Illustrative photo (Photo: VNA)Looking into causes behindthe unsustainable development of coffee at present, participants pointed outthat small-scale production prevent farmers from accessing credit to invest inintensive farming, while unsuitable farming techniques, including the abuse offertilizer and pesticides, reduce soil’s fertility and cause water shortages.
At the same time, naturaldisasters as a consequence of climate change have caused serious losses to thecoffee sector. Last year, drought affected more than 116,000 ha of coffee treesin the country, nearly 7,000 ha of which were completely destroyed.
Many participants agreed onthe need for new coffee varieties that are adaptable to unfavourable weatherconditions such as drought and unseasonal rain. The Central Highlands provincesneed to replace old coffee trees with new varieties on 120,000 hectares.
Other suggestions includeexpanding the use of water-saving system and intercropping fruit trees or industrialplants and coffee tree, while helping farmer households improve their coffeebean processing capacity.
In 2016, Vietnam had over640,000 hectares of land under coffee, spanning over 105 districts in 22provinces. The sector exported nearly 1.8 million tonnes of coffee beans, worthover 3.36 billion USD.
The Central Highlands region,comprising of Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Dak Lak, Dak Nong, and Lam Dong provinces, has540,000 hectares of coffee trees, accounting for 84 percent of the nation’sarea.-VNA
VNA
