Vietnam Firm Starts Coffee Growing Project in Laos
Vietnam-Laos Coffee Joint Stock Co. under the Vietnam National Coffee Corporation (Vinacafe) has launched a project to grow 3,000 hectares of coffee trees in the Lao southern province of Champasak.
The move is aimed to boast Vietnam’s total coffee output by 12,000 tons in 2011.
The project kicked off after Vinacafe and the Dak Uy Coffee Company of central highlands Kon Tum province reached an agreement with Champassak authorities.
Under the project, in line with the 2006-2010 economic cooperation program between the Lao and Vietnamese governments, thousands of hectares of uncultivated land in Champassak province will be used to grow coffee, creating jobs for thousands of local laborers.
The Champassak administration agreed in principle to rent Vinacafe 1,000ha for growing the coffee bushes and will consider allocating an additional 3,000-5,000 ha to the corporation.
The Vietnam-Laos Coffee Joint Stock Co. has so far grown over 100 ha of coffee in Champassak province. Each hectare of land will yield about two tons of coffee, said an official from Vinacafe.
Vietnam, the world’s largest grower of Robusta coffee, currently has 500,000 ha under coffee cultivation, producing 930,000 tons of coffee in the 2006-2007 crop year.
However, not all farmland is suitable for the crop and the government is encouraging farmers to stop growing coffee on such land. It aims to reduce coffee acreage in Vietnam by 10 per cent to 450,000 hectares by 2010 to focus on quality. (Vietnam & World Economy)
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