Coffee farms in the Tây Nguyên (Central Highlands) province of Kon Tum are producing higher yields from new coffee trees and older trees grafter with with young shoots. 

The Tây Nguyên (Central Highlands) region has replaced 118,202ha of old coffee trees by planting new ones or grafting old coffee trees with young sprouts to improve yield since 2014, or 98.5 per cent of the total area to be replanted in 2014-20.

Old coffee trees on a total of 15,000ha will be replaced or grafted this year to improve yields, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s plant cultivation department. 

Public-private partnerships, better use of technology, and improved value-chain linkages are needed to ensure the sustainable development of the coffee industry, experts said at a meeting yesterday in HCM City.

Đắk Lắk, the country’s largest coffee growing province, plans to reduce the area under the crop from 204,800ha now to 180,000ha by 2030, according to the permanent deputy chairman of its People’s Committee, Nguyễn Hải Ninh.

Most Robusta coffee areas replaced in recent years in the Tây Nguyên (Central Highlands) provinces have yielded more than 4 tonnes per ha, up 1.65 times compared to other coffee areas, according to the Western Highlands Agro-Forestry Scientific and Technical Institute.

Đắk Lắk Province, the country largest coffee producer, planned to replace 4,259 ha of old coffee trees with new ones in the rainy season,  but farmers have reached only 50 per cent of the target, mostly due to lower prices for coffee beans, according to Việt Nam News Agency.

The Tây Nguyên (Central Highlands) province of Gia Lai is providing free coffee seedlings and farming techniques for farmers in an effort to replace old, unproductive coffee trees.

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.

Local authorities and farmers who grow coffee under Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practices (VietGap) in Gia Lai Province are seeking a better selling price for their coffee because of its higher quality.