FOCUS on farming success in Vietnam

Capacity building and upskilling communities in Vietnam to address issues with saline soils was the focus of a partnership between Australian Aid, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and Charles Sturt University.

The Farmer Options for Crops Under Saline conditions (FOCUS) program provided training on a diverse range of topics, including soil salinity, soil constraints, technical skills such as instrumentation and statistics, and gender training.

The program engaged 145 farmers and Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) staff in participatory workshops, equipping them with practical skills to measure and identify salinity. Specialised gender training encouraged participants to incorporate gender inclusivity in their research projects.

In 2023, six members of the Can The University Crop and Soil Management team travelled to Australia for intensive soil-based training, supported by funding from the Crawford Fund and Select Carbon. Charles Sturt University delivered workshops on soil processes in field-based research, including DNA extraction and sampling, as well as qPCR analysis.