crops on bare soil further increased resistant to bacterial wilt compared plants grown on plastic mulch, to the point where varieties + greenhouse +bare soil effectively controlled bacterial wilt in this experiment.
Yields inside the structures were significantly higher that outdoor production. For tomatoes, yields were double that of the outdoor grown crops and hybrid tomato yield 3-4 times higher than the local open-pollinated variety. Sweet pepper, lettuce and cabbage yield data has not yet been analysed, but based on visual indication, yield under protected cropping would have been significantly higher than outdoor grown crops.
Very strong winds in the first week of February 2009 nearly destroyed one of the bamboo structures at VSU so that it had to be supported, and blew the plastic coverings off all the house type structures.
Farmer sites
A bamboo house-type structure was built at the Cabintan site. Broccoli and cabbage crops gown under the structure produced yields of 5.8 and 3.6 tonnes/ha compared to 0 tonne/ha yields from outdoor-grown crops. The crops produced under the structure also showed a positive gross margin in the economic analysis.
Tomatoes were grown at the Maasin site, where a plastic-covered, bamboo house-type structure was built. At the time of writing this report, the yield data has not been analysed, but the crop grown under the structure was virtually disease-free compared to a significant alternaria infection on outdoor-grown plants. Based on the larger plants and increased fruit set, the crops grown under cover appeared to have a potential yield about double that of outdoor-grown crops.
Socioeconomic aspects
Two focus group discussions were held with farmers during the first year: one prior to the construction of any structures to provide baseline data for the project. That focus group discussion was also successful in soliciting ideas for structural materials and engineering design. It highlighted the interests of farmers in the concept but it is clear that farmers require a greater demonstration than they have currently observed regarding the financial and physical feasibility of the concept. Farmers verified that significantly higher prices can be achieved in the wet season, if crops can be produced. The second focus group discussion was held after crops had been produced. The main findings from the second focus group discussion were:
1. The protected structure design does protect crops and facilitates management activities;
2. There is impressive growth of vegetables compared to open field;
3. The potential irrigation problem due to lack of water in farmers' fields; and
4. The overall viability and performance of vegetables in the longer term is not yet proven.
Price analysis using secondary data confirms that a significant price premium can be achieved by growing vegetable crops in the wet season. Farmers, in general, are aware of this. A more detailed analysis will be undertaken later in the project using primary data currently being collected.
Price and cost data has been collected from VSU experimental sites and from the collaborating farmers. Under current husbandry practices at VSU, the profitability of production under the existing structures looks questionable. Collaborating farmers at Massin and Cabintan have had more success on this front, perhaps reflecting a more commercial orientation. (Yet care was taken at VSU to separate out the 'experimental' costs from the 'production' costs). A complete benefit cost analysis of the first season's cropping will be written up by August 2009. But it is already clear that the project should put greater effort into structures with a lower capital cost and preferably which can allow access to watering in a low cost manner.
Website
A project website has been built (www.protectedcropping.com). The site is intended as a showcase for the project, and as a platform for project team members to exchange files and information. It was designed in Australia and is administered by AHR, under direction from Dr Armenia, VSU regarding content.
Farmer training
The farmer training component does not form a large part of the project at this early stage. There has been significant input from East West Seeds. There have been offers of even more involvement which have met with some resistance at VSU. An important linkage has been created between this project and ACIAR project LWR/2004/078, based in Bohol in which Dr Rogers is a project team member. East West seeds are currently conducting a farmer field school there in vegetable cropping, and it is hoped that a similar program could be initiated in Leyte to teach farmers the latest skills in efficient vegetable cropping.
Australian Component
Jeremy Badgery-Parker and Josh Jarvis have provided some highly innovative and exciting designs for modular low cost structures which will be discussed at a workshop in Leyte in July 2009, and then hopefully built in farmer sites for evaluation under the project.
Component 3
The initial phase of the project has resulted in successfully laying the foundations for the future research and uptake of the project. All of the groundwork is in place to commence evaluation and analysis of potato varieties, soil amendments and microbial communities. Planned field trials for Ralstonia solanacearum bacterial wilt are ready to be planted in the Philippines, and pilot studies of Brassica biofumigation have commenced in north Queensland.
Additionally, isolates of bacterial canker, Clavibacter michiganensis (Cmm) have been sourced from international bacterial collections and are currently being sent to NSW DPI under AQIS restrictions. Isolates of Cmm from around Australia have been collected and are being examined for variations in pathogenicity, sensitivity to copper and molecular variation. Initial experiments examining the effect of disinfectants and heat treatment at reducing populations of Cmm have been undertaken and are showing promising results with very low levels of chlorine required to reduce Cmm levels to undetectable. Experiments examining the effect of plant defence activators on suppressing bacterial canker of tomato are underway and results are being analysed.
While staff changes have led to some discontinuity, this has been resolved.
Further information regarding bacterial canker is to be provided.
Component 4
A review of the institutional market in metro Manila, the Visayas and Mindanao for fresh vegetables has largely been completed. At the time of writing, the draft report, which is currently being edited, contains material from metro Manila, Bacolod, Iloilo, Dumaguete, Tagbilaran and General Santos. The reports on Cebu, Tagloban and Ormoc have yet to be written and research is still to be undertaken in Davao and Cagayan de Oro. No problems are anticipated in presenting the final report by the due date: July 31, 2009.
The market study has revealed considerable differences in the offer quality between the modern retail supermarkets, food manufacturers and processors, the food service sector and the needs of the traditional wet market. Furthermore, regional differences in climate and topography influence the range, the quality and the quantity of vegetables available from local producers, and differences in household income, tourism, transport and infrastructure shape both the institutional demand and the extent to which vegetables are traded between regions.
For the Visayas, while Cebu is not a major producer, it is the main distribution centre, importing fresh vegetables from metro Manila (Baguio) and Mindanao.
In much of the Visayas and northern Mindanao, heavy rainfall for much of the year makes it very difficult to produce good quality vegetables without protected cropping. However, there is little evidence of any price premiums being paid for fresh produce grown in a protected environment. With access to product from a number of alternative sources, product will readily flow into a market when prices rise as a result of shortages in domestic supply. Furthermore, when prices rise above that which the market is willing to pay, customers will substitute with canned product or simply drop the product from their menu. In other less mature markets, there is simply no demand for high value vegetables.
For the five star hotels and resorts, purchasing is highly sophisticated and driven primarily by quality and price. Product specifications are invariably used, which often differ for the same product, depending on how it is used. To become a preferred supplier, suppliers must maintain a consistent quality and deliver as promised.
Irrespective of the intended market, the more problematic fresh vegetables are the green leafy vegetables. For the executive chefs and resorts, a more reliable supply of gourmet (baby) vegetables and fresh herbs is required.
While adequate progress is being made to build capacity within the various cluster groups participating in the project, Catholic Relief Services have given notice of their intention to withdraw from the project on June 30, 2009. Their withdrawal is primarily the result of a significant reduction in their funding base and a desire by the Board to downsize and re-direct funds to other more needy countries. This will result in the four CRS field operatives being employed either by Advocates of Philippine Fair Trade Inc (APFTI) or the University of the Philippines (Mindanao). Irrespective of the outcome, there should be minimal disruption to the project and participating farmer groups. Capacity building activities continue to be delivered commensurate with each group's stage of development (as evaluated under the CRS Eight Step Agro-enterprise Development Handbook). However, activities in Miasong (South Cotobato) have been suspended since January, given the directive by CRS to reduce its agro-enterprise development activities in the Philippines. Due to the costs and security concerns, there is some doubt as to whether it will be possible to continue capacity building activities in South Cotobato. A decision will be made once it is known which NGO will assume responsibility for delivering the CRS capacity building activities.
Component 5
The activities and outputs for each component objective over the reporting period are summarised below;
Objective 1: To undertake an economic analysis of the value chain for the crops of interest in the ACIAR Program HORT/2007/066.
Glory Dee Romo (University of the Philippines Mindanao, UP Mindanao) and Leanne Orr (New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, NSW DPI) completed a case study showing how the team will undertake the initial assembly of price spread information for all fruit and vegetable crops relevant to both ACIAR Program HORT/2007/067 and this program. In this case study, a fruit crop, papaya, was chosen as the case study crop.
