Day 6 started out with an early morning breakfast before boarding the bus at 7:40 AM For Can Tho University to hear Associate Professor Pham Dang Tri, College of Environmental and Natural Resources.
SDARL Class X at the University of Can Tho
Dr. Tri talks to the class
Tri focuses on agriculture development in the context of climate change, sea level rise and water shortage. One of his current goals is working on modeling of the Mekong River Delta. Being on the Mekong River for the previous two days made what Tri had to say easier to understand. The hands on experience of being on the river also allowed us to better organize our thoughts and questions. There has been a dramatic amount of erosion along the Mekong River banks due to the removal of sand. The sand is being mined and sold, and the negative effects are being noticed at this point. In an effort to replace the sand they are also mining sand from the middle of the river to replace along the banks. Yesterday we saw workers filling bags of sand by hand and throwing them into the river along the banks as part of this replacement process.
Another challenge Tri has identified is the plastic waste. It seemed paradoxical to many in the group that while he recognized plastic waste as a threat it did not appear as though that bothered him very much. Tri indicated they are working with a group from the UK to try and determine where the plastic waste is coming from… I guess I would say look around and you can pretty much see…
Tri indicated the largest issues at hand deal with the 11 hydro-electric dams that have been installed along the Mekong River. The Mekong River travels from its origin high in the Tibetan Plateau and runs through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
The dams along the tributary change the water flow. Based on research, the same flow is available now as was before the dams, however the timing of the flow along with the sedimentary debris and flooding effects is different.
The Mekong River flood plain from its origin in Tibet to the South China Sea off the coast of Vietnam.
The floods benefit the delta due to the addition of sediment for fertilizer, the flooding covers the ground and eliminates some of the insects and washes away pollutants. Tri discussed the saline intrusion along within Vietnam. This intrusion is caused by the varying water levels allowing sea (salt) water to follow the tributaries back inland 50-70 Kilometers (20 to 40 miles). From a map shown, this affects nearly 2/3 of the country and has potential to affect 100% of the land.
Finally Tri discussed the changes in flooding. In 2019 they knew they were going to get flood waters but the water came weeks earlier than they expected. This was due to the deforestation processes going on in Laos. When there are no trees and jungle to hold back the rain waters, the flooding comes flowing through much faster.
Next on the agenda was a visit to ‘Kimmy’s Chocolate’.
Class X geared up to learn about chocolate.
Hai Duong our ‘Kimmy’s’ tour guide gave us a visual tour of the operation which included a brief explanation of the Cacao tree. The flower starts as a tiny bud and develops into harvestable pods in 56 days.
A cocoa bud
Coca ready for harvest
Cocoa pods that have been picked and cut to being processing.
A tree can start producing cacao at age three. The cacao grows inside a fruit-like casing that slightly resembles a mango.
Opened Cocoa pod
Krysti closely examines a cocoa pod.
The fruit changes color as it matures and is ready when it is red to yellowish in color:
Once the cacao is harvested they cut them open to extract the cacao NEB which is inside. They ferment the beans in a wooden box, and then sun-dry them.
Wooden box fermenter
Beans spread out to dry in the sun and open air.
After this process they then move them into the factory, where they are roasted, cracked, ground and cooked into the chocolate we tend to crave.
Coca processing room
Foreign material and bits of pods are removed by hand.
Of course, we exited through the air conditioned gift shop to purchase a little bit of chocolate.
Justin taste testing for quality control.
Jace wonders whether to buy them all.
Jared finds the right cocoa!
On the way back to the bus we visited with the owner. He was a refugee to Canada after the Vietnam war, married, had a family and lived there as an engineer. Four years ago he felt a calling to return to Vietnam and do something good for his home country. Kimmy’s is named after his wife. It was another story of leading by seizing an opportunity and being a positive force using Ag products.
As the bus traveled back to Ho Chi Min City, we stopped at the Mekong Rest Stop for lunch. The lunch consisted of Rice Noodle Soup, Prawns, Shrimp/Chicken Vegetable Noodles, Lemon Grass herb sticks dipped in fish paste and deep fat fried, Calamari Rings, fruit. The biggest cheers came from FRENCH FRIES!
After lunch we boarded the bus and finished our trek to Ho Chi Min City for an open night on the town!
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