(for illustration only. Photo: haiduongdost)
PANO - The US Government is sponsoring a three-year project in partnership with regional universities to improve horticultural crop production, marketing, and postharvest activities in Vietnam.
Funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Horticulture Collaborative Research Support Program recently awarded a $500,000 grant to a research team at the University of California, Davis, for a project that will address some of the greatest challenges facing farmers. The grant is one of five projects under the USAID-sponsored program across 15 developing countries that add a research-based approach to horticultural development
“The fund will be used to help farmers produce vegetables for the Vietnamese people that meet high standards of quality, safety, and nutrition,” said lead researcher, Cary Trexler.
The project is designed to empower small-scale farmers, 59 percent of whom are women, with education and training for sustainable vegetable production that limits postharvest losses, increases food safety, increases market access, and increases income.
Collaborating with the Hanoi University of Agriculture, Nong Lam University in Ho Chi Minh City, and the CAM Royal University of Agriculture, faculty members and the local Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development will create a network of people to help farmers solve problems related to producing and marketing safe vegetables and enhance farmers' income and livelihoods.
Mai Anh