The UP Mindanao team (Larry Digal and Glory Dee Romo) prepared a draft marketing margin analysis for two vegetable crops in Mindanao; tomato and potato. Price transmission and net margin analysis were used to assess the performance (show any indication of inefficiencies) of the supply chains. The initial findings of the analysis show that inefficiencies exist in the supply chains of potato and tomato whereby changes to the costs of marketing are not efficiently transmitted or reflected in the price.
Data for the draft marketing margin analysis was collected by the UP Mindanao team from the Philippines Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) database and from interviews with participants in the supply chain, such as; farmers, wholesalers, retailers, farm labourers, storekeepers, transport labourers and service providers.
Objective 2: To estimate the profitability of HORT/2007/066 Program outcomes developed under Components 1 to 4 and to use this to measure the Component impacts upon Philippine vegetable industries and to enhance adoption.
Gross margin budgets have been developed by Leanne Orr (NSW DPI), Sally Bulayog (Visayas Sate University. VSU) and Sonny Domingo (Charles Sturt University) for tomatoes (Leyte, Visayas), cabbage (Leyte, Visayas) and potatoes (Bukidnon, Mindanao). For these crops in these growing regions, gross margin budgets were prepared for both farmers current practice (FP) and best practice (BP). FP budgets were largely derived from discussions with farmer groups and extension officers in the Philippines Department of Agriculture (DA). The BP budgets were assembled with assistance from a vegetables expert at University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB).
Leanne Orr and Tony Napier (NSW DPI) have developed gross margin budgets for a variety of vegetables grown in the MIA, Sydney Basin and Central West of NSW. Budgets have been developed for tomato (processing and fresh), potato (processing, winter fresh, summer fresh), cabbage, sweet corn (fresh and processing), lettuce and onion. These budgets are in the process of being included on the NSW DPI website for the use of both vegetable producers and vegetable researchers and extension officers.
The vegetable gross margin budgets were circulated to other component leaders in March 2009 for their use and feedback and were also loaded onto the ACIAR Program website (see references).
Objective 3: To identify any policy constraints that may affect the adoption of technologies developed by the Program, and quantify their impacts at the farm level, and some cases the industry level.
A draft study of policy issues for vegetables in the Philippines has been prepared by Dr Roehlano Briones (Philippine Institute for Development Studies, PIDS). It provides a picture of the current situation and identifies some potential areas of future research for the project. This policy project will be important in identifying regulation and monopoly power which will be reflected in the price spreads and may impede the adoption of technology at the farm level.
Preliminary whole-farm models have been specified for a typical upland, rainfed vegetable producing farm at Cabintan (Visayas) and as well as for upland and lowland rainfed and irrigated vegetable producing farms at Bukidon (Mindanao). The Visayas model is being developed by Dr Randall Jones and Leanne Orr (NSW DPI) with assistance from Sally Bulayog (VSU). Sonny Domingo (CSU) is developing the Mindanao whole farm model.
The models are based on a linear programming framework and is planned to be extended to a risk analysis framework so as to be able to help understand the constraints to adoption of technologies by Philippine vegetable farmers.
A number of other activities and outputs have also occurred for this program reporting period which have contributed to the achievement of the milestones set out for the Program.
A document has been prepared by Leanne Orr (NSW DPI) outlining where and how to access Philippine agricultural statistics of particular relevance to the vegetable program. The BAS website provides a vehicle for access to two groups of statistical information on vegetables in the Philippines. The first group is in the form of BAS statistics and publications available for download. The second group of statistical information is available via a link to the CountrySTAT Philippines website. The document is available on the ACIAR Program website (see references).
NSW vegetable production and value data has been extracted from Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) statistics by Leanne Orr (NSW DPI) and placed in a spreadsheet which has been loaded as a further program resource on the ACIAR Program website (see references).
There have been key activities involving coordinating and establishing the component team which have involved building and developing relationships between the Philippine collaborators and the Australian team members. Dr John Mullen and Dr Randall Jones (NSW DPI) have both visited the Philippines and met will program collaborators (finalised and proposed) to carry out this liaison and relationship building activity. There are two program collaborators with which arrangements are not yet finalised for their involvement in the program. This activity will be ongoing with the final number of Philippine program collaborators intended to be five; UP Mindanao, VSU, PIDS, SEARCA and BAS.
Component 6
After 12 months, the technical and management aspects of the project 'Enhancing profitability of selected vegetable value chains in the southern Philippines and Australia' are proceeding satisfactorily.
Summary of Technical components
Each component has provided a report for 2008-09 and these are attached.
Key points are:
Component 1: Soils.
Philippine growers have identified lack of capital and high fertiliser prices as a key constraint to production. Also it seems as though growers are undersupplying some nutrients and oversupplying others, leading to nutrient imbalances in the soil.
The Australian component is showing yield benefits of applying compost for improving crop productivity and soil quality in vegetable production systems.
Dr Anabelle Tulin received the 2009 Outstanding Achievement Award from the Philippine Society of Soil Science and Technology.
Component 2: Protected cropping
Protected cropping structures have been designed and built at the VSU site and farmer sites. At the VSU site the main pest and disease problems have been identified. Excellent resistance to bacterial wilt was observed in some tomato and sweet pepper varieties. Solanaceous crops grown inside the structures were much less affected by bacterial wilt than crops grown outside and yields inside the structures were significantly higher than outdoor production. At the Cabintan farmer site, broccoli and cabbage crops grown under the structure produced yields of 5.8 and 3.6 t/ha compared to negligible yield from outdoor-grown crops.
Component 3. Systems are in place to commence evaluation and analysis of potato varieties, soil amendments and microbial communities. Planned field trials for bacterial wilt are ready to be planted in the Philippines, and pilot studies of Brassica biofumigation have commenced in north Queensland.
In Australia, isolates of bacterial canker, (Cmm) have been sourced from international bacterial collections and isolates of Cmm from around Australia have been collected and are being examined for variations in pathogenicity, sensitivity to copper and molecular variation. Initial experiments examining the effect of disinfectants and heat treatment at reducing populations of Cmm are showing promising results with very low levels of chlorine required to reduce Cmm levels to undetectable levels.
Component 4. There are considerable differences in the offer quality between the modern retail supermarkets, the food manufacturers, processors and service sector and the needs of the traditional wet market. Furthermore, regional differences in climate and topography influence the range, the quality and the quantity of vegetables available from local producers.
For the Visayas, Cebu is the main distribution centre, importing fresh vegetables from metro Manila (Baguio) and Mindanao. In much of the Visayas and northern Mindanao, heavy rainfall for much of the year makes it very difficult to produce good quality vegetables without protected cropping. However, there is little evidence of any price premiums being paid for fresh produce grown in a protected environment. When prices are high customers substitute with canned product or drop the product from their menu.
Adequate progress is being made to build capacity within the various cluster groups participating in the project. However, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) will withdraw from the project on 30 June 2009. The four CRS field will still be part of the project.
Component 5. A draft marketing margin analysis for tomato and potato in Mindanao showed that inefficiencies exist in the supply chains of both crops whereby changes to the costs of marketing are not efficiently transmitted or reflected in the price.
Gross margin budgets have been developed for tomatoes and cabbage (both Leyte, Visayas) and potatoes (Bukidnon, Mindanao) using both farmers current practice and best practice.
A draft study of policy issues for vegetables in the Philippines has provided a picture of the current situation and identifies some potential areas of future research for the project.
Preliminary whole-farm models are also being developed and these will be extended to a risk analysis framework so as to be able to help understand the constraints to adoption of technologies by Philippine vegetable farmers.
Gross margin budgets have been developed for tomato (processing and fresh), potato (processing, winter fresh, summer fresh), cabbage, sweet corn (fresh and processing), lettuce and onion grown in three NSW regions.
Processes to find Philippine agricultural statistics of particular relevance to the vegetable program and vegetable production and value data in NSW are available on web2.
Summary of management component (6)
The key issue in 2008-09 has been administrative issues associated with payments to Philippine collaborators. These are now essentially resolved. Suggestions to improve the overall program and management are discussed in section 8.
Links are continuing to develop between the components and other stakeholders. Important challenges at present include utilizing as much present vegetable research and development capability as possible in the Philippines, determining if more training of staff who work directly with farmers is justified and continuing to seek commercial partners.

