1          History and Development

    The College of Agriculture and Applied Biology (COA), formerly called Faculty of Agricultural Biology, was founded in 1968 in CanTho City, two years after the foundation of Cantho University. By 1975, the COA had admitted 7 academic batches and trained more than 300 graduated engineers.  Since the Liberation (1975), 21 new batches have been graduated with degrees in Animal Husbandry and Veterinary, Aquaculture, Food Processing, Agriculture Engineering, and Agricultural Economics. Later on, these new degree programs became independent faculties.

    With the restructuring of the University in 1996, the Faculties of Agronomy, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary, and Food Technology were merged into the College of Agriculture. By March in 2005, College of Agriculture has been changed its name into College of Agriculture and Applied Biology.

      2       Missions                                                                                               Go top

-         To offer Undergraduate, Masters, and Ph.D. training programs of Agriculture to meet current and future educational needs of the residents in the Mekong Delta. 

-         To conduct fundamental scientific research and to develop applications of agriculture. 

-         To directly serve the needs of the community by spreading knowledge of science and technology and transferring technology of agriculture. 

-         To assist in developing the regional economy and local productivity by expanding agriculture, and bringing scientific and technological advances to local producers.

       3        Specialized disciplines                                                                    Go top

    The COA consists of the following 9 departments and 1 administration office:

1.      Department of Crop Sciences

2.      Department of Soil Sciences & Land Management

3.      Department of Plant Protection

4.      Department of Food Technology

5.      Department of Animal Sciences

6.      Department of Veterinary Medicine

7.      Department of Environment and Natural Resources Management

8.      Department of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry

9.      Department of Agricultural Genetics and Breeding

10.  Administration Office

    Personnel: 290 staff; 141 lecturers; 89 researchers and 60 others; in which: 13 Assoc. Prof.; 46 Doctors; 91 Masters.

      4        Physical facilities                                                                                Go top

    The COA is a well-rounded operational unit of the university based on its long term activities and research programs. Due to the recent ODA project under Japanese Grant-Aid together with programs granted by the Dutch Government and other international organisations, COA currently have facilities such as laboratories, lecture rooms, auditoriums as well as up-to-date audio-visual teaching aids. Presently, all related departments have their own modern laboratories and research equipment comparable with other Colleges of Agriculture in the Southeast Asian Region.

    Stocked with thousands of specialised magazine, scientific research articles, books, CD ROMs and other necessary equipment, the College Library meets the need of more than 100 readers at the same time. New computer models have been installed and linked with the international Internet, available for the use of lecturers, scientists, students and staff.

    Moreover, in light of upgrading scientific research, experiment, and production, the COA also maintains the following local research and production stations where staff and students of college can carry out research and training programs on farm and at production levels.

-         The Fruit Tree Collection Garden and Bonsai Nursery: these units were in charge of collecting, growing and crossing a diversity of fruit trees, flowers and rare species of orchids in the Southern part of Vietnam and other countries in Southeast Asia. Since September 2007, these units and part of Animal Husbandry Farm were merged into one unit named Agricultural research and Trial Station and belonging to the college.

-         The agricultural model “Agronomy-Animal Husbandry-Fisheries” had been widely applied and the recycling of animal waste has also been tested and put into use to meet the need of fertilisation and power supply such as biogas.

-         The Animal Husbandry Farm: Raising domestic animals and poultry (pig, chicken, duck, cow, and buffalo) with different indigenous and imported breeds. It aims at crossing and making the best use of gene sources. It further trains students in both the above - mentioned methods and regional animal husbandry development. Since July 2007, the farm has been moved to the Hoa An diversity research station, just 50 km far from Can Tho City.

-         Animal clinic: in the process of being established to improve students' practical skills in pest control of domestic animals.

-         Center of Breeding and Agricultural Technology Transferring.

      5        Undergraduate training program                                                     Go top

    Up to now, the COA has trained more than 20,000 agricultural engineers for the Mekong Delta (MD). Many of them occupy key positions in government offices, companies, and business enterprises. Some are notably successful in their own agricultural private companies.

    In order to meet the ever-increasing labour force requirement in the MD, the COA has been actively expanding its degree courses and personnel competence. Academic curricula have been appropriately adjusted to correspond with students' basic and specialised knowledge. This provides them the experience on actual situations as part of their training. This in turn, gives them a positive view of practical production situations with will be useful in their future work.

    At present, the COA is able to yearly admit around 2,400 students and provide them with engineering training in Crop Sciences, Agronomy, Animal Sciences, Veterinary Medicine, Food Technology, Land Management, Soil sciences, Plant protection, Ornamental Plant and Environmental & Natural Resource Management. Students of the COA are given many opportunities to study and self-develop. Many scholarships sponsored by study extended to outstanding student and to those in financial need.

    Furthermore, thanks to the body of young cadres trained in countries together with the foreign staff currently working at the college, students have more chances to upgrade their foreign language knowledge, especially English and French. At the moment, their French language course sponsored by AUPELF-UREF Organisation offering lectures to students of Agronomy and Food Processing right in their first year.

