Big Cocoa Field Project Wins Big

Cocoa farmers in Ngoc Dinh commune (Dinh Quan district) are excited about the harvest because cocoa prices have increased dramatically. Photo: B.Nguyen

Currently, the price of fresh cocoa beans sold by farmers at the farm is 16,000 VND/kg, a record high price in the past 70 years. Cocoa farmers participating in CĐL projects are earning unprecedentedly high profits from this crop.

Farmers make big profits

Fresh cocoa prices are rising due to the rapidly increasing demand for this product in the world market. Meanwhile, supply is less than demand, because the world's largest cocoa producing region in Africa has suffered crop failures due to drought. Cocoa prices are forecast to remain high in the coming time as many countries have suffered crop failures.

Mr. Pham Van Hue, a farmer with a 2.5-hectare cocoa garden in Ngoc Dinh commune (Dinh Quan district), compared that when he first joined the CDL Project, cocoa was intercropped in cashew gardens, and farmers only expected to earn a profit of 40-60 million VND/hectare/year. Up to now, cocoa prices have increased more than 3 times compared to the period when he first joined the CDL Project. Cocoa productivity is also increasing, farmers can earn a profit of 200-300 million VND/hectare/year.

In 2024, Trong Duc Cocoa Company Limited will produce and supply more than 300,000 cocoa seedlings to the market, an increase of more than 150% compared to 2023. In the coming time, the company will continue to promote investment in the production of high-quality seedlings to meet farmers' needs to expand cocoa acreage.

Mr. Pham Van Cuong, Head of the Ngoc Dinh Cocoa Cooperative, said that cocoa fruit is increasingly valuable, farmers are focusing on investing in care, so the yield of this crop is increasingly high. This year's harvest, cocoa yield increased by 20-30% compared to last year. Depending on the garden, cocoa can reach a yield of 18-25 tons/hectare. Cocoa trees require little investment, usually only needing a few tens of millions of VND for fertilizer and pesticides. Currently, the Ngoc Dinh Cocoa Cooperative has attracted 60 members, developing to 80 hectares of cocoa. This model continues to attract many farmers to invest due to its high economic efficiency.

Cocoa can be harvested all year round, but farmers usually only harvest for 9 months, the remaining 3 months of the rainy season are the time to take care of the trees and nurture the trees. Therefore, this crop has high productivity, growers do not worry about crop failure, loss of income like crops that only harvest once a year. Cocoa is less affected by the weather, so the risk of crop failure is not high. What is special is that cocoa trees are easy to grow, grow strongly, so in difficult times, gardeners do not invest much or when drought occurs, the trees have yellow leaves, wilted leaves, and productivity decreases, but when cared for again, the trees still recover well.

Forming a sustainable chain of links

From a few dozen hectares of cocoa before investing in the CDL Project, Trong Duc Cocoa Company Limited has now developed more than 700 hectares of cocoa in Dong Nai and some neighboring provinces and cities. Notably, the company's cocoa planting, processing and consumption chain is increasingly developing sustainably.

Cocoa processing at Trong Duc Cocoa Company Limited, Dinh Quan district.

Head of Trung Hoa Cocoa Cooperative (Trang Bom district) Pham Thanh Lap shared that by participating in the cocoa growing and consumption chain, farmers are provided with quality seeds by the enterprise, and technical staff come to the garden to guide farmers in caring for and treating pests and diseases on crops, especially purchasing products at good prices so that farmers can feel secure in sticking with this crop.

In addition, cocoa cooperatives and cooperative groups participating in the CDL all organize technical teams to provide pruning, canopy shaping, management and disease treatment services for gardeners. Cocoa gardens usually harvest fruit once a week, so members of the cooperative groups and cooperatives meet regularly, receive market information, share tree care techniques or plant disease situations. Cocoa farmers participating in the CDL Project are also guided to switch to organic farming. In particular, the layer of leaves from the cocoa trees after pruning is used to cover the soil, to decompose naturally as a source of organic fertilizer, and also has the effect of keeping the soil moist. With organic production, the trees grow healthily, so the occurrence of diseases on the plants is limited, and the yield is high.

In addition, cocoa farmers are interested in producing safe products that meet export standards. Since implementing the Cocoa CĐL Project, Trong Duc Cocoa Company Limited has supported farmers in producing cocoa that meets UTZ certification - a sustainable farming program worldwide. To date, the country has nearly 370 hectares of UTZ certified cocoa. Of which, Dong Nai is the leading locality and has the largest UTZ certified cocoa area in the country with more than 200 hectares. This is also the reason why Dong Nai cocoa is highly appreciated by the world market for its quality and flavor.

According to Director of Trong Duc Cocoa Company Dang Tuong Khanh, farmers cannot sell cocoa trees at the market. Therefore, the company invested in the CĐL Project, gathering farmers into cooperatives and groups to implement the production process synchronously. In addition to exporting cocoa beans, the company invested in deep processing and diversified products to increase the efficiency of this crop. Currently, the company has developed 60 deep-processed products, including 2 4-star OCOP (One Commune One Product) products and 1 potential 5-star OCOP product.

Binh Nguyen

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/kinh-te/202504/du-an-canh-dong-lon-ca-cao-thang-lon-b457903/