Component 1
This report presents a summary of the second year's activities of the contracted ACIAR Project HORT/2007/066/1 "Integrated soil and crop nutrient management in vegetable crops in the southern Philippines". This Component forms a section of a large multidisciplinary Program (HORT/2007/066 'Enhanced profitability of selected vegetables value chains in the southern Philippines').
The aim of this component is to develop integrated soil and crop nutrient management in vegetable crops in the southern Philippines and Australia to facilitate more profitable and sustainable vegetable production.
The key objectives underlying this aim and progress against meeting these objectives are summarised below

No.
Objective
Progress against stated objective
1
Define current soil fertility status and management practices
Activities are on-going and include the following:
- Establishment of five fertilizer management systems in various project sites in Leyte and Mindanao. These were set up in Cabintan, Ormoc City with cabbage as the vegetable planted and managed by Anabella Tulin of VSU; Claveria, Misamis Oriental for tomato managed by Jun Mercado of ICRAF; Lantapan, Bukidnon for broccoli and Mapayag, Bukidnon for white potato managed by Juanita Salvani and Lito Lapoot of NOMIARC; and Kapatagan, Davao for cabbage managed by Vale Justo.
- Set-up and harvested the joint experiment on sweet pepper with Component 2 and periodically monitor the nutrient dynamics in the soil and plant tissues applied with varying levels of nitrogen.
- Completed the analyses of soils and plant tissue samples for the five sites. These included a total of 100 soil samples analyzed for soil pH, total N, extractable P and exchangeable Ca, Mg, K, and Na; 300 plant tissue samples analyzed for total N, total P and total K.
- Completed the analyses of four chicken manures used in the experiments for N, P, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, and Na.
- Completed the analyses of 35 vermicast samples for total N, P, K, Mg, K, Ca, and Na.
2
Develop more productive nutrient management systems for vegetables
An on-going research program has been developed and implemented with a strong focus on developing fertiliser strategies which are based on supplying the most cost-effective method of supplying the nutrient requirements of target vegetable crops.
The Australian component at the I & I NSW Centre for Recycled Organics in Agriculture is also yielding valuable information on the longer term benefits of applying compost for improving crop productivity and soil quality in vegetable production systems. Recent results are demonstrating that the compost treatments yielded up to 89% more capsicum than conventional practice. Moreover, soil carbon concentrations in the compost amended soils are up to 77% higher than conventional practice.
3
Promote adoption of management practices best suited to local conditions.
5 papers accepted for poster presentation at the World Congress of Soil Science, Brisbane 2-6 August, 2010.
3 student papers submitted to the Philippine Society of Soil Science and Technology Conference, Palawan, Philippines, 27-29 May, 2010.
A field day was held at the Claveria Site on 26 April, 2010, with more than 100 people in attendance.

4
Enhance capacity building of local staff to promote and develop more sustainable and profitable vegetable production.
The key capacity building activities for Partner Country collaborators have been the Strategic Planning and Scientific Writing workshops which were held in November 2009 and April 2010.
Leading farmers are also involved in undertaking the 5 research trials which are currently underway.
Conducted and completed three undergraduate theses in support of the other factors that need to be investigated by the project. These students' theses focus on the following:
Assessment of the NPK requirements of sweet pepper grown under different soils used in vegetable production in the southern Philippines using the double pot technique- done by Ms. Anabelle Ejoc
Nutrient dynamics of soils planted to sweet pepper under protective structure and in an open field - done by Mr. Bensive Gabitano
Effects of organic amendments on soil characteristic and growth and yield of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) - done by Mr. Jessie Sabijon
Conducting 1 Master of Science thesis that addressed the "Chemical characterization and nutrient supplying capacity of various organic amendments for vegetable production in southern Philippines. This is an ongoing thesis of Ms. Clea Ann Vallejera, who is also a DOST - PCARRD scholar.

Component 2
Structure design workshop
A workshop was held at VSU on 14-15th June 2009 where current structure designs were reviewed by the Australian and Philippine project team in collaboration with farmers, LGU agricultural officers, representatives of PNOC and other relevant local organisations. The workshop was valuable and innovative new designs emerged from the discussions. The key innovations were the concept of low-cost modular structures that could be extended over time, and the idea of curved roof bamboo structures which are stronger than the conventional type.
VSU site
The VSU site which has 2 bamboo structures, 2 coco lumber house types and 2 low tunnels is being used to test the viability of the structures especially in relation to resistance to wind damage, crop types and varieties. There have been two significant typhoon events which have caused significant damage. The most recent event occurred in December 2009 and required a total rebuild of the coco lumber structures. Some materials were re-used. A major limitation of the house type structures is wind damage to crops through the sides of the structure. Netting is important to control this damage.
One of the structures is being used for a nutrition study in collaboration with component 1. Cost and return data is being collected and is presented in the detailed progress report for the first 3 croppings (attached).
Farmer sites
There has been significant interest in assisting with funding the building of new structures from Ormoc City, PNOC and Maasin City. The energy generation company PNOC-EDC (Mr. Mario Sumabat) has committed to pay half the cost of building 8 new structures; 4 in Cabintan (Ormoc) and 4 in Lake Danao (Ormoc), a total of 544,000 PHP. In addition Ormoc City has agreed to fund five (5) structures for their counterpart and Maasin City has agreed to fund the construction of four (4) structures in Maasin.
There has been a deliberate re-focussing of the project toward establishing, supporting structures built on farmers properties and collecting data from these operations. The reasons for this approach are first, that the example of successful protected cropping experiences will be communicated among farmers and this will be a driver of adoption. Second, the economic and yield data collected from actual farms will be more representative of real experience and as a result will be more reliable than VSU-based data in extension work and economic analyses. The success of the project will depend more on demonstrating the economic and biophysical effectiveness of protected cropping.
Only one farmer (Noel Morales) is operating the 'vent type' as planned. The others say they are laborious to operate. One or two farmers are now investing in new structures with only part funding from project.
Crops grown inside the structures are harvesting for longer than control crops outside structures, partially contributing to higher yields.
Socioeconomic aspects
The structures are all showing positive gross margins, which are an improvement on open field production. The table below shows gross margins from the year one crops. The results from the bamboo structure at Cabintan and the Coco 2 structure at VSU are outstanding in that they increased Gross Margins by 23,415 and 18,550 PHP over three crops, respectively.
Broad economic data is being collected from the VSU site. However, given the experimental nature of activities in these structures, less emphasis is placed on this data than farm-based data.
Establishment costs were collected from the VSU experimental site and farmers' sites in Ormoc City and Maasin City. Construction costs were largely determined by local availability of suitable building material, especially bamboo.
There has been considerable discussion about representation of the first year's results. The main issue is whether data should be presented on a structure, land area or dollar-invested basis. There is also a need to compare tunnel type with house type.
Website
A project website (www.protectedcropping.com) has received 29,000 hits in the last 12 months and 13,370 file downloads have been made, mostly working papers.
The site is intended as a showcase for the project, and as a platform for project team members to exchange files and information. It has been used to post working papers and, and these are also posted in the ACIAR web2 site.
Farmer training
The farmer-training component does not form a large part of the project at this stage. There has been significant input from East West Seeds. However offers of greater involvement have met with some resistance at VSU.
An important linkage has been created between this project and ACIAR project LWR/2004/078, based in Bohol in which Dr Rogers is a project team member. East West seeds have conducted two successful Farmer Field Schools on Bohol, and the EW Seeds staff are now located on Leyte. We are expecting a similar training program could be initiated in Leyte to teach farmers the latest skills in efficient vegetable cropping. There is a plan to undertake cross trips between the projects in Bohol and Leyte.
Australian Component
Jeremy Badgery-Parker and Josh Jarvis have provided some highly innovative and exciting designs for modular low cost structures which were discussed at a workshop in Leyte in July 2009. These designs have been built in Leyte on at least 3 sites in construction funded partially from the NSW DPI budget. The design document is attached to this annual report.
Future directions:
Creative designs for low cost structures
Build more structures on farms and involve farmers in optimizing
Focus on evaluating structures on farms
Collect real and actual economic data from farmers

Component 1
This report presents a summary of the third year's activities of the contracted ACIAR Project HORT/2007/066/1 "Integrated soil and crop nutrient management in vegetable crops in the southern Philippines". This Component forms a section of a large multidisciplinary Program (HORT/2007/066 'Enhanced profitability of selected vegetables value chains in the southern Philippines').

