Cocoa prices increase, growers are excited

Cocoa prices continue to rise

Cocoa is considered one of the main crops of Dak Lak. This is also the locality with the largest cocoa area in the country. Currently, the whole province has about 1,140 hectares of cocoa, with an average annual output of 1,525 tons, mainly concentrated in the districts of Ea Kar, Ea Sup, Krong Ana, and Ea H'leo.

Cocoa prices increase, growers are excited (Photo: Ethnic and Development Newspaper)

This year, cocoa is one of the crops that brings high economic efficiency to farmers in the province. The fact that cocoa prices have been continuously high recently has made cocoa growers very excited.

As one of the cocoa growers in Dak Lak, Mr. Nguyen Van Dung (Ea Na commune, Krong Ana district) - said that his family has 2 hectares of cocoa for business, with an expected output of more than 1.5 tons of dry beans. Although this year's yield is about 500 kg lower than last year, the selling price has doubled, after deducting expenses, households like Mr. Nguyen Van Dung's have an increase in profit of about 40% compared to last year.

Currently, the whole Ea Na commune has more than 60 hectares of cocoa, with an output of nearly 100 tons of dry beans/year (yield of 1.5 tons/ha). In addition to the local advantage of having suitable soil conditions for growing cocoa, most cocoa growers now participate in cooperatives, linking with businesses to receive technical support, helping cultivation achieve high productivity, quality as well as stable output and price.

Ms. Mai Thi Hang - President of the Farmers' Association of Ea Na commune - said that in March - April 2024, when cocoa trees entered the harvest season, the price of cocoa beans on the market also increased sharply, bringing joy to local cocoa farmers. The increase in cocoa prices has helped people increase their income, improve their lives, thereby giving them more motivation to stick with their gardens and pay more attention to investing and caring for cocoa in the direction of improving quality and sustainable production.

Notably, in the key cocoa growing areas of the province, a chain of links between production and consumption has been built, contributing to increasing the value of cocoa trees and bringing people a stable income of 100 - 130 million VND/ha/year.

Organic production, promoting linkages, enhancing value

Cocoa was introduced to Vietnam in 1960. However, the cocoa area in Vietnam has continuously decreased since 2012. In 2012, the total area was 25,700 hectares. By 2023, the cocoa area in Vietnam was 3,471 hectares, the harvested area was 2,836 hectares, the output was 4,786 tons of dry beans, and the yield was 16.9 quintals of dry beans/hectare.

To orient the development of cocoa in Vietnam, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has approved the Cocoa Development Project until 2015 and orientation to 2020, in which the general goal is to sustainably develop cocoa trees and increase output, commodity products, increase economic efficiency per unit of land area, increase income for people and protect the environment. Vietnam also issued cocoa bean quality standards in 2006 to gradually standardize and improve the quality of cocoa beans in Vietnam.

Like some countries in the region, Vietnam is facing a number of challenges that are limiting the development of cocoa, such as fluctuations in world cocoa prices and markets, the risk of declining cocoa bean quality, and food safety and hygiene. Especially the problem with cocoa products, competition from other crops that are more effective than cocoa such as durian. On the other hand, plant pests and diseases, the sustainability of biodiversity, and the negative impact on cocoa production due to climate change and some other issues.

Therefore, in order for the cocoa industry to overcome its weaknesses and become the Vietnamese cocoa industry, experts believe that linking farmers, small businesses with large corporations to help develop a comprehensive and sustainable cocoa industry in the future is extremely important.

From a local perspective, according to a representative of the Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection (Dak Lak Department of Agriculture and Rural Development), in the coming time, the province aims to develop cocoa trees in a sustainable direction, adapting to climate change and meeting the European Union's deforestation regulations (EUDR) as well as reducing carbon emissions in production.

Therefore, the province has agreed in principle to let the agricultural sector develop a project to develop the cocoa industry, with the goal of reviewing growing areas, stages from production, processing to market, and support policies.

On that basis, experts will evaluate and propose solutions to promote the sustainable development of the cocoa industry. At the same time, they will seek and attract capable businesses to participate in the local cocoa value chain to ensure stable output, helping farmers feel secure in cultivating and sticking with this crop for the long term.