Farmers work at a large coffee field in Gia Lai province’s Dak Doa district. (Photo: VNA) Gia Lai (VNA) -Local authorities and farmers who grow coffee under Vietnamese GoodAgricultural Practices (VietGap) in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai areseeking a better selling price for their coffee because of its higherquality.
Last year, 60 households inIa Gon Village took part in the VietGap Robusta Coffee Planting Team in Duc Codistrict’s Ia Krel commune, under the support of the commune’s People’sCommittee and the district’s Agriculture and Rural Development Bureau.
Under the programme, localauthorities promised that they would try to find buyers for their products, buthave not been successful so far.
The farmers growing coffeetrees under VietGap standards follow strict planting processes, includingfertilisng methods and time, ripening rate of harvested coffee, andpreservation methods.
Le Viet Hop, a team memberwho owns 1.5 ha of coffee trees, said his family harvested six tonnes of coffeebeans last year, but could not find a buyer who was willing to pay higherprices.
After waiting for about 1.5months, he sold the coffee beans to buyers who paid the price for normalcoffee.
“Although I felt very sad,I did not know what to do,” he said, adding that he had to sell for cash flowreasons.
Nguyen Si Hau, who is partof the planting team, has stocked seven tonnes of VietGap coffee in his house.
He said that plantingVietGap coffee was strict and production costs were high, but he could wait tosell his coffee at a higher price.
Hoang Xuan Thuy, head ofthe planting team, said one company offered to buy the team’s coffee at 500 VNDa kilo higher than normal coffee but it never returned.
Last year, the teamharvested about 500 tonnes of coffee on 100 ha of coffee trees planted understrict VietGAP standards.
Of the figure, farmers hadto sell about 150 tonnes at normal prices, but they stocked the remaining towait for a better price, according to the Ia Krel Commune People’s Committee.
Siu Luynh, chairman of theIa Krel Commune People’s Committee, said the People’s Committee was workingwith the district’s Agriculture and Rural Development Bureau to call on localcoffee-buying establishments to guarantee outlets for VietGAp coffee.
The People’s Committee isalso encouraging farmers to continue planting VietGAp coffee.
By the end of December, theCentral Highlands province had 130 ha of VietGap coffee, including 130 ha inDuc Co district and 30 ha in Pleiku City, according to the province’sAgriculture, Forestry and Fishery Quality Management Sub-department.
Le Huy Toan, head of thesub-department, said: “We guide farmers planting VietGAP coffee in teams sothat production processes can be monitored strictly, ensuring coffee quality.”
“We’ve organised fairs andmeeting activities for coffee buyers and farmers to promote the coffeeproduction chain,” he said.
Gia Lai,which has one of the largest coffee areas in the country, has more than 90,000ha of coffee trees. Of the figure, trees on 18,000 ha are old and should bereplanted by 2020, according to local authorities.
Toimprove coffee quality, local authorities supported farmers in replanting oldcoffee trees.
Farmers can borrow a loanof 150 million VND (6,600 USD) at a preferential interest rate per ha toreplant old coffee trees.
Lastyear, farmers in the province replanted more than 3,500 ha of old coffee,exceeding 40 percent of the target.
By 2020,the province aims to establish 4,000ha of large-scale coffee fields in major coffeecultivating areas like Duc Co, Chu Prong, Ia Grai and Dak Doa districts.
In Dak Doadistrict, more than 100 households in Nam Yang commune have set up a 120-ha,large-scale coffee field.-VNA
VNA
