SEED PRODUCTION AND DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT IN 3 NORTHERN

PROVINCES OF PHU THO – YEN BAI – LAO CAI

Tran Minh Tri - National DRR ConsultantMaria Cristina Bentivoglio - FAO Programme

Officer on DRR

Content

I. Current Rice/Seed Production in the 3 Northern mountainous provinces

II. FAO Disaster Risks Reduction & Climate Change Adaptation Actions in the Northern Mountainous Region

I – Current Seed Production in the 3 Northern Mountain Provinces

1. Data from surveys in the 3 provinces2. Germination, purity and average yield of varieties seeds

supplied in the FAO project TCP/VIE 32023. Annual expenditure for seed subsidy. Policies for seed

secure and extension4. Seed Production Groups – Current economic performance5. Conclusion6. Recommendation – Political, institutional and individual

Data the surveys

Phu Tho Yen Bai Lao CaiHybrids Varieties Hybrids Varieties Hybrids Varieties

Cost/ha (VND Mn) 12.5 12.08 10.45 10.45 8.15 6.71

Average yield (ton/ha) 5.5 5.0 5.0 4.7 5.5 – 6.0 5.2 – 3.5

Revenue (VND Mn/ha)

23.65 25.0 20.0 25.85 24.75 – 30.0 33.8 – 49.0

Gross margin/ha (VND Mn)

11.15 12.92 9.55 15.4 16.6 – 21.85 27.09 – 42.3

• Comments: At the same cultivating input for both hybrid and variety- Almost no yield difference in average yield/ha- Varieties have remarkably higher gross margin- Economic efficiency of indigenous varieties in Lao Cai as hint for marketing.

Germination, Purity and Average Yield of Varieties Seeds’ Supplied under the FAO TCPVIE3202

Province Germination (%) Field purity (%) Compared to other seeds

Yield (ton/ha)

PHÚ THỌ 93 93 Better 4.9

YÊN BÁI 92 97 Better 5

LÀO CAI 92 96 Better 5.2

Average 92 95 Better 5.0

Source: NOMAFSIComment from NOMAFSI: Cultivating with varieties could save up to 30% of input for fertilizersQuestion on how to secure high quality varieties seeds (policy, technical assistance for farmers)

Annual Expenditures for Seed SubsidyPolicy for Seed Source and Extension Service

Province Rice areas (ha) % of hybrid Subsidy per ha (VND mn)

Total expenditure (VND mn)

Phu Tho 72,000 43,200 (60%) 0.3 12,960

Yen Bai 39,622 23,773 (60%) 0.3 7,132

Lao Cai 27,000 21,600 (80%) 0.3 6,480

Comments:- Huge annual budget spent for subsidy the hybrid seed- Exposure to the risk of dependence to external supply (import)- Extension activities suppressed: low salary paid to commune extensionist does not stimulate his activities

SPG – Current Economic Performance

Cost per hectare (for the yield of 5.82 tons/hectare) in VND- Production cost/hectare: 18,590,000 (I) - Interest charge (1.3%/month) for 6 months: 1,450,020 (II) Revenue/ha:1. From immediate sales (At seeds selling price of VND 6.5 mn/ton)- For seed: 5.82 tons x 65% x 6.5 mn/ton = VND 24,589,500 (III)- For commercial grain: 5.82 tons x 35% x 5.5 mn/ton = VND 11,203,500 (IV)- Revenue/ha (R1 = III + IV): VND 35.79 millions- Gross margin/ha (A) = R1 – I = 17,203,0002. From selling at price of VND 12 mn/ton in 6 months- For seed: 5.82 tons x 65% x 12mn/ton = 45,396,000 (V)- For commercial grains: 5.82 tons x 35% x 5.5 mn/ton = 11,203,500 (VI) - Revenue/ha: (R2 = V + VI): 56,599,500- Gross margin/ha (B) = R2 – I – II = 36,559,480 millionsLoss due to the lack of legal status and trading mechanism: (B) – (A) = approx. 19

millions

SPG – Problems/comment

• Problems:• Lack of appropriate equipment for seed production:

harvesting, plucking, drying, storage => quality issue• Lack of trading/marketing channel => economic disadvantage• Lack of legal status impedes the financial access => economic

disadvantage• Comment:• Overcoming these problems should need the policy

adjustment from the provincial government

Conclusions I – Varieties as Solution for DRR

Advantages of varieties:• Lesser cultivating input (30%)• Higher suitability to impoverished land• Better eating quality• Higher marketability => higher margin• Possibility for farmer to spare seed => Independence from

external supply• Improve the farmers’ preparedness and their after disaster

resilient capacity

Conclusions II – Disadvantages of current seed policies

• Excessively invest in hybrid seed procurement

• Suppressing affect onto the extension system and advantages of the traditional farming practices

• Generate the dependence from unstable (qualitatively and quantitatively) outside seed procurement

• Influence detrimentally the preparedness of the farmers to the disaster risk impacts and their resilient capacity

Recommendations - Political

• Rationalize the seed policy to ensure: food security and seed security

• Encourage using the indigenous and varieties• Cropping system• Policy for fostering the Seed Production Groups• Legal status• Trading mechanism for maximizing farmers’ revenue

Recommendations - Institutional

• Strengthening the relations of SSCs – Extension Center (s) – SPGs on a market basis (alliance form).

• Market-principle based relation between the provincial authorities and Research Institute (NOMAFSI).

• Strengthening the extension system: technical and financial capacities.

• Strengthening the SPGs: technical infrastructure, management and marketing skill, financial instruments for sustainable/profitable production

Recommendations - Farmers

• Building community awareness of “spare seed” as on-spot measure of preparedness for disaster risk management.

