• • Brazil Expert Teaching Team
• • Vietnam Expert Teaching Team
• • activities in East Africa

• First Vietnam ETT workshop
• Second Vietnam ETT workshop

First Vietnam ETT workshop, 22-25 May 2006

The GMO ERA Project convened a 3.5 day workshop in May 2006 to build a Vietnamese Expert Training Team for resistance risk assessment and management. The goal of the workshop was to train a group of scientists in Vietnam to conduct resistance risk assessments and develop practical resistance risk management plans, with a focus on Bt crops, and also to design the experiments necessary to support the practical management plans for Bt cotton, maize and rice that can be carried out by Vietnamese scientists.

Workshop organisation and participants: The workshop was organised by the National Institute of Plant Protection led by the Director, Dr. Nguyen Van Tuat, and Deputy Director Dr. Nguyen Hong Son. The workshop included 29 participating scientists, representing a range of relevant expertise and institutes in Vietnam.

Dr. Bui Ba Bong, Vice Minister of Agriculture, opened the workshop with encouraging words; “For the first time Vietnam has a biosafety regulation for the use of GMOs… In the context of these developments, I highly appreciated the efforts of the GMO ERA project in cooperation with the Vietnamese collaborators to organize the workshop. The workshop will provide opportunity for a group of selected scientists to acquire the knowledge for conducting resistance risk assessments.”

On the first workshop day, Dr. Celso Omoto and Dr. Gary Fitt gave sessions on the need for resistance risk assessment and management and on how to assess resistance risk. Sessions by Dr. David Andow and Celso built on this introduction by discussing modeling of resistance evolution and evaluation of dose and efficacy. Resistance management options were introduced by Gary and further developed by David on day two (refuge size and kinds, refuge structure, farmer compliance). On the third day participants were introduced to resistance monitoring techniques, and then each group prepared presentations on their proposals for resistance risk assessment and management for their crop. The groups presented their results on the last morning , followed by discussions.

Topics covered in the workshop:

  • Need for resistance risk assessment and management
  • Resistance risk assessment
  • Modeling resistance evolution
  • Risk management options
  • Dose and efficacy
  • Refuge size and kinds
  • Spatial scale of adult movement and spatial structure of refuge
  • Workability and implementation of risk management
  • Monitoring and post-commercialization needs
  • Development of practical IRM strategies and supporting experiments

Dr. Le Minh Sat, Deputy Director of Science and Technology in the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) gave a closing speech in which he welcomed the group results and their contribution to government regulation of GM crops in Vietnam, and asked for further inputs from participants on the issues raised. He encouraged participants to submit proposals for research funding to support IRM to the MOST; proposals are considered on a continuous basis and substantial funding is available.

Thanks to all the contributors!

cotton group, Vietnam ETT workshop

collecting adult insects on rice to screen for resistance