HCM CITY — The Tây Nguyên (Central Highlands) region is replacing more than 18,460 hectares of old coffee trees as part of its plan to replace 120,000ha of old trees with new varieties or grafted trees in the 2014-2020 period.

As of the end of last year, the region, which includes Đắk Lắk, Lâm Đồng, Đắk Nông, Gia Lai and Kon Tum provinces, had replaced a total of 98,210ha of old coffee trees, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Plant Cultivation Department.

The new varieties, which are resistant to disease and have high quality, have an average yield of 4.2 – 7 tonnes per crop per ha.

The region’s coffee nurseries are also supplying quality coffee seedlings to farmers and companies, while the Việt Nam Coffee and Cocoa Association has given hybrid coffee seeds and coffee tree seedlings to farmers in the provinces.  

Since 2012, in Đắk Lắk Province, the country’s largest coffee area, the association has provided 8,000 kilos of TRS1 variety coffee seeds and more than 110,400 Robusta seedlings to local farmers.

The Western Highlands Agriculture and Forestry Science Institute and government agencies in the region have provided training in farming techniques.

The region has more than 582,140ha of coffee, up more than 53,000ha compared to its plan to 2020.

In recent years, the provinces have reduced the number of unzoned coffee planting areas.

Đắk Lắk’s coffee planting area covers 201,150ha, compared to 204,500ha two years ago.

Đăk Nông and Lâm Đồng provinces have also turned thousands of hectares of ineffective coffee trees into other higher value crops.

Đắk Lắk, Lâm Đồng, Đắk Nông and Gia Lai provinces are the country’s major coffee planting areas. — VNS