Vietnam will for the first time host the Southeast Asian Cocoa Conference June 26-28, showing the potential of developing the plant in Vietnam, head of the Cocoa Development Coordinating Board of Vietnam, Tong Khiem, said.
The Vietnam News Agency reported that senior officials representing cocoa industries from ASEAN countries will meet in Ho Chi Minh City to discuss issues relating to cocoa.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that even though cocoa is not very popular in Vietnam, the country has earned a reputation for its quality, economic value and potential for development.
Khiem said Vietnam is now home to more than 9,000 hectares of cocoa. In 2007, the country exported 240 tons of cocoa beans.
Cocoa is chiefly planted in the Mekong Delta and Central Highlands regions with Ben Tre province boasting the largest cocoa acreage of 2,000 hectares
Vietnamese farmers have been successful in developing a model to grow cocoa in the shade of coconut-palms. This is a proving lucrative venture, bringing in an annual average of 1.5 tons of beans per hectare with each kilogram of cocoa beans sold for VND 38.000.
A research by the World Coffee-Cocoa Organization showed that demands for cocoa consumption increase annually by 4 per cent. However, cocoa supply is declining, opening the way for new cocoa producers worldwide.
However, Vietnamese cocoa producers are facing a difficult problem. Some 92 per cent of cocoas from Vietnam were purchased in fermented form and MARD’s Cultivation Department say farmers lack experience in the fermenting process.
They say it is a pivotal step in determining the quality and value of cocoa for export and it is something that needs to be improved.
Trinh Van Thanh, the head of a cocoa fermenting factory in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province said that it is the local farmers’ lack of knowledge on cocoa harvesting coupled with a lack of experience in cocoa processing that are the reasons behind Vietnamese products lacking in quality.
For sustainable cocoa development, MARD outlined policies encouraging and creating favorable conditions for businesses to get involved in producing, processing and purchasing cocoa apart from focusing on planning, ensuring biological safety and protecting the environment.
It would also like to see a diversification in cocoa products, as well as limiting the export of crude cocoa beans and expanding consumption markets.
Under a “cocoa development plan through 2015 with a vision to 2020”, which was approved by the MARD recently, Vietnam targets to grow 80,000 hectares of cocoa by 2020, increase the total output of dry cocoa beans to 110,000 tons and earn an export turnover of between US$100-120 million. (Vietnam Economic Times, VNA)
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