HCM CITY – Việt Nam’s output and export of pepper increased sharply last year, but their prices and thus turnover from exports fell, according to the industry association.

The Việt Nam Pepper Association (VPA) and industry-related authorities attended a meeting yesterday in HCM City to review last year’s performance.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the General Statistic Office, Việt Nam has around 150,000 hectares under pepper and output last year was 240,000 tonnes, or 48 per cent of global production.

According to the VPA there was a decrease in the use of pesticides last year since farmers are more aware these days of better farming techniques.

Prices have been highly volatile: the price of black pepper for instance declined from VNĐ133,000 per kilogramme in January to VNĐ73,000 in December.

The General Department of Vietnam Customs said 215,000 tonnes of the spice were exported for US$1.1 billion, respectively up 20 per cent and down 22 per cent.

The reasons for the falling prices include climate change, a massive spike in the area under pepper, farmers’ inexperience, which have contributed to rising outputs but with poor quality.

In the first quarter of this year prices were around 30 per cent lower than a year ago, the VPA said.

Việt Nam’s exports this year are expected to be comparable to that of last year since the industry will continue to face all the current challenges such as climate change and diseases.

VPA plans to work more closely with farmers and businesses to help them comply with regulations and standards for pepper production and export and provide market information to help them make informed decisions.

The Western Highlands Agriculture and Forestry Science Institute said they were researching into better pepper strains capable of withstanding diseases.

Willem Scato van Walt Meijer, general director of Nedspice Processing Việt Nam Ltd., which has been operating in Bình Phước Province for the last five years, said quality control for exports and working closely with farmers were the keys to resolving the problems.

“We have a network of 1,600 farmers and trained them very carefully, and … do 100 per cent tracking and tracing of all our farms, which allows us to help certain farmers improve, monitor the effectiveness of each farmer, and reward outstanding farmers.”

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyễn Xuân Cường had said at a meeting in January that the rapid increase in land under pepper should be addressed quickly and the pepper farming land should be reduced. – VNS