When you think of Vietnam you will probably not directly think of asparagus production, but asparagus production in Vietnam is on the raise. Increasing demand from local consumers and good prices, results in an increasing asparagus production area with currently several thousand hectares. In Vietnam the focus is on green asparagus, which is mainly used in stir fried dishes.
Although the market is growing, access to the best suitable asparagus varieties and knowledge how to get the best results is for most asparagus farmers still a challenge. This is something Limgroup and Fresh Studio realised and have seen as an opportunity to join forces. The business activities of Limgroup and Fresh Studio complement each other greatly and together they are very well positioned to support the Vietnamese asparagus farmers with asparagus production, while in the meantime also developing their own business.
Limgroup is an internationally active breeding company based in the Dutch town Horst. The company specialises in the crops asparagus and strawberries. Especially in the field of asparagus, Limgroup is a leading global player offering varieties for all climate zones and applications.
Fresh Studio is an international company with a strong focus on Vietnam and Myanmar providing consultancy services and technologies within the agricultural sector. We are dedicated to make a positive impact on sustainable food production, farmers lives and consumers enjoyment of food.
It might not seem like a big greenhouse that was opened this week in Son La, Vietnam, but it is the start of something bigger. The greenhouse is the first of 13 being opened in the region as part of a social project and, if it’s up to Rene van Rensen with Fresh Studio, the first of many more in the future. “The area is very well suited for a large horticultural presence, if you look at the climate and the people of the region, but it needs time.”
Thirteen greenhouses Take a breath and read. “Sowing a bright future for economic development and women’s empowerment in Son La province, Vietnam through high-quality seedlings and greenhouse vegetables.” That’s the name of the project the new greenhouse is part of and which was developed and is managed by Fresh Studio. In total thirteen greenhouses are going to be built for the project in the coming months: Eight will be nurseries, and five will be for vegetable production.
This first one is meant for growing vegetables. In the coming weeks, the first cultivation will be starting in the greenhouse. “In the beginning, we will be cultivating the crops that do well in colder circumstances, such as: lettuce, broccoli, spinach, and potentially squash,” Rene says. “Later on we will also start cultivating fruit crops like tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers. What we can cultivate is obviously dependent on the climate, we have to figure out at what time of the season it is possible to grow which crops, but also on the demand from the market. For the seeds with Semillas Fito and Pop Vriend Seeds we have two excellent project partners to supply the right varieties. And with Royal Brinkman and BVB Substrates we have the right partners to supply all greenhouse technologies the growers will need. And Applied Horticulture Research from Australia will provide training and technical support as a project partner.”
Next week the first nursery of the project will be completed, according to Rene a very important part of the project. “In this region, there are no professional propagators, so in reality, they are growing from one step behind. By setting up these nurseries and training growers to propagate, you can reach thousands of growers. One greenhouse will help one family and the people that work in the greenhouse, one nursery could potentially help one hundred growers get high quality seedlings,” he says. “Nurseries have a larger reach, and a larger positive impact on the growing market. You have to begin at the foundation, which is good quality seedlings.”
And that’s exactly what the goal of the program is: to reach hundreds of growers and have a positive impact on their lives and careers. That’s also part of the vision of Fresh Studio. The Vietnamese company has been active in consultancy for the Vietnamese horticultural industry and supports hundreds of growers in the country.
GREAT The project is part of the Australian government initiative Aus4equality, and is affectionately referred to as “GREAT”: Gender Responsive Equitable Agriculture and Tourism. The program is focused on developing local economies, as well as specifically helping women develop themselves further.
Local production The GREAT project is specifically focusing on the northern area of Vietnam, because local production is in very high demand in this area. “One of the reasons to grow in these areas is that during the summer, when it’s around 30°C to 40°C in the areas surrounding Hanoi, the Delta will be filled with rice and there is a lack of vegetable production in the Hanoi area,” says Rene. “So vegetables are sent to Hanoi from China or Da Lat, but even from Da Lat it’s still two days of travel to get to Hanoi. But here in the highlands, the climate during the summer is perfectly suited for vegetable growing. About 8 million people live in Hanoi, so you can grow plenty of vegetables for that market during the summer.”
Greenhouses True to the spirit of the project the greenhouses are being built by a local greenhouse builder, Lam Da. Lam Da and Fresh Studio looked at designs for the greenhouse together. “Ultimately we landed on the Umbrella Vent type, which is well suited for the local climate conditions,” Rene says. “The gutter height is 4.5 meters, so the top will be 8 meters high in order to make sure there is enough volume to realize a good climate.”
