Project Brief:

Title: Contributing to sustainable production of Huong Son grapefruit by strengthening the management of seedlings and sustainable land management

Project Number: VN/SGP/OP4/ CORE/07/002

Summary
H??ng S?n, located to the West of Hà T?nh province, has a significant geographical position in biodiversity conservation in northern Tr??ng S?n range and is the corridor of the 3 major nature reserves (the National Park of southern The Un [Laos], the National Park of V? Quang, and the National Park of Pù Mát), thus obtains a biodiversity value not only of the nation but the world as well.
With the features of a half-plain half-mountain terrain, H??ng S?n is divided into two distinct ecological areas of ?mounds and hills? and ?riverine plains?, in which a diverse agro-forestry ecology has been formed with an abundant system of crop plants and domestic animals for hundreds of years. H??ng S?n?s agricultural plants consist of short-term and long-term ones such as tea, groundnut, vegetables, rice, corn, beans and peas, spice plants, food plants, medicinal plants and valuable fruit-trees like orange (cam bù???), sweet pomelo (Bé), and jack fruit.
The main income of the inhabitants of the ?mounds and hills? area comes from their forest gardens and home gardens, mainly from fruit-trees. However, with the unprompted and unplanned development without a clear-cut orientation, the locals have failed to exploit the strong points of a half-plain half-mountain terrain focusing on specialty plants of high economic value, especially Rutaceae fruit trees. Phúc Tr?ch grapefruit and H??ng S?n orange have been enlisted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in the nomenclature of precious fruit-trees of which the export of seedlings is strictly forbidden. At present, however, the government authorities and related sectors as well as local farmers have had to face with destructive pests and cultivar degradation, which have seriously cut down productivity and quality for which protective measures are yet to be worked out.
The GEF SGP Project of ?contributing to conserving and developing the genes of fruit-trees of high economic value in Hà T?nh? (2004-2007) with a priority of conserving the sweet mandarin of K? Anh district and the sweet pomelo of H??ng S?n district has obtained some definite outcomes, the most significant of which were:
a) Succeeding in helping the participating households master the techniques of producing seedlings of high quality and free from diseases; and
b) Including the conservation and development of the seedlings of the sweet mandarin and the sweet pomelo in the resolution on socio-economic development of the two districts of K? Anh and H??ng S?n.
On the basis of the project outcomes of Phase 1, the Service of Science and Technology of Hà T?nh has formulated and submitted a project to the Ministry of Science and Technology and the People?s Committee of Hà T?nh province applying for a continued investment into a project on applying scientific-technological advances in sustainable economic development in S?n Quang commune ? the one representing 20 communes in the half-plain half-mountain ecology of H??ng S?n district. The project includes the intensive cultivation of the sweet pomelo on an area of 10 ha and the people?s living activities while waiting for future income from the sweet pomelo. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is investing in a project on expanding the area of planting the sweet pomelo to other localities in the district.
Experience obtained in Hà T?nh in general and H??ng S?n in particular in producing Rutaceae fruit trees, especially Phúc Tr?ch grapefruit and H??ng S?n orange needs to be thoroughly considered for the development of H??ng S?n sweet pomelo as a commodity. The issues include: 1) land use planning as a basis of development orientation of the sweet pomelo in a well-planned manner; 2) gene conservation and the production and consumption management of quality seedlings; 3) intensive cultivation techniques, pest and disease control, sustainable use of land resources with an organism of suitable rotational / alternate cultivation as well as sustainable measures of land cultivation and use.

Long-term objectives of the project:
To contribute to sustainable land use; boost the production of H??ng S?n sweet pomelo as a commodity through seedling management and sectoring, as well as land use planning with public participation.

Specific objectives:
- To contribute to sustainable land use in S?n Quang commune through land use sectoring and planning, and through testing locality-friendly production models in order to limit land degradation and boost the production of H??ng S?n sweet pomelo as a commodity;
- To promote the conservation and development of sweet pomelo genes by seedling production management and to build S?n Quang into a center of producing sweet pomelo seedlings for the district as well as other localities; to propose to State management agencies on issuing and executing technical processes and regulations on seedling quality management, contributing to boosting the production of sweet pomelo as a commodity;
- To boost the production of sweet pomelo as a commodity in H??ng S?n district on mass media about the project models and to build technical capacity among related agencies and the community so as to multiply the project models with the support of the community?s investment.

Principal activities:

- To build and accept the planning and 03 models of sustainable land use in S?n Quang commune, as a communal instrument of land management; to orient and enlarge production models suitably and widen the planting area of the sweet pomelo;
- To build S?n Quang commune into a supplying area of quality seedlings;
- To formulate and pilot the stipulations on production and consumption management of seedlings of Rutaceae fruit trees in H??ng S?n district;
- To summarize the outcomes of the project models and propose to the Service of Agriculture and Rural Development on technical processes of selecting and preserving adult trees, building nurseries, producing sweet pomelo seedlings, and intensive cultivation of the sweet pomelo;
- To organize technical training and train sub-instructors;
- To summarize and publicize techniques and experience of the project.