The aim of this component is to develop integrated soil and crop nutrient management in vegetable crops in the southern Philippines and Australia to facilitate more profitable and sustainable vegetable production. The key objectives underlying this aim and progress against meeting these objectives are summarised below:

Table 1. Summary of progress in the last 12 months against the stated objectives of the component.

No.
Objective
Progress against stated objective
1
Define current soil fertility status and management practices
A critical piece of work which has been undertaken in the last 12 months has been the establishment of a nutrient omission pot trial at VSU using soils from our 5 key research sites. This has enabled some soil test calibration work to be undertaken, which will be linked back to the soil survey which was completed in 2009 to derive some critical soil nutrient concentrations and link these back to current guidelines and recommendations. It has also identified that the key nutrients driving the system are typically N>>P> K.
The field research component continues to document current fertility management practices and the mass balance studies will provide a good assessment of the sustainability of current practices viz., whether nutrients are accumulating in or being mined from soils used for vegetable production.
2
Develop more productive nutrient management systems for vegetables
This is highlighted by the key message arising from the project, namely:

"Organic inputs are often promoted as the solution to problems of declining soil fertility and agricultural productivity. This is driven by high prices of inorganic fertilisers, opportunities to beneficially reuse recycled organics and a desire to be more "organic". However, recycled organics alone are unlikely to provide the nutrients required to achieve the productivity required to meet the food demands of the Philippines. Nevertheless, they have great potential to be used in conjunction with inorganic fertilisers to increase fertiliser use efficiency, improve soil quality and crop growth.

Sustainable soil fertility and nutrient management entails understanding soil fertility status, matching inputs to outputs and monitoring soil conditions to ensure nutrients do not accumulate or diminish over time". The following framework for achieving these objectives is proposed in Table 2. Each of the sections will be supported by the key results from experimental work undertaken in the project both in the Philippines and Australia.
3
Promote adoption of management practices best suited to local conditions.
Training activities based on the outcomes of the assessment and field
research activities are scheduled the last quarter of 2011. Important dissemination activities of the project have been the presentation of project papers in international and national conferences. Five papers from the project were presented during the 19th World Congress of Soil Science (WCSS) held in Brisbane, Australia on August 2 - 6, 2010 . These five papers were likewise published in the proceedings of the conferences. Four project papers were also presented during the 13th PSSST Annual Conference and Scientific Meeting in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan. One paper won second place in the Best Paper Category.

A farmer field day was also held in Lantapan, Bukidnon together with the Landcare project to showcase the various research activities of the project the potential of alternative sources of soil amendments for vegetable production.

Another farmer field day showcasing the ACIAR Vegetable Program was held during VSU Anniversary last August 10,2010 and attended by more than 3,000 farmers all over Leyte and Samar. Posters about the project were presented in the ACIAR Booth. This event was likewise attended by both Filipino and Australian scientists involved in the vegetable project.
4
Enhance capacity building of local staff to promote and develop more sustainable and profitable vegetable production.
The key capacity building activities of the project was the visit of four project team to Australia 21-31 July, 2010 to visit the CROA field site and to learn about Australian R & D and vegetable production systems in Australia. The team likewise visited research centers and various farmers' fields engaged in both small scale and large scale vegetable production.

Leading farmers are also involved in undertaking the 5 research trials which
are currently underway. Last year, a total of 10 experiments were set-up at the farmers' fields.

Moreover, Component 1 supported 1 Master of Science student, Ms. Clea Ann Vallejera, to investigate the "Chemical characterization and nutrient supplying capacity of various organic amendments for vegetable production in southern Philippines. Clea graduated in March 2011 and has benefited greatly, both professionally and personally, from her involvement in an international agricultural research program.

The Project planned to have the first Indonesian meeting of all involved in the Project in South Sulawesi in November 2008. Dr Peter Murray (UQ)(animal production) and Dr Roy Murray-Prior (CU) (supply chain and markets) and our Indonesian collaborators in Makassar planned to map out tasks over the next 12 months. Unfortunately Dr Murray wasn't given permission by UQ to travel to Indonesia at that time (because of potential terrorist activity) and the meeting was postponed until February. A second visit occurred in May 2009.
During February Drs Murray and Murray-Prior visited Makassar and Enrekang and meetings were held with collaborators in BPTP (Dr Rasrullah, and Ibu Ayu and Yusmar), Dinas Peternakan staff and Dr Asmuddin Natsir, Hasanuddin University. The location and outcomes of these meetings were:
(1) The major live goat market in the Enrekang District was visited and farmers and traders interviewed. In Enrekang Project staff and collaborators including local Dinas staff and members of two goat farmer groups (Boland and Pernanian) met to discuss their problems and the Projects objectives.
(2) The Project team visited Parepare port and interviewed a major local goat trader and boarded a ship used to transport Enrekang goats to Kalimantan.
(3) One of the Project team travelled to Polmas/Polewali then Majene and Mumuju and interviewed traders and farmers at these markets and took a series of photographs and videos of the goats and the markets.
(4) The price and volume of different types of goat meat on sale in the local supermarkets (Carrefour, Diamond, Hypermart) was recorded and the oldest restaurant Malabar specialising in goat meat in Makassar (one of three owned by the same family) was visited and the owner interviewed.
(5) Project members had meetings with the Director and Deputy Director of the Kepala Dinas Peternakan, South Sulawesi and discussed Dinas Peternakan involvement with the Project and interest in increasing the number of goats in South Sulawesi.
(6) To assess the types and amount of goat meat sold from the Makassar wet meat Project members visited Pasar Sentral and interviewed goat meat sellers.
(7) The major findings were that there is strong demand for goats as seen by the relatively high prices and movement of goats from farmer to market through possibly several traders to the final consumer, and this demand is tied to cultural and religious requirements. Also there is a perception that consumption of goat meat may be a cause of hypertension in older consumers.
Between February and May in-country Project staff conducted two major studies: a PRA with two groups of Enrekang farmers (Sepakanana and Pernanian), and a survey of 200 consumers in Makassar to obtain information about their consumption of meat, focussing on kambing. Goitre and rickets were two problems that Enrekang farmers believed they needed help to resolve, the other problems they experienced with their goats, bloat, vaccinations and diarrhoea they felt they had solutions. Goats owned by these farmers were fed mainly Gliracidia, and Setaria, and by-products e.g. cocoa pods, but were infrequently given drinking water. Sale of manure was seen as a significant source of income to the farmers.
During May 2009 Drs Murray and Murray-Prior visited Makassar again and meetings were held with collaborators Dr Rasrullah, and Ibu Ayu and Yusmar, and Dr Asmuddin Natsir about the outcomes of the PRA. Potential solutions to the goitre and rickets problems were discussed including gaining information on the types, prices and availability of mineral supplements. It became obvious that a cheap technique to be able to record liveweights of animals was required to monitor their general condition. Two sets of clock face weigh scales were purchased and a kambing pasar in Makassar visited where goats were weighed and a series of body measurements recorded to determine if heart girth measurement could be used as a reliable and accurate method to estimate liveweight. Even with the limited sample size it was apparent heart girth measurement could be used as a reliable and accurate method to estimate liveweight in goats. Thus the Project has a technique that will allow farmers to cheaply but accurately measure and record liveweight, and thus liveweight change, as a means of evaluating feeding regimes and feeds, and with further knowledge determine the appropriate timing for reproductive management, the actual price per kg of animal received at market, etc.
Data on the consumer survey of goat meat consumption was still being collated during the May 2009 visit by Drs Murray and Murray-Prior.

