Dak Lak Province is preparing to harvest the 2018-19 coffee crop. (Photo: VNA) Dak Lak (VNS/VNA) - Dak Lak, the country’s largest coffee growing province, plans toreduce the area under the crop from 204,800ha now to 180,000ha by 2030,according to Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen HaiNinh.
The Central Highlandsprovince will continue to advise farmers to replace coffee trees aged over 15years, affected by diseases or have low yields, he said.
More than a third of theprovince’s trees are at least 15 years old. Many grow in unzoned areas, onslopes of more than 15 degree or lack irrigation and suitable soil and climatefor coffee.
The province had soughtto replace more than 41,580ha of old coffee trees in 2011-2020. Farmers andcompanies have so far replanted around 26,800ha.
Huynh Quoc Thich, DeputyDirector of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said mostreplanted areas have nine high-yield and -quality robusta coffee varieties:TR4, TR5, TR6, TR7, TR8, TR9, TR11, TR12, TR13.
They yield 4.2 – 7tonnes per hectare and are resistant to coffee leaf rust, a fungal diseasewhich can cause loss of leaves and affect fruiting.
TR9, TR11, TR12, TR13have their harvests in the dry season, meaning the quality of the coffee is notaffected by rain during the process of drying.
Farmers and companieshave been meticulous with their replanting, choosing high-quality strains,preparing the land and tending, according to the department.
But the task has beenslow, with farmers lacking resources and the high prices of some fruits likeavocado and durian tempting many to intercrop them in their coffee plantations.
As of last August theprovince had farmers growing certified coffee on a total area of 43,660ha.
Their certifications arefrom various international organisations such as the Common Code for CoffeeCommunity, the Rainforest Alliance Certified Coffee and the Fair TradeLabelling Organisation (FLO).
Y Loan Nie, who plantscoffee to FLO standards in Cu M’gar district’s Cu Dlie M’nong commune, saidpreviously his family grew coffee using traditional techniques and earned a lowincome.
Over five year ofgrowing to FLO standards, he has been trained in growing clean coffee and earnshigher incomes and has regular buyers.
The province is enteringthe 2018-2019 coffee harvest season and hopes to harvest 464,175 tonnes ofbeans, up nearly 4,400 tonnes from the last season though the area has shrunkby nearly 4,204ha this year.
In the previous seasonit exported more than 191,100 tonnes of coffee beans, accounting for 10.6 percentof the country’s total.-VNS/VNA
The Central Highlandsprovince will continue to advise farmers to replace coffee trees aged over 15years, affected by diseases or have low yields, he said.
More than a third of theprovince’s trees are at least 15 years old. Many grow in unzoned areas, onslopes of more than 15 degree or lack irrigation and suitable soil and climatefor coffee.
The province had soughtto replace more than 41,580ha of old coffee trees in 2011-2020. Farmers andcompanies have so far replanted around 26,800ha.
Huynh Quoc Thich, DeputyDirector of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said mostreplanted areas have nine high-yield and -quality robusta coffee varieties:TR4, TR5, TR6, TR7, TR8, TR9, TR11, TR12, TR13.
They yield 4.2 – 7tonnes per hectare and are resistant to coffee leaf rust, a fungal diseasewhich can cause loss of leaves and affect fruiting.
TR9, TR11, TR12, TR13have their harvests in the dry season, meaning the quality of the coffee is notaffected by rain during the process of drying.
Farmers and companieshave been meticulous with their replanting, choosing high-quality strains,preparing the land and tending, according to the department.
But the task has beenslow, with farmers lacking resources and the high prices of some fruits likeavocado and durian tempting many to intercrop them in their coffee plantations.
As of last August theprovince had farmers growing certified coffee on a total area of 43,660ha.
Their certifications arefrom various international organisations such as the Common Code for CoffeeCommunity, the Rainforest Alliance Certified Coffee and the Fair TradeLabelling Organisation (FLO).
Y Loan Nie, who plantscoffee to FLO standards in Cu M’gar district’s Cu Dlie M’nong commune, saidpreviously his family grew coffee using traditional techniques and earned a lowincome.
Over five year ofgrowing to FLO standards, he has been trained in growing clean coffee and earnshigher incomes and has regular buyers.
The province is enteringthe 2018-2019 coffee harvest season and hopes to harvest 464,175 tonnes ofbeans, up nearly 4,400 tonnes from the last season though the area has shrunkby nearly 4,204ha this year.
In the previous seasonit exported more than 191,100 tonnes of coffee beans, accounting for 10.6 percentof the country’s total.-VNS/VNA
VNA
