Manual: Hydroponice vegetable production

Hydroponic cultivation is an artificial means of providing plants with support and a reservoir for nutrients and water.

The simplest and oldest method for soilless culture is a vessel of water in which inorganic chemicals are dissolved to supply all of the nutrients that plants require. Often called solution culture or water culture, the method was originally termed hydroponics (i. e., “water working”) by W. F. Gericke in the 1930s. Over the years, hydroponics has developed throughout the world as a commercial means of growing both food and ornamental plants. A growing media is sometimes used in hydroponic systems to provide plant support, and retain some nutrients and water. The growing media is then placed inside plastic bags, slabs or containers.

+ Soilless cultivation VNE (338 KB)

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Source: Fresh Studio

Language: Vietnamese

Publication date: April 2012Also interesting to read:

Manual: Irrigation of vegetable crops

Irrigation is one of the most critical of all production practices. To provide conditions for optimum plant growth it is essential to become familiar with the factors that influence soil moisture.

Plants evaporate which has to be compensated either by rainfall or in an artificial way. Because of storage capacity in the soil, water can be buffered for certain time. The buffer capacity depends on the soil type. Clay soil has a larger storage capacity then sandy. The water storage capacity is also increased by the amount of organic matter in the soil. The water storage capacity for a crop depends on intensity and rooting depth. Enough moisture in the soil is important for plant growth, soil processes (release and transport of minerals) and for soil cultivation.

+ Irrigation VNE (649 KB)

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Source: Fresh Studio

Language: Vietnamese

Publication date: April 2012Also interesting to read:

Manual: Greenhouse vegetable production

Vegetable cultivation started in the open field and for a large number of crops is still the preferred option. Especially when comparing financial inputs and outputs.

In some regions or during some seasons it is however difficult to grow certain vegetable crops, due to the climate conditions. In order to still produce these corps “out of the season” protective houses, which protected the crop from the environmental conditions were made. With better quality and production methods for glass and plastic these first proactive houses evaluated to the current moderns greenhouse structures. In the most modern greenhouse structures the climate inside is completely controlled automatic by computers. Greenhouse production in Vietnam and especially in Lam Dong province is expanding fast. First mainly bamboo greenhouses were used, but more and more steel structures are being built currently. In this manual we like to highlight some important point to consider when selecting which greenhouse to build.

+ Cultivation in greenhouse VNE (203 KB)

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Source: Fresh Studio

Language: Vietnamese

Publication date: April 2012

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North Vietnam vegetable supply

DALAT – After hard work by our North Vietnam vegetable sourcing project team, the vegetable supply from smallholders in both the mountains in North Vietnam as well from the Red River lowlands has begun.

Over 18 different vegetables are being produced under a private GAP standard by one of Fresh Studio’s clients. These vegetables also comply with the Vietnamese national safe vegetable certificates. Besides being a safe product, vegetables from kohlrabi to lettuce (such as lollo green, lollo red, romaine, cucumber, radish, and kang kong) are of a much higher standard than those available before. Soon, a professional vegetable packing house will be launched, after which sourcing volumes and numbers of farmers involved can rapidly increase.

Assisting the development of an organic vegetable value chain

HANOI – For one of its public sector clients, Fresh Studio assisted in the development of an organic vegetable value chain.

The client had already developed several organic vegetable farming groups, which were certified using the IFOAM acknowledged PGS certification system.

For more information see www.ifoam.org

Fresh Studio worked with the client to develop a distribution and marketing system for their organic vegetables. The main challenge was to gain the trust of Hanoi consumers, as marketing research revealed that 81% of modern supermarket shoppers in Hanoi distrust any food safety claims.

To win this trust, a Triple A marketing campaign approach was developed and implemented (Attention-Attraction-Adoption). Marketing materials developed for this triple A approach enabled Hanoi consumers to understand what organic vegetables are, how the certification system works, who the farmers are, and where and how the vegetables are produced. Through in-store campaigns in Hanoi supermarkets, thousands of consumers were reached, with very good sales as a result.

Adding knowledge to vegetable chains

DALAT – Fresh Studio, Dalat University, Applied Plant Research (PPO) and Van Hall-Larenstein (VHL) successfully developed an R&D, extension and education project for the Dalat vegetable sector.

PPO and VHL are part the world-leading agriculture research and education institute, Wageningen UR. After having won a competitive grant in the Dutch funded “Vietnam facilty” program, the project team began its implementation in late 2010. The goal was to find tailored practical solutions for a number of serious cultivation problems faced by the market oriented vegetable sector of the Dalat region.

These problems relate to productivity and profitability constraints in vegetable farming, irresponsible pesticide use, over-abundant fertilizer use, farmer safety and consumer food safety. The current vegetable sector in the Dalat region has limitations when it comes to farmer management skills, decision-making ability, and in finding innovative solutions to address modern market requirements such as sustainable production methods, food safety and off season production. The project includes an innovative cooperation model between farmers, Dalat University, Fresh Studio, market players, agricultural policy makers and others which continually applies innovative R&D and extension to promote sustainable and profitable vegetable farming in the Dalat region of Vietnam.

Since the inception workshop in January 2011, much has occured. Based on a selection of focus crops and key issues, specialists in arable vegetable farming from PPO have developed master classes about these topics. These on-site master classes were presented to the extension team of Fresh Studio, Dalat University lecturers, and a selection of top Bachelor and Master students. The Fresh Studio team “translated” these into “farmer master classes”. Together with an extension team of Fresh Studio, farmers developed possible ideas for innovations to be tested on-site in different agro-ecological zones, as well as at the Fresh Studio R&D farm.Also interesting to read:

METRO Dalat Fruit and Vegetable Distribution Centre HACCP certified

DALAT – The METRO DC for fruits and vegetables in Dalat officially received a HACCP certificate for the “Pre-processing and packing of fruits and vegetables”, from Bureau Veritas.

METRO Cash & Carry is one of the few companies in Vietnam which seriously invests into the development of fruit and vegetable value chains. The HACCP certification was one activity in a large investment program jointly managed by Metro Cash & Carry the Netherlands, METRO Cash & Carry Vietnam and the Dutch PSOM program.

As METRO’s service provider, Fresh Studio Innovations Asia Limited assisted in training and preparing the METRO team for the HACCP certification. We congratulate the whole team in achieving this milestone.Also interesting to read:

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