The Indonesian Government through Central and Provincial Government, and District initiatives (e.g. importations of exotic goat breeds, loans for the purchase of goats, extension activities) has encouraged farmers in Indonesia, and South Sulawesi in particular, to embrace goat production as a means of meeting the need to increase living standards and the increasing demand for animal protein. These initiatives have reached the point where a number of goat farmers in the Enrekang District have progressed from the 'Keeper' (animals kept by families as 'petty cash') type of production system to a 'Producer' (producing animals as their livelihood) type of production system and are now constrained by a lack of husbandry and marketing knowledge and skills. Significant export markets for goat exist within South Sulawesi. Constraints to increased goat production and access to these domestic and export markets could be overcome with refinements to existing goat production, transport and marketing systems, which as well as producing more and bigger, younger animals would also increase incomes for existing goat producers and assist with the development of a viable goat industry within Indonesia.

As such, goat producers in the Enrekang District identified a need to increase their capacity to produce more goats (and therefore increase their incomes and their economic security) but recognised their limitations in terms of knowledge and skills in goat husbandry, management and marketing. The project developed approaches to develop more sustainable systems that integrated goat production with estate plantation crops in Eastern Indonesia and enhanced goat productivity and meet market specifications through improved management of feed and reproduction. It also investigated opportunities for improvements in the goat supply chain and alternatives to the existing chains.

The project has:
Shown that Iodine, in the Povidon form, when applied to the skin of goats overcomes goitre problems quickly
Developed a practical, cheap and accurate method and tool for estimating the liveweight of goats for specific populations of goats
Gained a better understanding of the consumer constraints in Makassar and the supply chain of goats in Sulawesi and its interconnection with other islands in Indonesia.
Farmers involved with project (and those from neighbouring villages) have increased knowledge and skills of: solution to goitre problem, improved feeding other than gliracidia, and capacity to better manage and market their goats

Please note due to illness of Project Leader, no annual report was produced for Year 1.

The overall goal of this project is to better understand the changes occurring in rural agriculture in Asia and Australia in relation to the changing role of women as a result of off-farm employment and/or migration and the ways in which constraints and needs differ between male and female farmers. In particular, the project will identify possible strategies and technologies to help women heads to better manage farms.

This report focuses on the first objective of the study, which is to determine the occurrence and extent of work-related migration and off-farm work in major rice-based or mixed farming systems in Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, and Australia. The first-year activities included reconnaissance, a rapid rural appraisal (RRA), and focus-group discussions (FGDs) in the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and Australia. The focus of the research in Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines is on the out-migration of individuals of farming households, while that in Australia is on the incidence of off-farm work. Research villages in Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam were selected based on criteria such as representing typical rice-growing areas under different water regimes (rainfed and irrigated) and access to labour markets (low and high). A structured guide was developed for collecting village-level information, incidence of out-migration, patterns of migration, and characteristics of migrants. FGDs were conducted with key informants to gain perceptions on labour out-migration. Migrants are defined as those individuals who have changed residence for more than 3 months and send remittances. The incidence of out-migration was calculated among farming households, males, and females.

The results of the RRA showed that the proportion of households with migrants is higher in Thailand than in the Philippines and Vietnam. A higher proportion of males than females migrate in Thailand and Vietnam and vice versa in the Philippines. The incidence of out-migration is generally higher in rainfed ecosystems than in irrigated ecosystems. Rural to urban migration is prevalent in Thailand and Vietnam because of more employment opportunities in nearby districts and provinces brought about by rapid industrialization and better communication and transportation facilities. In the Philippines, although rural to urban migration occurs, domestic to international migration is more prevalent. In Vietnam, men work as construction workers and masons in the cities and as hired fishermen, in seafishing, and with shrimp or squid catching in other provinces. Women work in waste trading and small trading, as hired labourers in rice farming, sand boating workers, domestic helpers, and factory workers, or in other industrial areas near rural areas. In Thailand, male and female migrants work as construction workers, factory workers, and in the trading/business and service sector. In the Philippines, female migrants mainly work as domestic helpers and entertainers within the Philippines and in the Middle East, Italy, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Others work as factory workers in Taiwan, Japan, and Korea. Male migrants work in the Middle East as construction workers, drivers, operators of heavy equipment, or seamen.

FGDs revealed that low rice productivity in the rainfed areas, the small size of landholdings, the lack of regular and alternative income sources, low profitability in rice farming due to high input costs, the desire of youth to seek adventure in the cities, and as a status symbol for a household to have a migrant abroad are some of the reasons for migration. Other reasons are the availability of non-farm work because of social networks, better wages, and the attraction of better living conditions in urban areas. Wives mentioned that remittances increase their income and enable them to invest in agriculture, repay their debts, and improve their living conditions. However, when husbands are absent on a long-term basis, the women face loneliness, insecurity, and emotional stress when remittances do not come on time for children's education, farm inputs, and other household expenditures. Women take on additional responsibilities of managing the farms.

In Australia, the main activities for the reconnaissance work included a review of the literature and secondary data and focus-group discussions. FGDs were conducted in Western Australia. The findings of the reconnaissance work showed that most farming families have at least one family member working outside the farm in either part-time or full-time work. Approximately 77% of the farming families in Western Australia undertake off-farm and/or non-farm work. This involves either one or more family members working part-time or full-time (but still helping on the farm).

It is clear that labour out-migration and/or off-farm work are occurring in all countries involved although the rates vary. The impact of family migration on agricultural productivity, farming efficiency, household welfare, and the changing role of women will be analysed in the next phase of the study

For this year, extensive surveys of 800 farming households (with and without migrants) in Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines and 635 households in Australia were conducted to assess the effects and impacts of family migration/off farm employment on agricultural productivity, farm efficiency, welfare, and the changing roles of women at the household, farm and local level.

Data collection, editing, entry in the computer and preliminary tables were completed in Vietnam and the Philippines. Data editing and data entry is partially completed in Thailand and Australia (75% completed). In-depth surveys of 240 households in Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Australia were also conducted to examine perceptions on migration, decision-making, changes in gender roles, source of information in rice farming, training attended, participation in rice farming possible interventions and constraints and opportunities. Focus group discussions (FGDs) were also conducted with women farmers in the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Australia to identify the factors that constrain or support the adoption and diffusion of technologies they face in agriculture due to male out-migration. In North-east Thailand, the work burden of female family members in rice production increased. They complained of high expenditures on herbicides due to high density of weeds, especially in direct seeded plots. They also have problems with snails which damage the young rice seedlings; low yields due to drought and reduction in paddy areas due to increasing area cultivated to other crops (sugar cane, eucalyptus, cassava). Based on these constraints, the women want to be trained on pest control (insect eg snails and weeds) and integrated pest management, production of healthy rice seeds and high yielding rice varieties which can tolerate drought. In Vietnam, women took over the responsibilities and work load of men in rice operations such as water management, land preparation, dredging field canals, pest management, pest identification, pesticide spraying, fertilizer application and hauling of paddy sacks. The women complained of lack of capital to pay for hired labourers and cash to buy material inputs since the remittances were small. FGDs in the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam revealed that women who are left to manage their farms are faced with increasing expenditures in rice production. Thus they want to be trained in increasing input efficiency and reducing costs of inputs. For example in Vietnam, women want to be trained on 3 R's (reduce seeds, pesticides, fertilizer) and to better manage/conserve water. In the Philippines, women want to learn more on estimating the costs and returns of rice production. They also want to have access to seeds for short duration and drought tolerant crops which they can grow after rice or between 2 rice crops.

