Workshop "Solutions for coffee development in Son La province"

Attending the workshop were representatives of leaders of a number of provincial departments and branches; cooperatives and coffee production enterprises in the province.

Leaders of the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations delivered opening remarks at the Workshop.

Son La province has advantages in terms of geographical location and climate to develop Arabica coffee trees, bringing high economic value. Since the late 1980s, the province has implemented the "Arabica Coffee Development Program". Especially since 2017, many new policy mechanisms have been issued to encourage investment, improve quality and build coffee value chains. The policies have focused on supporting enterprises and cooperatives to apply good agricultural production processes; applying high technology to some production stages, such as: Saving irrigation combined with water fertilization, applying GIS/GPS in nutrient management for coffee trees, producing according to organic processes and promoting cooperation in developing raw material areas associated with processing, consumption and export of coffee products; building high-tech coffee growing areas and coffee growing areas applying organic agricultural production processes; Forming production links associated with processing, consumption, and sustainable export of coffee products...

By the end of 2024, Son La province will have 23,312 hectares of coffee, with an output of nearly 30,000 tons of coffee beans, leading the country in Arabica coffee area, accounting for 47.9% of the total area of the country and more than 73% of the area of the North. In terms of quality and brand, Son La has been granted the geographical indication "Son La Coffee" for 7 units; more than 76% of the coffee area is certified as sustainable according to international standards such as RA, 4C, VietGAP. The province has also successfully built 5 production - processing - consumption chains; built 2 high-tech coffee growing areas; developed 5 OCOP products, of which 1 product has achieved 5 national 5-star status. With the above achievements, Son La coffee has become a key export item, estimated at 31,700 tons of coffee beans with a value of 88.77 million USD per year, accounting for nearly half of the province's total export value, mainly targeting major markets such as the EU, North America, the Middle East and ASEAN.

However, coffee development is facing many challenges: Many old, low-yielding coffee areas need to be replanted, but this requires large capital, a long time and high technology. The production scale is fragmented, hindering the synchronous application of technology, mechanization and value chain linkage. The processing capacity of cooperatives is still limited in consuming output, forcing farmers to sell through traders. Post-harvest preservation still has many risks due to warehouse conditions and unsynchronized drying systems, which can easily reduce product quality...

At the workshop, there were 13 comments. Delegates highly agreed on the urgency of synchronizing solutions from production to market for sustainable coffee development. Delegates focused on debating and contributing in-depth opinions on the topic "Coffee development policy in Son La: Current situation and solutions", aiming to complete the policy framework. Regarding scientific and technical solutions, opinions emphasized the need to apply science and technology to improve product quality; at the same time, propose solutions to promote the development of consumption markets according to the chain between enterprises and cooperatives; strengthen management, use and development of brands, geographical indications, and growing area codes, considering this as the key to creating competitive advantages, helping Son La coffee successfully access large domestic and international chains...

Some opinions at the Workshop: