Coffee harvest in the Central Highlands (Photo:VNA)LamDong (VNA) – The Central Highlands province of Lam Dong has taken numerousmeasures to develop and protect the brand name of Arabica coffee grown in CauDat district, Da Lat City.
Arabicacoffee from Cau Dat was one of the seven kinds of coffee sold in the world bythe US-based Starbucks. It was also the first time Arabica coffee grown inVietnam had been selected by the group to sell at its more than 21,000 storesacross the globe.
CauDat, located at the altitude of 1,500 metres, has over 3,000 hectares undercoffee trees in Xuan Truong and Tram Hanh communes, and part of Xuan Thocommune in Da Lat City. It has favourable natural and geographical conditionsfor growing Arabica coffee.
However,there is now a trend in the area to replace coffee by other crops such asvegetables and flowers.
LuuVan Phat, a farmer in Tram Hanh commune’s Phat Chi hamlet, said many villagershave shifted to growing vegetables and flowers, which brings more profit thanArabica coffee.
Accordingto Director of the Cau Dat Coffee Cooperative Vo Khanh, the cultivation ofArabica coffee requires high investment and big efforts because the trees arehighly vulnerable to diseases and cold weather. One hectare of Arabica coffee bringsaround 100 million VND (4,400 USD) in revenues, much lower than vegetable andflower crops.
Thecooperative has just signed a contract to ship seven tonnes of Green Fairtradecoffee beans to the Republic of Korea (RoK), Khanh said, adding that it is anoptimistic sign for the future of the local Arabica coffee.
Thecooperative has joined the World Fairtrade coffee network since 2015 with 30members, producing 130 tonnes of coffee beans per year.
Theprovincial People’s Committee has issued a plan to expand the area of Arabicacoffee trees to 30,000 hectares by 2020, turning the south Central Highlandsinto one of the world’s best Arabica coffee producing regions.
According to theEconomics Office of Da Lat City, high-yield and high-quality coffee varieties willbe selected to replace old coffee trees and effective cultivation models willbe transferred to coffee farmers in the locality in order to increase productivityand coffee bean quality.-VNA
VNA