The film for the greenhouses is supplied by Agripolyane in France and is called Celloclim. One of the special features of this greenhouse film is that it has a cooling effect due to the bubbles inside the film. This ensures that the greenhouse stays cool when it is too warm outside. On top of that, the film is very diffuse which is especially beneficial for fruit crops as it results in much better penetration of sunlight.
Help Fresh Studio will continue to support the growers during cultivation, and guide them throughout the next two years. “We are also looking at introducing new products with more added value, such as cherry or cluster tomatoes, during this time,” says Rene. “Although we have a lot of experience related to greenhouse production in Lam Dong province, we have never done something like this in North Vietnam, so this is kind of a challenge. We have to see which varieties work in these particular conditions, but finding the right variety is also the fun part of the work.”
However, after the project comes to an end, Fresh Studio will continue supporting the growers in Sơn La, but on a commercial basis. “This is a nice part of such a project, you can use it to figure out a lot of things and educate and coach local growers,” says Rene. “First you set up a pilot, and afterwards you can upscale and let it continue on a commercial basis. In the end seedling and vegetable production has to be self-sufficient. We have realised this with other projects as well, so I’m sure we will succeed again to realise this.”
For more information: René van Rensen Fresh Studio® 5B, Lane 111, Xuan Dieu Street, Quang An Ward, Tay Ho District, Hanoi, Vietnam Tel: +84 437 591 380 rene.van.rensen@freshstudio.vn www.freshstudio.vn
As part of the Orange Knowledge Program Enhancing performance of the horticultural sector in North and Central Vietnam, October 7th 2019 the first of seven Training of Trainers program (ToT) started in Hanoi. Twenty seven lecturers, researchers and project managers from VNUA, Lao Cai and Ha Tây Agriculture Vocational Training Centers, FAVRI and DARD Huế city participated in the training.
Vietnam National Agricultural University (VNUA) hosted the participants as well as trainer and are also a partner in this NUFFIC supported program. The week was opened by Dr. Long Nguyen Viet, ICO Deputy Director from VNUA, Mr Dick Pouwels, chairman of HAS University of Applied Science and chairman of the Dutch Borderless Network and Mrs Nguyen Huong Lan, Senior Trade Advisor of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands in Hanoi, Vietnam.
This first week of the program focused on Value Chain Development and Post Harvest Management in the horticulture business. Fruit and vegetables often find their way to the market with low value at least for farmers. The central question is how do these value chains function and how can we organize them in such a way that we add more value for all businesses in the chain. Furthermore Vietnam experiences 10-30% post harvest losses in the chain, something that needs to be addressed.
Mr. Marc de Ruiter, (Lentiz Education Group), Mr. Toon Keijsers (HAS University) and Mrs. Ha Thi Lan Anh (Fresh Studio/Fresh Academy) were the trainers during this week’s program.
Besides theory classes about Value Chain functions and Post Harvest management, the participants worked in groups on business cases. The groups went out in four teams to visit fresh vegetable markets and supermarkets to see how the supply chains function, where value was added, and analysing post harvest management and product quality issues. The reflections on these visits where presented to the total group in order to solidify the knowledge gain and research done.
Dr.Hoa Nguyen, Lecturer in the Department of Agronomy of VNUA, shared her reflection after the training : “This course is an eye-opening course for me. I was kind of lost trying to find what to do to link education to market demand but now I know where to start. The trainers have given me a big push, a huge motivation for me to keep doing my job, trying to reinnovate our program to meet with the market demand. In the coming courses, I hope I will be able to learn how to transfer my energy and knowledge to my students more effectively and I will be able to see more of the Vietnam potentials in agriculture in comparison to other countries.” Mr. Dick Pouwels also gave a introduction on the way HAS University diversified there study programs to be able to keep supporting the dynamics in the Agri-Food (labour) market. He also underlined the need to co-design education with businesses and research: student learn better when they work to real life cases, teachers keep up to date their knowledge on what happens in business and business is supported in their innovation agenda.
The next ToT will take place in December of 2019 in which didactic methods will be more central in the training sessions as well as improving the curricula of some of the programs taught at the University.
The program is executed in a partnership of the Borderless Network partners Wageningen University, HAS University of Applied sciences, Lentiz Education Group, together with Agriterra, Fresh Studio/Fresh Academy and Vietnam National Agricultural University. The program is part of the Orange Knowledge Program, which is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and managed by Nuffic.
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