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Cocoa meet to generate ideas
Local cocoa producers and their partners in Southeast Asia will explore ideas to develop the cocoa industry and improve crop quality at a regional conference in HCM City from June 26-28, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
At the conference, the 11th of its kind, representatives from major cocoa producers in Southeast Asia will discuss advanced farming methods to improve cocoa productivity and quality.
Other topics high on the agenda include tariffs on cocoa products, seeds in accordance with Intra-ASEAN trade regulations, the hybridisation of high-quality seeds in the region, and the establishment of organisations to ensure hygiene and food safety standards for cocoa products.
According to the International Coffee and Cocoa Organisation, the demand for processing and consuming cocoa products has risen 4 per cent a year. Major cocoa consumer markets include the US, Germany, France and Russia.
Despite increasing demand, the cocoa supply of major producers in West Africa such as Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria, which accounts for 60 per cent of the world’s production, has decreased due to political instability in these countries.
This has created an advantage for cocoa farms in Viet Nam. In the last two years, experts from the US have helped Viet Nam transplant new high-yielding cocoa hybrids in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta’s Ben Tre Province. According to these experts, Viet Nam’s climate and soil provide favourable conditions to grow high-quality cacao and improve the quality of cocoa products.
In recent years, the quality of Vietnamese cocoa products has also garnered worldwide attention due to their distinct flavour.
Yet, the cocoa industry in Viet Nam is still in its infancy. In 2007, Viet Nam exported 240 tonnes of dried beans out of a total harvest of 258 tonnes. The nation had 8,972ha of cacao last year, but only 2,568ha yielded crops.
In order to further the expansion of the cocoa industry in Viet Nam, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development recently approved a project to develop cacao farms to 80,000ha by 2020 with an projected export value of US$100-120 million.
VNS
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