Hanoi hosts Dutch-funded training course on potatoes

A training course started on Nov. 30 in Hanoi to instruct 21 agricultural technicians from ten Asian countries on how to develop a potato industry, from planting to processing, in rural Asia.

With the title “Developing a sustainable potato industry to support rural areas in Asia,” the event drew agricultural specialists from Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, India and Pakistan who had all previously undergone training on how to grow potatoes in the Netherlands.

During the two-week training course, three leading lecturers from the Netherlands and several Vietnamese trainers will update the participants with all the latest technologies and practical experiences that are best suited to the situation in their own countries.

At a total cost of 70,000 EUR (or 105,315 USD), the course has been fully funded by Wageningen International, a joint agency for international collaboration under Wageningen University and the Dutch Research Centre.

It was jointly organised by the Vietnamese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (VAAS) and the Vietnam-Netherlands Alumni Club.