Together with veterans’ organization, Thanh Ha’s farmers’ union and Thanh Tuyen’s women association, CEDO has organized  training courses on integrated pest management (IPM) for farmers of the above two communes. For the 2009 winter – spring crop, IPM was experimented on rice in Thanh Tuyen and Thanh Ha. This helped farmers to grasp requirements and the cultivation process in order to bring high quality products and protect the environment

The courses started on March 13, 2009 in Thanh Ha and on March 14, 2009 in Thanh Tuyen. The courses lasted from sowing (March, 2009) to harvesting (expected to be in May, 2009). The classes come in one session a week, with 35 people per class. The lessons included both theory and practice: examining the paddy field ecosystem which includes the growth of rice, pestilent insects, and weather factors; analyzing the situation and generating suitable resolution to performance field (IPM field in short); exchanges between trainers and trainees in special subjects about plant tending and protecting.

The training courses had very encouraging results: In Thanh Tuyen, IPM field had 216,000 VND per sao (equal 360 square metres) in gains compared to 135,000 VND per sao in FP field. In Thanh Ha, the gains was 146,000 VND/ sao in IPM field,  25,700 VND more than the one in FP field. In the two IPM field, the herbicide spraying times were 1 – 2 times less.
The trainees, farmers could understand 70 – 80 % of the course’ contents right in classes; 50 – 60% of the trainees applied what they had learnt into their farming practice; 30% of them could diffuse the knowledge and share experiences so that other farmers could follow. When the farmers apply the scientific technology, economic effect will be enhanced. And if every farmer applies IPM, the quantity and the quality of the production will get higher and higher, which contributes to improving people’ life, moving towards poverty elimination