HANOI - Vietnam's
coconut gardens, once chopped down or abandoned because
a shortage of outlets for such products in the Mekong
delta region and Vietnam's central provinces, are being
revived through the high profits brought about by the
export of coconut products.
Vietnam now expects
to become one of four leading coconut exporters in the
world, aside from the Philippines, Indonesia and Sri
Lanka, with its products available in 46 countries and
territories.
Products made from coconuts for
export now are various compared to several years ago,
when only unprocessed fresh and desiccated coconuts were
exported to China. Besides copra for the food processing
industry, farmers use coconut covers, shells and juice
for producing coir fibre, an activated carbon and jelly
that bring high profits.
As a result, the value
of Vietnamese coconuts has increased. Farmers now can
sell a coconut at VND1,800-2,000 as compared to
VND500-700 several years ago. Even Ben Tre province, the
largest coconut area in Vietnam, had to import coconuts
from Sri Lanka in late 2003 due to the shortage of the
product.
Ha Vinh Hoa, director of the Truc Giang
Export-Import and Production Company (Treximco) in
southern Ben Tre province, said Vietnam would be able to
catch up with world-leading coconut producers in five to
10 years if it invests in processing technology.
With its first batch of copra exported last
year, Treximco's joint ventures with Sri Lanka's
Silvermil firm have so far led to the export of more
than 3,000 tonnes of copra, worth US$3 million. The
company has started operation of its third joint
venture, with a capacity of 25 tonnes of copra per day.
The company expects to export 5,000 tonnes of copra this
year.
However, one problem emerging is how to
raise the output and quality of coconuts in Vietnam to
meet the demands for large-scale and concentrated
production, as most of coconut gardens in the Mekong
Delta and central region have grown for 20-30 years with
low-output local varieties. Farmers' incomes are still
low as one hectare of coconut trees brings VND15 million
to VND20 million on average, much lower than other
trees.
Vietnam now has about 200,000 hectares of
coconut trees, with about 35,000 hectares in Ben Tre
province. Last year the country earned about $35 million
from coconut exports.
(Asia Pulse/VNA)
Sep 15, 2004
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