• Training on new/advanced cultivating techniques using varieties

• Training on new cropping system, appropriate for the locality

• Supply/grant the seeds every two years (WTO Rules)

II - FAO Disaster Risks Reduction & Climate Change Adaptation Actions in the Northern

Mountainous Region

Government Priority areas on DRR

• strengthen preparedness, early warning and good database management

• strengthen resilience of vulnerable communities to future natural hazards and climate change threatening food security

• And improve capacity of international and national agencies and organizations and support services for preparedness and risk reduction through better coordination, communication and training

Gov priorities

Coordination under ONE UNTechnical assistance

provided by FAO

Under ONE UN plan II FAO assistance to the Gov of Vietnam

Improve livelihoods and food security providing technical assistance for

preparedness and effective response to food and agriculture threats and

emergency in order to reduce vulnerability to future events

Help communities to recover and improve their disrupted agriculture-based

livelihoods and rebuilding them better, strengthening their resilience

through agricultural development

FAO overall objective on DRR

Disaster Preparedness Early Warning, Information System Management and Data quality Training and advocacy

Disaster Response Damage assessment Resources mobilization and rapid response at national and local level

Post Disaster Recovery Short term: needs assessment and data collection Medium term: implementation capacity building activities Long term (mitigation): technical assistance on agriculture production

Partnerships and coordination mechanisms at central level MARD, CCFSC, NDMP, DMWG

FAO strategy and responsibility on agriculture and food security

Disaster Preparedness- Lack of: (1) Disaster risk management expertise (2) Info systems, mappings, early

warning activities (3) Research and assessment - Need of: (1) trainings for equipment operating skill and forecasting (2) Good data and

good indicators and (3) Good participatory training Technical support in agriculture for DRR actions- Late-sowing and spare the seedlings for additional transplanting upon late floods (for

Summer season) - Early-sowing with the short-term varieties (for the Spring production season)- Reservation of corn and vegetables seeds as substitute crops if the time remaining is

not sufficient for Summer rice production- Need to start considering new alternative livelihoods and crop diversification activities- Reserve food for sustaining at least 5-days during the storm season - Reserve “spare seeds”

Current situation on DRR actions in the Northern Mountainous Region

FAO interventions in the one of most affected area of Vietnam:

The Northern Mountain Regions (NMR)

Project Title:

“Strengthening Capacities to Enhance Coordinated and Integrated Disaster Risk Reduction Actions and Adaptation to Climate Change in Agriculture in the Northern

Mountain Regions of Viet Nam”

Duration: 2 years

Overall Budget: $450.000

Best case of FAO intervention

Project Overview

NMR will represent a “pilot area” for the development of new DRR activities thorough the country’s most affected provinces (Yen Bai, Lao Cai, Phu Tho)

FAO will support MARD and CCFSC from central to commune level to strengthen capacities for DRR through:

• Preparedness based-agriculture• Early warning and Info-System development (e.g. Viet-Info) • Risk prone areas mapping for each province with contribution of local people• Training for local staff on Early Warning and Decision making• Improve coordination and communication from provincial to national level• Provide technical assistance for food production and livelihoods strengthening

Overall Objective

...to strengthen the institutional systems and processes for disaster risk reduction and preparedness in order to reduce

vulnerability to climate extremes and strengthen resilience to climate change impacts...

Expected Outcome 1

Outcome 1: Strengthened institutional, technical and policy frameworks and coordination for DRR and CCA in agriculture

at all levels

Output 1.1: Assess the institutional needs and analyze the technical gaps and key issues in agriculture disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation at provincial level

Output 1.2: Improve technical capacity of local institutions, farmers’ groups through field training on community mobilization, community centered disaster risk management in agriculture and developing local risk reduction measures, seed production (e.g. irrigation canals), storage (drying court, warehouse, house for seed storage, etc.) and marketing

Output 1.3: Formulate guidelines and recommendations for integrating climate change in food and agriculture perspectives in the northern mountain region

Expected Outcome 2

Outcome 2: Strengthened institutional support services to enhance coordinated and integrated DRR actions and CCA at

the provincial level (3 pilot provinces)

Output 2.1: Improved seed production, storage and maintenance system at all levels in place to enhance preparedness and effectively respond to climate related extremes in the mountain region

Output 2.2: Enhanced capacity for developing localised early warning systems and weather/climate information application for risk management and adaptation at the provincial level

Expected Outcome 3

Outcome 3: Improved database management, spatial information products to facilitate local level DRR actions and strengthen

resilience of vulnerable communities to climate change impacts

Output 3.1 – Developed effective database management system in order to monitor impacts of natural disasters in agricultural and food security and streamlining the communication between district and central institutions.

Output 3.2 – Developed spatial decision support products based on the hazards, local vulnerability and risks at the provincial level

Expected Outcome 4

Outcome 4 – Location specific community based disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation and awareness actions

prioritized and implemented at the community level

Output 4.1: Location specific technologies for DRR and climate change adaptation within the agriculture sector identified and screened and the CBDRM process facilitated to prioritize community actions

Output 4.2: Location specific technologies for DRR and climate change adaptation within the agriculture sector implemented through a participatory learning by doing process at the community levels

Strengthen needs assessment mechanism not only during response but during preparedness phase in order to link DRR to agriculture development process

Build capacity for the transfer of technologies and technical skills to development of capacities for coordination, policy analysis and exchange of information and learning to integrate DRM and perspective poverty reduction in their projects

Support research of disaster impacts on poverty and how poverty affects vulnerability especially related to the emerging climate change challenges

And reduce dependence of farmers on external seed suppliers, improving capacity of local institutions and improving systems for planning of seed production and use

Conclusion and Lessons learned from NMR experiences

Thank You!