In Australia, FGDs revealed that most farming families have at least one member who works off-farm. Both men & women work off-farm, but there is a higher percentage of women working off-farm. Men mostly do the farm work while women work off-farm to supplement household income. But women also work on the farm. The driving forces for off-farm work and/ or work-related migration are to: supplement household income, social reasons and isolation issues. The effects of off-farm and non-farm work on agricultural production are: a) additional (higher) household income, women feel they are contributing to household finances and leading to empowerment (i.e., increased participation in decision-making in the household and in the farm). As more and more women are getting off farm work (where there is employment) the men, who weren't that way inclined before are slowly being trained in the traditional female dominated roles. Men are beginning to realize that women are sometimes the ones saving their livelihood and the significant contribution they make, so farming is definitely becoming more and more a joint effort, with roles constantly being re-evaluated.. The major constraints women & their families face when looking for/ undertaking off-farm work are: lack of employment opportunities, tyranny of distance, low wages, high travel cost, lack of services (e.g., health, child care, education) and isolation. The opportunities are: harnessing women's skills, revitalising communities by providing opportunities for off-farm work, opportunities for value adding, attracting youth back to the countryside, and stimulating business in rural communities. During the FGDs, women identified training in leadership programs as an area for capacity building for women in farms.

To monitor the progress of the project activities, two meetings were conducted. During the first meeting, training on statistical and multivariate analysis was conducted in Social Sciences Division, March 30-June 3. Training on data analysis (econometric analysis) of 800 household surveys was conducted during the 2nd meeting held this year at Curtin University of Technology, Muresk, Perth, Australia on 30 August 2006 by Dr. Fay Rola-Rubzen. Econometric analysis focused on measuring technical efficiency, production analysis and determinants of migration.

This year, the project accomplished the following objectives: 1) assessed the impact of family migration/off-farm employment on agricultural productivity, farm efficiency, women's empowerment and the changing roles of women at the household and farm level; 2) examined key constraints faced by women heads and other poor women in increasing their productive capacities; 3) identified on-farm strategies and technologies that could help address these constraints; 4) tested and evaluated the identified strategies and interventions through participatory approaches; 5) communicated/disseminated information to stakeholders, including women, farm households, research institutions, government bodies and NGOs.

To achieve Objectives 1 and 2, 800 farm households (with and without migrants) were interviewed in each collaborating country (Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam) using a structured questionnaire. Probit analysis was used to identify the factors which determine the probability of a family member to migrate. Ordinary Least Square (OLS) was used to determine the impact of migration, socio-economic factors and farm variables on household income.

In the three countries, the share of remittance earnings to household income ranged from 20 to 50% with the highest share in the Philippines which showed high incidence of international migration. Remittance earnings were spent mainly on food, children's education, debt repayments, and farm inputs. Although remittance earnings helped prevent further income erosion of poor farming households, the pressure to maintain rice yields are shouldered by the family members left behind, particularly the female members. Maximum Likelihood Estimate (MLE) was used to determine the impact of migration on rice productivity and farm efficiency.

In-depth surveys of 200 farm households, a subset from the 800 households were also conducted to determine changes in gender roles as a result of labour out-migration, women's decision-making authority in household and farm-related matters and constraints women farmers face in the absence of men. Women's Empowerment Index was developed to assess women's decision-making authority compared to men. WEIs were found to be higher among households with migrants than those without migrants. Wives are compelled to make "on-the spot" decisions when husbands are away on a long-term basis. Their roles have begun to shift from unpaid family workers to de facto farm managers.

Traditionally, women manage the allocation of cash for household expenditures. However, with male absence, they are now getting involved in allocating the limited budget for farm inputs as well. Constraints to increasing women's productive capacity were lack of access to technical knowledge in all aspects of rice production, particularly in the efficient use of inputs and reducing the costs of rice production. Majority of the women have not received any training in relation to new methods of crop/farm management.

On-farm strategies, technologies and training needs were identified through focus group discussions conducted in the villages. Participatory action research (PAR) included testing and evaluation of improved rice production and post harvest practices with emphasis on seed health and pest management in the Philippines, use of biofertilizer, golden snail control, use of bio-insecticide in Thailand and rice pest management such as IPM (Vietnam).

Women cooperators were trained in the use of these technologies. In Vietnam, before the training, women were given tests on their existing knowledge on pest identification, weed management, cultural practices to maintain healthy plants, reduce inputs and high yield as well as the methods of pest control. Leaflets (about 1000) which include the important roles of women in rice farming were also distributed in the communes and villages. Training materials were developed with the help of Director of Extension Center at Cu Ulong Rice Research Institute (CLRRI) as well as other specialists. Women participants were given T-shirts with slogans on the front "Phu Nu Tao Dung Tuong Lai" which means " Women are keys to a better future".

In Australia, the project completed the review of literature, conceptualized action research and conducted workshops and road shows. These workshops were conducted to communicate research results of surveys, to introduce action research and determine on-site needs. One milestone of the project is the organization of a training course for WiRL (Women in Rural Leadership) which aims to develop a pathway for women to increase women's participation, representation and leadership by developing essential skills for rural women that will lay the foundation for future leadership roles in their own farm business, communities and in agribusiness and influential organizations. This course given in Esperance was successful. There is a demand for other areas and have received invitations to hold WiRL in the wheatbelt, MidWest Bunbury and Kimberley.

A project steering committee has been established consisting of Dean of Agriculture National University Timor Loro Sa'e, currently Ir. Mateus Da Cruz; Director of Research, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) Lourenco Fontes, the Project leader ACIAR Seeds of Life 2 project, Dr Harry Nesbit and Project Leader John Janes. The steering committee has met to consider and ratify the three mini projects

The signing of the Project MOU was delayed due to some additional requirements (concerning food security) by MAFF, and civil disturbances in East Timor therefore the project did not commence in April as planned. The MOU was signed on 30th September and commenced on 1 December 2006 following notification to the commissioning organisation in mid November 2006. Then continuing civil disturbances in Dili further delayed implementation by the commissioning organisation until January 2007. The university was not in session for a period and staff had returned to their home districts because of the dangerous situation in Dili. Staff had returned to Dili in January so meetings of the Australian Team Leader, mentors and collaborating organisation staff and could be effectively conducted. The project steering committee met on the 23rd January and discussed and ratified two of the proposed mini projects namely, MP 1 Analysis of farming systems in 13 districts MP2 Scoping the current and future market for beef .The committee requested further details on the proposed MP3 Alley cropping as an alternative to slash and burn.

Detailed project proposals on MP1 AND MP 2 were circulated and they were approved for commencement. In the case of MP3 a preliminary survey of potential sites that have stands of leucaena or other alley cropping species which have been established for 5, 10, 20, 30 years and that are representative of significant agro-ecosystems and available to conduct of a soil fertility study. Data collection is well advanced in the case of MP1 and MP2.

A national Agricultural workshop is planned for early September. Progress reports will be presented and discussed and research priorities for the next round of mini-projects will be considered.

