Vietnam Needs VND12T to Re-cultivate 100,000Ha of Coffee by 2015

Vietnam will need between VND10 trillion and VND12 trillion for a plan to re-cultivate 100,000 hectares of coffee in the central highlands region, or 20% of its total coffee area, from now to 2015, according to Le Ngoc Bau, head of the Central Highlands Agriculture & Forestry Science Institute.

 

He said that the to-be re-cultivated coffee trees are old with low yields of only 1.2 tons per hectare, some 50% lower than the country’s average productivity.

 

The region needs the government’s financial support in implementing the plan, the expert confirmed.

 

The plan should be implemented as soon as possible since many local farmers have shifted into corn cultivation for higher economic value, Bau said.

 

However, Nguyen Nam Hai, general director of Vietnam Super Intendence & Inspection (Cafecontrol) Company said that the re-cultivation plan of 20% of total coffee area needs further assessing.

 

The new coffee should be cultivated in accordance with international safe and hygienic standards such as Utz Kapeh and 4C (Common Code for the Coffee Community Association), the director suggested.

 

Vietnam now has more than 530,000 hectares under coffee cultivation with an annual output of nearly one million tons of beans. (STD)