DAK NONG

Compared to other provinces in the Central Highlands, Dak Nong is a relatively late growing coffee province. Farmers started to grow coffee spontaneously from the 1995s to now.

Benefits of coffee trees

Although it started later than other localities, Dak Nong quickly rose to become the third-largest coffee-growing area in the Central Highlands. Currently, 118,800 Ha in Dak Nong is for cultivating coffee trees with an average output of about 220 - 240 thousand tons per year. The export of coffee brings in from 300 - 400 million USD per year for this locality. Not only providing economic benefits, but the coffee production industry also benefits the labor market in Dak Nong by providing jobs for more than 100,000 people.

The difficulties

Coffee acreage in Dak Nong belongs mainly to farmers (about 85%), only 15% of the land belongs to enterprises. In general, each household has about 0.4 to several hectares to farm the coffee. Only about 5% of all coffee households in the province have more than 5 hectares under cultivation.

Some coffee-growing districts in Dak Nong include Dak Song, Dak Mil, Tuy Duc, Dak R’lap, Krong No because of the basaltic red soil. Coffee trees grown in these districts are mainly Robusta coffee. Some farmers and businesses also cultivate Catimor coffee. The productivity of coffee gardens is not high. At least 10-20% of the crops have as 1/5 to 1/3 as the average yield with uneven quality leading to low competitiveness.

Meanwhile, spontaneous coffee planting still occurs. People deforest for cultivated land which leads to environmental pollution and soil erosion affecting the ecological environment and weather of the whole region. In recent years, the lack of water for coffee cultivation is increasing, causing the declining output that makes many farmers face a loss.

Land reclamation is another difficulty for farmers here. About 30% of the coffee cultivated area in the whole province has been used for more than 15 years, reducing nutrients in the soil, and containing potential pathogens - especially root diseases.

Government effort

Local authorities increasingly pay attention to developing this industrial crop with many support policies such as providing disease-resident cultivars, organizing training courses, etc. The development orientation of Dak Nong province is environmentally friendly coffee to increase coffee productivity. At the same time, they want to protect the environment and develop other aspects of life such as economy, culture, tourism, etc. To do this, the local government has implemented land planning, avoiding deforestation. The province also issued instructions to convert unsuitable lands for coffee trees to other suitable crops.

Dak Nong province has collaborated with other organizations to build and develop a model of sustainable coffee production. The prominent is the project "Sustainable agriculture transformation in Vietnam" with 250 billion VND from the World Bank for 2015 - 2020. This fund is mainly for the specialized production of certified coffee (4C, UTZ, etc.) to get rid of low-quality trees and graft new shoots.

The farmers are now following the province's direction to use organic microbiological fertilizers, limiting inorganic products and active substances. More advanced forms of production are applied for Integrated Pest Management (IPM), productivity enhancement, and environmental preservation. Some of the current popular techniques include intensive farming, balanced fertilization, planting shade trees, and windbreak forest belts.