Viet Nam will expand its cocoa cultivation
areas to take advantage of high global demand and rising prices, as well as
unstable production from the world’s major cocoa growers, according to industry
officials.

Speaking
at a meeting on the industry’s development, Dr Tong Khiem, director of the
National Agriculture and Fisheries Extension Centre, said that although Viet Nam began
planting cocoa trees in 1980, the industry did not prosper until 2005.

Industry
growth was spurred by assistance from international organisations, the
Vietnamese Government policies and higher prices for cocoa beans.

Viet Nam has about 16,725ha under cocoa
cultivation, a four-fold increase compared to five years ago.

The trees
are planted in mainly in 10 provinces, including Ben Tre, Tien Giang, Dak Nong,
Dak Lak, Binh Phuoc and Ba Ria-Vung Tau, producing some 2,500 tonnes of dried
beans a year.

The
country plans to expand cultivation to 40,000ha by 2015 and to 50,000ha by
2020.

The yield
would be around 26,000 and 52,000 tonnes, respectively, an official said at a
conference in HCM
City yesterday.

Cocoa is mostly grown under the shade of
other crops, such as coconut palms and coffee trees.

Nguyen
Van Hoa, deputy head of the ministry’s Cultivation Department, said although
there was an increase in cocoa plantation areas, the planting was scattered and
small-scale, causing difficulties to production and consumption.

To meet
the planning target, the ministry will check zoning plans for cocoa cultivation
in southern provinces.

Based on
the zoning plans, each province will set up specific projects for cocoa
development, Hoa said.

Since
cocoa is still a relatively new tree in Viet Nam, not much research has
been conducted on the plant.

Hoa said
that scientists and agricultural research institutes should focus more on
research to create new high-quality seedlings, better cultivation techniques,
and measures to prevent and control insects.

The
Government would set aside funds for scientific research to develop new seeds,
construct new infrastructure projects in rural areas and support farmers when
they shift to growing cocoa trees, he said.

The
Government is also encouraging co-operation between concerned agencies and the
private sector to develop the cocoa industry.

His
department will work with local authorities to organise agricultural extension
programmes to provide farmers with skills and techniques in growing, harvesting
and processing cocoa.

Hoa also
recommended that farmers not harvest the beans before adequate maturity so as
to ensure cocoa quality.

Speaking
at the conference, Dr Pham Hong Duc Phuoc of the HCM
City’s Agriculture and Forestry University
said Viet Nam
should establish standards for cocoa quality and develop more agricultural
extension programmes that would teach new planting techniques to farmers.

While
global demand for cocoa will increase by 2-4 per cent, or 100,000-200,000 tonnes
per year, the world’s cocoa output will only rise about 2 per cent a year, Hoa
said .

The
supply from the world’s largest cocoa producers, Ghana,
Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Cameroon accounts for 70 per cent
of the world’s cocoa output.

But
supply from those countries is no longer stable, Hoa said, adding that many
cocoa processing plants in Southeast Asia were
operating at only 60 per cent of their capacity due to raw material shortages.

Besides
traditional markets like the US
and Western Europe, the demand for cocoa from China,
India and Eastern Europe has also increased recently, he said.

Source: VNS