Towards Effective Utilisation of Coconut Value Chain

Currently, Ben Tre province has the largest coconut area in Vietnam. The acreage increased rapidly from 37,595 ha in 2005 to 51,560 ha in 2010 and 61,252 ha in 2013, which accounts for 34.1 percent of agricultural land in the province. Coconut processing industry has rapid, comprehensive development. Coconut products are diversified and processed into different grades. The local processing industry consumes 85 percent of coconuts in the province. Coconut industrial production value expanded 10.3 percent a year from 2011 to 2013 and made up 18 percent of the provincial industrial value.

 

Coconut business is strongly developed in both domestic and international markets. Coconut export value grew on average 12.5 percent a year in the 2011-2013 phase and reached US$120.46 million in 2013, accounting for 24 percent of the province’s total export turnover. Ben Tre coconut products have been exported to 65 countries and territories across the world. Especially, the coconut processing industry has attracted many domestic and foreign investors with relatively modern technologies and thus become a key economic sector of the province.

 

In order to increase product competitiveness and export value, in 2013, Ben Tre province developed and implemented the coconut industry development programme until 2020 with the aim of boosting productivity, output and incomes for coconut farmers, ensuring a stable supply of raw materials for coconut processors, strengthening the cohesion and improving the efficiency of coconut value chain, fostering the harmony of coconut planting, processing and consumption to promote the sustainable development of coconut industry. The coconut processing value was expected to grow 13.58 percent a year on average in the 2011 - 2015 period and 11.57 percent a year in the 2016 - 2020 phase. The coconut export value was forecast to climb 18.72 percent a year on average from 2011 to 2015 and 12.47 percent a year from 2016 to 2020.

 

In the first six months of 2014, the Ben Tre coconut industry development programme until 2020 produced very encouraging successes. The province is carrying out five farming projects, that is, a project to improve unproductive coconut gardens, a project to establish baby coconut and parent coconut gardens, a project to raise shrimps in canals in coconut gardens, a project to intercrop coconut and cacao trees, and a project to keep bees to kill parasitic beetle. The province has 63,439 ha of coconut trees in the first half of 2014, as much as 5.82 percent larger than the expected acreage. The productivity was 9,220 fruits per hectare and the output was expected at 240.85 million fruits, an increase of 6.1 percent from a year ago.

 

The province also implemented six coconut processing projects. Business support projects and programmes initially produced effective results. The industrial extension programme with a total fund of VND2.2 billion supported 24 coconut processing projects to buy machines and equipment to upgrade processing capacities, economise energies, and apply clean technologies. The coconut trade promotion programme maintained and improved the quality of information about market and price forecasts and business opportunities, and raised by 5.2-fold the funds for investment promotion from enterprises. Truong Minh Nhut, Director of Department of Industry and Trade of Ben Tre province, said, in addition to information and support for coconut companies, the department also regularly monitors business performances of the coconut industry, recommends coconut companies on how to deal with unexpected developments, and advises the Provincial People's Committee to guide local companies to pursue effective business performance. Coconut industrial production value was estimated at VND540 billion in the first six months of 2014, up 13.68 percent year on year, slightly higher than the targeted average annual growth of 13.58 percent. Coconut export turnover was projected at US$86.4 million in the six-month period, up 38.24 percent year on year, higher than the target of 18.72 percent a year.

 

The province also applies and upgrades science and technology to the coconut industry to raise coconut product quality and productivity. The province also studies coconut extracts for medical purposes, coconut shell cracking machines with an hourly capacity of 800-1,000 fruits, coconut candy and coconut juice production.