Project implementation is at the halfway point having began in late November 2006, two months after the signing of the MOU by all the partners. All mini projects have proceeded satisfactorily despite periods of civil unrest and changes of staff in the partner country taking training opportunities.
The results of the three mini projects were reported at the 3rd National Agricultural workshop conducted at Hera in November 2007. This was followed by stakeholders working in groups with agricultural faculty to establishing research needs and priorities for Round 2 projects. The suggested research topics were developed into proposals and presented to the Project Steering Committee (PSC) on the 5th March for funding. Funding was approved for the extension of MP3 to a further 3 districts and for two new projects. Two other projects were referred back to the authors for modification and have been subsequently approved by PSC members.
Round 1 Mini-project reports
MP1 Analysis of farming systems: The mini project team interviewed 360 farming households made up of 120 randomly selected household heads in each of 3 districts Lospalos, Manatuto and Aileu. It was not possible to conduct surveys in the districts of Baucau and Viqueque due civil unrest. As a consequence Ailue was substituted for Baucau and the Viqueque survey was rescheduled to a later period.
The research identified the major farming systems in each district and described the characteristics of each system, identified constraints challenges and opportunities and reported to stakeholders.
There are 6 types of farming systems in Lospalos, Manatuto and Aileu. They are lowland irrigated rice; lowland rainfed rice; upland irrigated rice; upland rainfed maize; coastal and marginal areas. The dominant patterns of farm activities in these districts are paddy, maize, coconut, vegetable, coffee, and cassava.
In the district of Aileu there is the potential to develop vegetable, coffee and fruits production providing that transport infrastructure is developed and the linkage to existing markets, in country and export, are improved
In the district of Lospalos there is an opportunity to increase cattle and buffalo production based on improving the grazing system. There is potential to increase maize production the production and sale of coconut and candlenut.
In Manatuto there are opportunities to increase rice, coffee and fruit production and also goat production. In the coastal area of this district there is potential to increase fish production
The research team concluded that the opportunities can be realised by developing appropriate agricultural policies that will support the agricultural sector; develop infrastructure, provide assistance, and improve access to inputs of production.
The MP2 Scoping the current an future market for beef: The project team surveyed farmers, traders , markets, abattoirs and killing facilities owners and consumers in Suai, Maliana, Oekusi-Ambenu and Dili . In all 667 people were sampled in the survey made up of 227 randomly selected farmers, 114 fattening enterprises,17 traders, 6 abattoirs, 15 meat traders and 282 consumers
It found that at the production end of the supply chain, the availability of live cattle was limited by a 30% calf mortality rate that resulted from dry season calving onto a poor feed supply. Also, the retention of old female in the herd lowered the birthrate. Farmers need training on the benefits of managing calving time to a period of an adequate feed supply and in managing the herd age structure.
Market features
Farmers retain cattle for social and cultural reasons. Most cattle sales take place at the farm gate to traders who arrange transport. This reduces the direct cost of transport to the farmer however the buyer gains great bargaining power. The preference of buyers for older male animals, proximity of the seller to markets and road conditions are important determinants of price.
Supply chain features
This mini project identified the current structure of the market chain in the districts under study The complexity of the supply chain varies by district. Suai and Maliana districts supply live cattle to the local, Dili and Indonesian markets. Cattle traders, fatteners, abattoir and meat traders operate in the local and Dili markets. While fatteners and Indonesia buyers operate in the export market. In the Dili, district farmers sell cattle buyers who supply abattoirs that supply meat traders who sell to local consumers and restaurants in Dili. Local consumers prefer fresh meat from the local market rather than frozen meat from the supermarket.
MP3. Alley cropping as an alternative to slash and burn: The research team searched the country for sites with stands of leucaena 10, 20 and 30 years but only one was found that had a history of more than 10 years. Although the results were not significant there was a consistent trend that a 10+ year stand of leucaena compared to an adjacent untreated area improved the level organic carbon and soil structure. The PSC welcomed this research which focussed on an important environmental issue but the results were inconclusive.

Six mini projects approved by the PSC in March 2008 are nearing completion. Four of the mini-projects namely "Scoping the current and future beef meat market Bali cattle reproductive performance in districts or Lautem and Ambeno"; "Analysis of the impact of cultural practice on coffee production and income in the districts Liquica, Aileu, Same, Ermera & Ainaro"; "Analysis of constraints and potential of production of paddy rice and maize in Baucau, Bobonoro and Mahufahi districts" have completed field and data entry and have commenced data analysis.
Two mini-projects have yet to complete data collection. In the case of the mini project "Farming systems analysis of 13 districts in Timor Leste", data entry of survey results has been completed for 10 districts and data analysis is progressing. Surveys of 150 heads of farm households in each of the three remaining districts has commenced. In the case of the project "Analysis of the botanical composition of grazed native pastures" the end of wet season sampling has been completed and botanical analysis has yet to be completed.
The John Allwright returning scholar Flaviano Soares M Anim St.(UQ) received additional financial support from LPS2003/004 to enable him conduct research with a sufficient cattle and observations to develop a better cattle feeding - a nutritional decision support system for ET cattle". The project was developed by Eng Flaviano Soares in association with his postgraduate supervisor Dr Gordon Dryden UQ. The development of this support system could make significant contribution to improving cattle production in East Timor. The support by project LPS2003/004 which was approved by ACIAR and the PSC enabled faculty, MAF staff, and farmers to be trained in body condition scoring of Bali cattle while researchers were also trained in collection and storage of cattle faeces for analysis. This project is now nearing completion as all the field data and samples of cattle faeces have been collected ready for treatment by AQIS prior to NIR analysis at UQ. . .
Twenty four agricultural faculty, six MAF research staff and six district live stock officers trained in research methodology related to the mini projects including RRA, developing a survey instrument, interviewing heads of farm households, focus groups, data checking and cleaning, data entry, analysis and reporting. In addition, forty six students have been trained and employed by the mini-projects. Forty of the students were trained interview heads of farm households while about twelve students were trained to enter data into the SPSS data base. The project mentors in addition to training staff also checked the quality of the survey data. When there was a quality issue with the data the enumerator concerned was required to explain the discrepancy and if required repeat the survey. .
The mini project teams presented their preliminary research results to the 4th Annual National Agricultural workshop on the 14 -15th November 2008. The audience this year of 97 participants was made of academic, students, ministry of agriculture personnel, district live stock officers and farmer representatives for each of Timor Leste's 13 districts, donors, NGO's and other ACIAR projects provided feedback and suggestions to the researchers. It was pleasing that farmers participated in lively debate in discussion and forum sessions of the workshop. The academics claim that the Annual National Agricultural Workshops have made a major contribution to the recognition by donors, international agencies and NGO's of the their research capability.

During the first twelve months, this project has: (1) undertaken a comprehensive analysis of the major constraints impacting upon the quality of coffee in PNG; (2) identified eight collaborative collection, pricing and processing schemes that provide superior quality coffee to customers and reward smallholder coffee producers; (3) commenced a survey of growers, traders, processors and exporters to identify the alternative routes to market and the reasons why coffee growers choose alternative routes; (4) conducted two introductory workshops to advise industry of the project and to foster improved relationships between coffee growers and exporters; and (5) delivered an introductory HACCP training course to the CIC.

In attempting to improve the quality of the coffee produced by smallholder coffee farmers in PNG, three key issues have repeatedly emerged: (1) poor road access; (2) lawlessness; and, (3) problems associated with land tenure and ownership (tribal conflict). While each of these impediments is beyond the scope of this project, at the individual farm level, the major problem for the smallholder coffee growers in PNG is the need for capital to meet anticipated household and farm expenses. As household expenses (including school fees) and social obligations receive first priority, there are often insufficient funds available to provide for the costs of labour to prune the coffee trees and to provide sufficient fertilisers and chemicals. As the coffee industry has a very poor financial reputation, the major banks are unwilling to extend credit.

Conflict remains between farmers and market intermediaries due to the farmers' lack of understanding as to how prices are determined in the international market. Few farmers appreciate the financial risks that traders and exporters endure in a highly volatile commodity market. A greater understanding of risk management and the costs associated with export should result in an improved relationship between smallholder coffee growers and their respective traders and exporters.

An analysis of marketing margins indicates that coffee growers in PNG receive between 68-80% of the gross FOB price (Lae) for green bean. However, such margins are available only to those growers who are within close proximity to the traders and processors. For those growers located in more remote areas, transport costs will be appreciably higher and may consume most of the margin. Nevertheless, this figure indicates that the processing/exporting sector is relatively efficient and that growers are receiving reasonable prices as a percentage of the fob price.

It is evident, that parchment is purchased at a significant discount to cherry, reflecting the lack of control and the variability that is inherent in smallholder parchment. Where farmers are sufficiently close to a wet mill so that they can deliver the cherry to the mill on the same day of harvest, or where the mill itself arranges transport to collect the cherry, farmers are being actively encouraged to sell cherry rather than to produce parchment. By having control of the process from pulping, fermenting, washing and drying, processors are able to produce a finished product with very similar characteristics to plantation style coffees. As exporters are able to deliver a more consistent quality product to the market, not only is the discount on the New York Board of Exchange Coffee Futures Contract (NYC) reduced, but opportunities emerge for PNG coffee to enter the specialty market.

Expansion into the speciality coffee market has been encouraged by the recent arrival of Starbucks into PNG. In part, this has been responsible for the dramatic increase in the proportion of smallholder coffee sold as cherry for those growers who are close enough to a processing mill. Starbucks arrival in the market is also providing the major catalyst for the development of fully inclusive quality assurance programs that provide guidelines not only on the physical and cup quality characteristics, but also propose environmental, social welfare and equity conditions that preferred suppliers must meet. With Starbucks providing the price incentives, these developments align themselves very well with the project objectives, especially in promoting the need for quality at the farm level.

