Coffee belt may expand despite ministry disapproval

Though the government has taken a stand against expanding coffee farms in the Central Highlands, many coffee planters in the region are ready to plant more following bean price hikes this year.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development issued a directive late last month asking provincial authorities not to allow the expansion of coffee farms until 2010 to ensure higher quality and bigger yields.

But deputy head of the Dak Lak Province Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Van Sinh said farmers in the Central Highlands, where 80% of Viet Nam’s coffee output is produced, may be expanding their coffee farms by as much as 30,000 hectares for the upcoming rainy season.

Sinh said that farmers had bought 10 tons of coffee seeds and seedlings from the Central Highlands Agriculture and Forestry Science and Technology Institution in the first quarter of this year.

He said the purchases were enough to expand the current coffee crop area by some 10,000 hectares.

Other private coffee seed suppliers could have supplied farmers some 20 tons of additional seeds, he said.

Krong Pak District’s resident Tran Tan said he had bought two hectares of land in a neighboring district to grow coffee.

He said he would grow the crops when the region’s heaviest rains hit in June.

Sinh said it was extremely difficult to prevent farmers such as Tan from growing more coffee as there was no enforcement mechanism.

“It is impossible to force them not to grow one crop and instead grow another,” said Sinh.

Buddhist followers cheer the opening of Vesak 2008. (Thanh Nien)