Stable cashew material supply areas, suitable support policies, and the application of science and technology are crucial for the cashew sector when it comes to securing sustainable development, said Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) Cao Duc Phat.

Though being the world’s top cashew exporter, Vietnam has still depended on imported raw materials, he pointed to the unsustainable feature at a conference seeking to boost the cashew sector’s growth held recently in the southern province of Binh Phuoc .

Binh Phuoc is the largest cashew tree grower in Vietnam . It has over 157,000 ha with the tree, which account for 45 percent of the country’s total cashew tree growing area and contribute 40 percent of the total cashew nut output.

Selecting saplings that could produce high-quality nuts and good yield for multiplication is a must, the minister said, asking research institutes and the MARD’s Cultivation Department to issue related criteria by the end of the first quarter of 2015.

Nguyen Van Hoa, Deputy Head of the MARD’s Cultivation Department, said the connectivity among cashew producers, processor and exporters in the development of cashew material supply areas is significant and should be strengthened.

He also pointed to the need for reviewing the planning of cashew production and boosting technology transfer.

Hoa suggested that the government allocate more budget to the building and upgrading of infrastructure systems in key cashew farming areas, while providing farmers with preferential loans for intensive cultivation.

According to the department, Vietnam ’s total cashew area is now 311,000 hectares, featuring a 62-fold rise from 30 years ago, concentrating mostly in the southeast region.

Average productivity was raised to 950kg per hectare in the 2006-2013 period from only about 500kg per hectare in the 1995-2000 period.

In 2014, the figure is estimated at 1.172 kg per hectare, a rise of 24 percent compared to that of 2013, said the department.

The country’s total yearly cashew yield rose nearly 233 times in the 1982-2014 period, reaching nearly 350,000 tonnes in 2014 from only 1,500 tonnes. However, the output has satisfied only 35 percent of processing demand, added the department.-VNA