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VN Cocoa looks to further develop
Cocoa is a highly potential industry in Viet Nam, but a shortage of capital has hindered the development of the plant’s production industry, according to Doan Trieu Nhan, a senior consultant for the Viet Nam Association of Coffee-Cocoa.
Capital for planting and developing cocoa in Viet Nam comes mostly from assistance from international projects.
"The Government should pour more funding into the cocoa industry to develop it further," Nhan said.
Viet Nam’s investment in cocoa was much lower than in other key plants like rice, coffee and rubber, he said, though did not specify how low.
It was suggested at the annual meeting of the Viet Nam Cocoa Co-ordination Committee (VCC) that the Government and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) work out policies targeting more investment in cocoa seeds, technical training and market information.
The meeting took place at the end of last month in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, according to a statement posted on the website of the National Centre for Aqua-Agriculture Promotion.
"We need more assistance from the Government in terms of seeds and planting techniques," said Nhan. The Government should encourage farmers to grow cacao by assuring them of a market.
He added that the Government should work with entrepreneurs to invest in key zones.
Viet Nam’s cocoa quality was ranked 3rd after Ghana and Papua New Guinea, the statement said.
Cacao trees were mainly planted in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta and Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) in Viet Nam, mostly in Dak Lak, Lam Dong and Binh Phuoc provinces.
Cocoa is an environmentally-friendly food, which can be grown together with other products like cashew, coffee and coconuts. There was currently around 10,000ha set aside for national cocoa production.
Stable prices
Nguyen Thi Thanh Mai, Deputy Director of the H CM City office of MARD’s Cultivation Department, said that in the context of the global economic crisis, the prices of many agriculture products could go down, while the cocoa price would likely remain relatively stable.
"Cocoa prices experience little fluctuation because the need for cocoa in the world is still high while several countries specialising in cocoa production in Africa have reduced their exports," said Mai.
According to Tong Khiem, head of the VCC, the cocoa market was in its initial phase of development.
The 2008-09 crop had produced 1,000 tonnes of processed cocoa, almost three-times higher than the previous crop. Viet Nam’s cocoa output was low compared to the world’s need, which was up to 4 million tonnes. It was expected that national cocoa output would reach 5,000 tonnes next year.
"Joining the World Cocoa Foundation is not an urgent task for Viet Nam. It’s not our objective at present, because our cocoa exports and the domestic market for this product are still small," said Khiem.
According to the project on developing cacao trees from 2015-20, approved last year by MARD, 80,000ha of trees would be planted, 108,000 tonnes of cocoa seeds would be produced per year and cocoa exports would reach US$120 million.
"The project is highly feasible," said Nguyen Vinh Thanh, Cocoa Manager of Cargill Vietnam Ltd.
The given objectives could be reached three or four years ahead of schedule since the local cocoa industry was attracting a lot of attention from scientists and international non-profit organisations, according to Thanh.
Cargill is an American corporation working in agriculture. The company first came to Viet Nam in 1995 and is one of the biggest cocoa purchasers in the Vietnamese market.
VietNamNet, VietNamNews
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