The Cultivation Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment (MARD) must review cocoa development plans and draw specificmeasures to encourage farmers to grow this industrial tree.
At arecent conference in Hanoi on opportunities and challenges for cocoadevelopment in Vietnam, MARD Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh urged thebuilding of a project on the development of Vietnam’s cocoa industryto be submitted to the ministry in the first quarter of next year.
He said his ministry has deployed a number of agricultural promotion programmes to make cocoa the country’s major produce.
Theministry has planned about 50,000 ha for cocoa cultivation by 2020 butonly 16,000 ha has been put into use to date, he said, adding thatunclear development orientations have made the crop less attractive tofarmers.
Phan Van Don, Vice Director of southern Binh Phuocprovince’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, attributedinsufficient investment and poor farmers’ knowledge to the unsuccessfuldevelopment of the cocoa industry.
He suggested good creditsources to encourage farmers to grow cocoa as well as the involvement ofbusinesses in building a value chain for the crop.
Participantsat the conference agreed that in order to boost the cocoa development,the Government and relevant agencies should equip farmers with farmingtechniques as well as help them better access consumption markets.
Accordingto the Cultivation Department, Vietnam’s cocoa industry sees agreat opportunity as world demands remain high. At present, the countryonly produces about 6,000 tonnes of dry cocoa bean per year due to lowproductivity and modest cultivation areas.-VNA
At arecent conference in Hanoi on opportunities and challenges for cocoadevelopment in Vietnam, MARD Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh urged thebuilding of a project on the development of Vietnam’s cocoa industryto be submitted to the ministry in the first quarter of next year.
He said his ministry has deployed a number of agricultural promotion programmes to make cocoa the country’s major produce.
Theministry has planned about 50,000 ha for cocoa cultivation by 2020 butonly 16,000 ha has been put into use to date, he said, adding thatunclear development orientations have made the crop less attractive tofarmers.
Phan Van Don, Vice Director of southern Binh Phuocprovince’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, attributedinsufficient investment and poor farmers’ knowledge to the unsuccessfuldevelopment of the cocoa industry.
He suggested good creditsources to encourage farmers to grow cocoa as well as the involvement ofbusinesses in building a value chain for the crop.
Participantsat the conference agreed that in order to boost the cocoa development,the Government and relevant agencies should equip farmers with farmingtechniques as well as help them better access consumption markets.
Accordingto the Cultivation Department, Vietnam’s cocoa industry sees agreat opportunity as world demands remain high. At present, the countryonly produces about 6,000 tonnes of dry cocoa bean per year due to lowproductivity and modest cultivation areas.-VNA
