Potential for value addition
In recent years, coconut trees have contributed increasingly to the national economy and helped create jobs and income for many workers. Coconut trees are identified as one of the six key industrial crops of the country including: coffee, rubber, tea, cashew, pepper and coconut.
Processing and packaging fresh coconuts at a business in Vinh Long province.
Currently, the whole country has more than 202,130 hectares of coconut trees of all kinds, with an output of more than 2.28 million tons of fruit/year, of which the Mekong Delta has about 178,000 hectares, with an output of more than 1.95 million tons of fruit/year. In 2024, coconut export turnover will reach nearly 1.1 billion USD.
The coconut industry has helped bring in a large source of foreign currency, creating many jobs to increase income for farmers and many workers involved in purchasing, processing and processing coconuts. The value and profit from coconut trees have been increased when many deep processing factories have been invested in and built in localities, helping to reduce the risk of good harvests and low prices.
Our country is also assessed to have a lot of potential and room to develop the coconut industry, especially in Can Tho City and the provinces of the Mekong Delta. In particular, many farmers in Can Tho City also have the opportunity to increase the selling price and increase income from coconut gardens if they can form a chain of links, supplying raw materials directly to export enterprises. From there, they will no longer have to sell coconuts to traders at low prices.
Can Tho City currently has about 12,479 hectares of coconut, with varieties such as Vietnamese coconut, Siamese coconut, strawberry coconut... planted scattered in communes, but most concentrated in 13/103 communes with a total area of 7,222 hectares.
Coordinate the construction of the chain link
The Vietnam Coconut Association has been actively coordinating with institutes, schools, credit institutions, and relevant localities and units to promote the implementation of the plan "Building a coconut raw material supply chain" with the support of credit support programs. The goal is to create a quality, stable, and sustainable raw material supply chain for domestic factories and help farmers sell coconuts at good prices, limiting the export of low-value raw coconuts.
Mr. Cao Ba Dang Khoa, Chairman of the Vietnam Coconut Association, said: “Coconut trees and many coconut varieties grown in communes and wards in Can Tho city produce fruit quickly and with high quality, but they have not yet built a brand and have not created investment attraction for businesses to build deep processing factories. Currently, many farmers in Can Tho city and in the Long Xuyen quadrangle mainly sell coconuts to traders at prices much lower than those in places where businesses have processing factories or coconut purchasing facilities such as in Vinh Long province... The Vietnam Coconut Association hopes to strengthen links and coordination with the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Can Tho city and related units to promote the development of the coconut industry, increase income for coconut farmers in Can Tho and the whole country in general”.
In Can Tho City, the Vietnam Coconut Association recently had a working session with the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Can Tho City and the Representative Office of the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam (Agribank) in the Southwest region on coordinating the implementation of the plan "Building a coconut material supply chain". The parties agreed to coordinate the implementation of the plan and pilot the implementation of the program "Building a coconut material supply chain" in a number of localities with concentrated coconut growing areas in Can Tho in the remaining months of 2025.
According to Mr. Cao Ba Dang Khoa, it is necessary to coordinate with localities to have activities to change the thinking and actions of farmers and businesses in investing in coconut development. Building a sustainable chain of links associated with production standardization, planting area planning, applying sustainable farming techniques to ensure quality and safety of coconuts for domestic processing factories. Encouraging investment in developing deep processing factories, reducing raw coconut exports to increase value. The Vietnam Coconut Association has discussed and agreed with Agribank, along with the Southern Fruit Institute, the Oil and Oil Crops Research Institute, etc. to provide support for farmers, businesses, and cooperatives in terms of varieties, coconut cultivation techniques, and credit sources.
According to Mr. Phan Van Ba, Deputy Head of Agribank Representative Office in the Southwest region, coconut is a key industry with many advantages and development potential in the Mekong Delta region, as well as the whole country, and has a tendency to adapt to climate change, green economy, and circular economy. Realizing this potential, recently, Agribank in the Southwest region has invested in lending to the coconut industry, with a total loan amount of over VND 2,000 billion, accounting for nearly 1% of total outstanding loans. However, this is a modest number compared to the strengths and potential of the coconut industry in the Mekong Delta region.
Mr. Phan Van Ba said that the proposal of the Vietnam Coconut Association on "Building a coconut raw material supply chain" with the support of credit support programs is a very good direction and has high potential for development, contributing greatly to socio-economic development, especially improving people's lives, coconut will be produced on a large scale. Agribank will accompany the Vietnam Coconut Association and localities to invest financially for farmers, cooperatives and businesses in the coconut industry chain. Depending on the subject, Agribank will have specific financial services and credit packages...
According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Giang, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Can Tho City, the Department will coordinate with the Vietnam Coconut Association and Agribank to select communes with concentrated coconut growing areas to pilot the program "Building a coconut material supply chain" in 2025. It is expected that Can Tho will initially select communes in the Cu Lao Dung area - where the coconut area is concentrated with about 3,000 hectares - to carry out the pilot. If the results are successful, it will be expanded to include coconut trees and many other fruit trees.
Article and photos: KHANH TRUNG
Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/phoi-hop-nang-cao-chuoi-gia-tri-cay-dua-a190010.html
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