Trinh Van Thanh (right), director of the Xa Bang Agricultural Services and Trade Co-operative in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province’s Chau Duc district, speaks to a member of the cooperative about cocoa tending processes (Photo: VNA) Ba Ria-Vung Tau (VNS/VNA) - The use of advanced farming techniques has resulted in high profitsfor organic cocoa farmers in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau.
Truong Ngoc Lam, whointercrops cocoa and pepper, durian and mangosteen on a 0.9ha orchard in ChauDuc district’s Xa Bang commune, has harvested 2.5 tonnes of dried cocoa beansannually in recent years.
Lam, a member of the XaBang Agricultural Services and Trade Cooperative, has earned 60,000 VND (2.6USD) a kilo for cocoa beans, earning a profit of 100 million VND (4,280 USD) ayear.
Farmers of cocoa trees,which require less tending than other plants, have had stable outlets and highselling prices in recent years, according to Lam.
“All cocoa beans of ourcooperative’s members are guaranteed outlets by a processing company,” he said.
The cooperative has 20members who grow a total of 30ha of organic cocoa.
Trinh Van Thanh,director of the cooperative, said farmers follow UTZ standards, includingirrigation, fertilisation, and note-taking during the planting process.
In Xa Bang commune, theChau Duc Organic Cocoa Cooperative, established last year, has 30 membersplanting a total of 70ha of organic cocoa. The cooperative members earn aprofit of 100 million VND per ha a year.
Nguyen Ngọc Linh, Chairmanof the Chau Duc District Farmers Association, said the district had identifiedcocoa as one of its key plants.
The district, whichproduces cocoa with international standards, has also invested in cocoaprocessing to increase value, which has resulted in better sales to processingcompanies.
Processors make manykinds of products. Thanh Dat T-S-M Chocolate Co., Ltd in Xa Bang commune, forinstance, has produced cocoa power, cocoa butter, cacao liquor and chocolateproducts. The company’s products have been exported to the Netherlands and theUS.
It also exports about 29tonnes of cocoa nibs and cocoa mass a month to the Republic of Korea and Japan.
In previous years, manycocoa farmers in the province had switched to other plants like pepper.However, stable outlets for cocoa in recent years have led to higher incomesfor farmers.
Ba Ria-Vang Tau, whichis one of the country’s largest cocoa producers, has about 1,200ha of cocoa,mostly in Chau Duc, Xuyen Moc and Tan Thanh districts where the soil andweather conditions are favourable for planting cocoa. Of the figure, an annualyield of 300 tonnes are produced on 500ha.
The province’s cocoatrees are mostly TD3, TD6 and TD9 varieties which produce a high yield of threetonnes per ha.
About 90 percent of theprovince’s cocoa are intercropped with other trees like cashew and grapefruit.
Compared to otherlocalities, cocoa grown in the province has a higher quality, according toexperts.-VNS/VNA
Truong Ngoc Lam, whointercrops cocoa and pepper, durian and mangosteen on a 0.9ha orchard in ChauDuc district’s Xa Bang commune, has harvested 2.5 tonnes of dried cocoa beansannually in recent years.
Lam, a member of the XaBang Agricultural Services and Trade Cooperative, has earned 60,000 VND (2.6USD) a kilo for cocoa beans, earning a profit of 100 million VND (4,280 USD) ayear.
Farmers of cocoa trees,which require less tending than other plants, have had stable outlets and highselling prices in recent years, according to Lam.
“All cocoa beans of ourcooperative’s members are guaranteed outlets by a processing company,” he said.
The cooperative has 20members who grow a total of 30ha of organic cocoa.
Trinh Van Thanh,director of the cooperative, said farmers follow UTZ standards, includingirrigation, fertilisation, and note-taking during the planting process.
In Xa Bang commune, theChau Duc Organic Cocoa Cooperative, established last year, has 30 membersplanting a total of 70ha of organic cocoa. The cooperative members earn aprofit of 100 million VND per ha a year.
Nguyen Ngọc Linh, Chairmanof the Chau Duc District Farmers Association, said the district had identifiedcocoa as one of its key plants.
The district, whichproduces cocoa with international standards, has also invested in cocoaprocessing to increase value, which has resulted in better sales to processingcompanies.
Processors make manykinds of products. Thanh Dat T-S-M Chocolate Co., Ltd in Xa Bang commune, forinstance, has produced cocoa power, cocoa butter, cacao liquor and chocolateproducts. The company’s products have been exported to the Netherlands and theUS.
It also exports about 29tonnes of cocoa nibs and cocoa mass a month to the Republic of Korea and Japan.
In previous years, manycocoa farmers in the province had switched to other plants like pepper.However, stable outlets for cocoa in recent years have led to higher incomesfor farmers.
Ba Ria-Vang Tau, whichis one of the country’s largest cocoa producers, has about 1,200ha of cocoa,mostly in Chau Duc, Xuyen Moc and Tan Thanh districts where the soil andweather conditions are favourable for planting cocoa. Of the figure, an annualyield of 300 tonnes are produced on 500ha.
The province’s cocoatrees are mostly TD3, TD6 and TD9 varieties which produce a high yield of threetonnes per ha.
About 90 percent of theprovince’s cocoa are intercropped with other trees like cashew and grapefruit.
Compared to otherlocalities, cocoa grown in the province has a higher quality, according toexperts.-VNS/VNA
VNA