For those smallholders unable to access a wet factory, selling cherry is not an option. In such instances, farmers must produce parchment. Because of the small volume of parchment each individual farmer produces, smallholder farmers are unlikely to benefit from any improvement in quality without achieving a parallel increase in scale. This is best achieved through the formation of collaborative farmer groups, where the members, either collectively or individually, follow a strict quality assurance system that reduces the variation in quality. The formation of these collaborative farmer groups is seen to offer benefit even to those smallholder farmers and blockholders who sell cherry to processors. It is more cost effective to utilise such groups for the delivery of extension and training programs. However, the formation and on-going management of these collaborative groups is not without problems. Of particular importance is the issue of leadership to ensure that group members are not only fully informed, but that, in the event of the leader's demise, the group has the capacity to continue.

Over the last twelve months, this project has: (1) undertaken and prepared a Participatory Rural Appraisal and Planning report for each of the collaborative marketing schemes participating in this pilot program; (2) explored the relationships between actors in the PNG coffee industry; (3) delivered an introductory HACCP-based training course for the selected schemes; (4) developed and verified a generic HACCP-based quality management program for the PNG coffee industry; (5) identified barriers to the adoption of quality assurance systems among smallholder coffee farmers in PNG; (6) developed pilot training modules on the marketing of coffee and mechanisms to improve the quality of smallholder coffee; (7) updated numerous training manuals prior to the delivery of training programs identified and prioritised by the PRAP process; and (8) presented several papers to international research forum on the PNG coffee industry.

Some 6-9 months into the project, the project team identified the need to adopt the Participatory Rural Appraisal and Planning approach developed by the Department of Agriculture and Livestock and utilised by the Coffee Growers Support Services Division. PRAP is a participatory planning process conducted within villages or communities which establishes needs and develops action plans for collaborative farmer groups. The PRAP process involves three stages:
a description and analysis of the community through village mapping, seasonal activity calendars and history profiles
problem identification and solution generation through a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Constraints exercise, problem listing and problem ranking
the design and programming of training activities to resolve the problems identified.

The PRAP has identified the need for five generic training programs: (1) a marketing module (5 days); (2) a financial management module (10 days); (3) an agronomy module (21 days); (4) a postharvest and quality module (21 days); and (5) a pest and disease control module (15 days). While these five modules will form the core of the training program, additional modules on nursery management and writing project proposals have been requested. While these modules will be developed by CRI, the training itself will be delivered by sub-contracted training providers.

In order to facilitate and monitor not only the training process but also the dynamics associated with the management of each group, a staff member from CRI and the regional extension office have been assigned to each group. There is within the literature, strong empirical support for the need to understand the group dynamic processes if collaborative marketing groups are to prosper. Although the issue of group leadership and transparency was not raised by any of the groups themselves, training on "personal wellness" will be delivered to each group by the CRI. There is already some evidence of this project contributing to the re-introduction of self governing community laws to kerb cherry theft, alcoholism, drug abuse, gambling and the spread of HIV AIDS.

The generic HACCP plan developed for the PNG coffee industry has identified two critical control points in the PNG coffee industry. Both are associated with chemical residues from; (1) the application of chemicals on-farm and the harvest of cherry before the prescribed withholding period; and (2) contamination from chemical residues in the packing of containers for the export market. Under the current systems of production, contamination at the grower level is unlikely. Providing that appropriate standard operational procedures are implemented to ensure that containers are cleaned before packing, the likelihood of contamination occurring during transportation is equally remote.

At the farm level, constraints to improving quality have been identified as; (1) the lack of labour; (2) the lack of water; (3) the lack of electricity; (4) the lack of capital to build/construct wet mills at the village level; (5) the inability of collaborative farmer groups to pay the farmers for cherry on receipt; (6) traditional practices; and (7) poor roads. Over the last twelve months, with the harvest in PNG falling well below expectations, the need to secure coffee to meet forward contracts has led to record cherry prices. Not unexpectedly, the incidence of cherry theft has escalated to such an extent that CIC has been forced to explore various options for the registration of growers and cherry traders. Such mechanisms are already inherent within the quality control programs necessary for registration under Fair Trade, organics and the Starbucks Caf Practices quality assurance scheme. However, it is also abundantly clear that within the coffee processing sub-sector, many of the wet mills are paying premium prices for poor quality cherry that is unlikely to achieve the specifications demanded by the specialty coffee segment. Furthermore and with regard to the existing quality regulations, there is a mismatch evident between the standards as defined by physical parameters such as size, colour and moisture content and the intangible quality attributes such as taste, body and aroma required by the specialty coffee market. As such attributes are highly subjective, they are difficult to communicate.

The project has requested and been granted a twelve month extension until March 31 2008.

Australian team members were advised in February 2007 of the need to review the time frames associated with the project as a result of the mid year general elections. As a result, training programs did not commence until October 2007. Given that many of the training programs are best conducted during the coffee season, a formal extension until September 30, 2008 was sought and granted.
It is becoming more apparent that without adequate support, collaborative marketing groups will struggle in PNG. With the need to aggregate the product until sufficient parchment has been accumulated, smallholder producers must forgo the opportunity to sell to roadside traders for immediate gain in the expectation of receiving higher returns. In the highly volatile international coffee market and without first establishing some rules and standards which govern the processing of cherry at the village level, there is some doubt as to whether higher prices will be achieved. Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, there is an immediate need to re-establish community values and sanctions, particularly with regard to discouraging cherry theft and to address the root causes of social disorder. Personal viability training, introduced under this project, has been instrumental in facilitating more enduring relationships within the community and between group members. It is also becoming more evident that the more successful groups will be those which are based around traditional haus lines and where there is some enduring linkage with a trader, processor or exporter. These partnerships are more likely to result in farmers being able to access working capital, technical information and market information and are essential where smallholders seek accreditation under either organic or Fairtrade coffee.
To facilitate the delivery of training to the various farmer groups, a number of training modules have been prepared and/or updated. The delivery of the training modules was greatly facilitated by conducting a number of workshops with selected service providers to ensure that all parties understood what the project was seeking to achieve. A pre-training questionnaire was administered to each of the pilot groups prior to the commencement of the training to provide a benchmark and a post-training questionnaire will be administered at the conclusion of the training. Under the current system of training, the major impediment limiting the capacity of the project to replicate is the lack of sufficient service providers to deliver the training programs and an acute shortage of staff at Aiyura to administer the process.
There is, among the exporters, a widespread concern that yields will continue to decline unless farmers are encouraged to plant more coffee or to rehabilitate more trees. While high prices are resulting in a greater investment, the increasing incidence of cherry theft is providing a significant disincentive. Higher prices have been received as a result of a reduction in the discount. However, this cannot be attributed to any marked improvement in quality, but is more the result of exporters adjusting to the market dynamics and selling only what coffee they have available. With the margins for Y grade deteriorating, exporters are endeavouring to move more PNG coffee into the specialty market. As a result, there is increasing evidence to suggest that minimal intervention is required in the supply chain. With coffee farmers in PNG receiving as much as 78% of the fob Lae price, competition between the exporters to secure both cherry and parchment is intense and there is no evidence of any cartel or price fixing arrangements. Hence, in the current market, there is little evidence to support or to encourage direct marketing by smallholder coffee growers in PNG.
After much initial enthusiasm, it is evident that fewer exporters are pursuing accreditation under Starbucks Caf Practices. It is not only too difficult to meet the standards imposed by Starbucks, but many of the criteria do not apply to PNG, and other specialty coffee buyers are paying more than Starbucks to secure premium PNG coffee.
Nevertheless, there is a growing awareness of the opportunity to secure higher prices through a number of sustainable quality assurance programs including Utz Kapeh, Oxfam, Rainforest Alliance and bird friendly coffee. With such an abundance of quality management systems, there is some doubt as to whether there is any need for a generic PNG quality assurance system.