An organic cashew farm in Bình Phước Province. – VNA/VNS Photo Sỹ Tuyên

BÌNH PHƯỚC – Bình Phước Province should focus on restructuring its agriculture, especially its major crops and livestock species, to make it sustainable, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyễn Xuân Cường has said.

The south-eastern province has large tracts of farmlands and grows some of the country’s major crops like cashew, rubber and pepper.

The country’s largest cashew producer has more than 139,000ha under the crop and an annual output of 96,000 tonnes, or more than 50 per cent of the country’s area and 54 per cent of output.

The province’s cashew is renowned for its quality and taste and is in high demanded both domestically and overseas.

The province also has 246,659ha under rubber trees, 15,900ha under pepper and more than 12,300ha under various fruits.

But cultivation of cashew and some other major crops have faced difficulties in recent years because trees are old and have lower yields, according to local authorities.

The province faces a shortage of agricultural labour.

Speaking at a meeting with the province’s leaders on Wednesday (March 17), Cường said they should draft a detailed plan for developing cashew into a key crop.

If the province zones and develops cashew well, it could earn billions of dollars a year, he pointed out.

Nguyễn Văn Lợi, secretary of the province Party Committee, said the average cashew yield was only around one tonne per hectare though some farmers manage three to four times that, and co-ordinated efforts are needed to increase the yield to two tonnes.

Plants on more than 25,000ha are more than 20 years old and have low yields, and need to be replanted, he said.

“But there is a shortage of resources to replant, and the province wants the ministry to fund the replanting.”

The province also sought the ministry’s support for developing brand names for its cashew products and improve value and zoning disease – free areas for farming pigs and chicken.

Cường promised support for Bình Phước to choose the five best cashew varieties to replace those with low yields.

To develop its agriculture sector sustainably and increase value, the province should focus on seedlings and farming processes, setting up organic fertiliser factories, he said.

The province should have policies for developing agriculture sustainably and attract investors in agriculture, he said.

It should develop animal husbandry further to fulfil its potential since it has only 52,000 cows and buffaloes despite some big advantages, he added.  VNS