    The competence of the graduates has been widely recognised. Their services are requested by business enterprises, governmental organizations and foreign companies. Often, they have been assured of employment even prior to graduation.

      6        Postgraduate program                                                                       Go top

    Furthering university-training programs, COA offers postgraduate programs for Master’s degrees in the fields of Agriculture: Crop Sciences, Animal husbandry-Veterinary Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Environmental Sciences, Plant protection, Food & Beverage Technology and Soil Sciences; and PhD.' degrees in the fields of Agriculture: Crop Sciences, Animal husbandry-Veterinary Medicine, Soil Sciences and Plant protection.

    Also, students of COA have made significant contributions to scientific research. Thanks to the knowledge attained, a good number of students’ research theses have been highly appreciated by the local and central government.

      7        Domestic and International collaborations                                     Go top

    Domestic and international collaborations are one of the strengths of the COA. It co-operates with foreign universities and organisations as well as their provinces in the MD in areas of scientific research, training, and agricultural extension.

-         Domestic collaboration: Agricultural University No. 1, Soils and soil fertility Institute, NIAPP, Sub-NIAPP in HCM City, Mekong Delta Rice Research Institute, Southern Fruit Research Institute, HCM City University for Agriculture and Forestry, HCM City Tropical Biology Institute, The Services of Science and Technology of provinces in the Mekong Delta, etc.

-         International Organizations: HEIFER, IRRI, OXFAM, FAO, UNDP, JICA, JIRCAS, DANIDA, SAREC, ACIAR, IUCN, UNEP, WWF, etc.

-         Foreign Countries: Netherlands (Wageningen University, ALTERRA), France (ENSAT Toulouse University), Sweden (Uppsala University), Belgium (Gent University and Leuven University), USA (Louisiana State University, UC Davis, …), Australia (Vetiver centre, Sydney University), Denmark (Arthur University), Japan (Kyoto University, Tokyo Agriculture & Technology University, NIHON University, …), Thailand (AIT, Chaingmai University), England (Cambridge University, University of Nottingham, University of Leicester), Cambodia (Royal University), India (Remote sensing center), Philippines (UP), Laos (Forestry and Agriculture University), China (Nanjing Agriculture University), Canada (Laval University), Germany (Inwent, Ludwis Maximilians University Munich), Korea (Seoul National University, Gwangju Institute of Science & Technology), Malaysia (Putra University, University Malaysia Sarawak, MARDI), Finland (University of Helsinki, VAPO), Indonesia (University of Palangka Raya, University of Gadjah Mada, University of Sriwijaya, BPPT), etc.

      8        Scientific research and transfer                                                       Go top

Scientific research at the COA has been one of the most effective and successful activities for over 30 years. The results of scientific research have been widely recognised for its high efficiency and prompt application into agricultural production, which directly contributes to the increase of regional food and foodstuff.

    The key areas of scientific research are as follows:

-      Land evaluation and land use in the MD.

-      Land use planning by using GIS and remote sensing in the MD.

-      Management of soil fertility, soil chemistry and physics for sustainable agriculture.

-      Food staples in the MD where rice, soybean, mungbean and vegetable are highly regarded.

-      Fruit trees and trees for industrial use.

-      Integrated pest management.

-      Plant structure and crops.

-      Improvement of domestic breeding quality.

-      Environment and natural resources management.

-      Coastal zone biodiversity and management.

-      Sustainable agriculture development combined with the model “Garden-Fish Food-Livestock” expanded household level and local areas.

-      In vitro culture.

-      Agricultural production plans in the MD. 

    Transfer:

    Owing to the productive and effective results of these scientific researches, many specialised syllabi have been printed out and published fostering agricultural expansion facilitating training processes and agricultural production in the MD.

    Training in the field of:

-         Crops: technique and varieties

-         Plant protection

-         Soil management

-         Animal production and management

-         Farming system

-         Environmental protection

-         Food storage and processing

    Some results:

-         Providing the human resources for MD and other places

-         Changing the land use system in the MD

-         Increasing the cultivated area and cropping index

-         Applying new technology for crops cultivation and animal husbandry

-         Increasing the crops yield and animal production

-         New technology for pre- and post-harvest

-         Improving the food processing

-         More flexible in farming systems depending on the market demand

-         Improving the income of the farmers and their living standard in the rural areas.

      9.      Future plans                                                                                         Go top

    For the future plans, COA will continue to:

-         Improve the quality of training: teaching and curriculum development

-         Control and improve soil and water degradation in agricultural areas

-         Reduce and control environmental pollution

-         Increase the quality of agricultural products by (bio-) technology

-         Natural resources: by management

-         Post harvest and food processing

-         Study and apply the bio-technology in the field of food technology, crops varieties, ornamental plants, animal production, and veterinary medicine.

-         Manage and use effectively problem soils: degraded soils, acid sulphate and saline soils

-         Use and manage the sustainable land resources

    Introduce and develop new products for biocontrol methods

College of Agriculture and Applied Biology - Can Tho University - Campus II - 3/2 street - Can Tho City - Viet Nam
Tel: 84.71.830784 - Fax: 84.71.830814
http://www.ctu.edu.vn/colleges/agri/