The members of The Viet Nam Macadamia Association's (VMA's) executive board at the first congress held in the Central Highland province of Lâm Đồng's Đà Lạt City on April 22. — Photo tintaynguyen.com

Viet Nam News -HÀ NỘI — The Việt Nam Macadamia Association (VMA) held its first congress in the Central Highland province of Lâm Đồng’s Đà Lạt City on Sunday.

The VMA convened the congress to elect a 13-member executive board with Liên Việt Post Bank Chairman Dương Công Minh as Chairman.

The congress agreed on an agenda that focuses on sustainably developing a modern macadamia sector where business gains bring prosperity to farmers.

According to a plan approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the northwest and Central Highlands regions will plant macadamias on 9,940 hectares of land and develop 12 processing units by 2020. By 2030, there will be 34,500 hectares of plantations nationwide, and the number of processing units in the two regions will reach 30.

The VMA was established in February under Decision No124/QĐ-BNV issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

The MHA approved the plan proposed by Lien Viet Post Bank and Him Lam Real Estate Joint Stock Company to establish the association to bolster product quality, trade promotion and branding. It also aims to represent enterprises, organisations and individuals in the macadamia business.

Việt Nam started planting macadamia trees about 10 years ago and is currently growing about 2,000 ha, with an average output of three tonnes per hectare.

Macadamia cultivation is expected to reap considerable benefits for farmers in the Central Highlands region, where conditions are best suited for the plant.

The macadamia nut is dubbed the "Queen of Nuts" for its outstanding nutritional value. Experts point out that compared with other common edible seeds, such as almonds and cashews, macadamias is high in fat and low in protein. It also has the highest amount of mono-unsaturated fats among any known seed.

Because of the great benefits it brings, farmers in the Central Highlands provinces have been aggressively planting macadamias, hoping to earn big profits, which has allowed the plantations to get out of control.

Creating new plantations without a proper roadmap and a secure consumption market can lead to bad economic consequences. Therefore, there should be a master plan for macadamia development, and policymakers as well as the VMA need to develop a detailed strategy for growing the nut, local media reported. — VNS