KIEN GIANG — Farmers in the island district of Phu Quoc in southern Kien Giang Province have returned to pepper farming as the price rises and local authorities offer timely support.
Head of the district’s Economic Department Nguyen Minh Truc said that the district now had about 300ha of land devoted to pepper cultivation, each averaging about 3 tonnes per year.
More than 700 local households grew pepper, earning a yearly profit of VND36-48 million (US$1,700-2,330) per ha.
Pepper had been grown in the district for decades with varying success at market, Truc said. He added that the district used to have 800ha of pepper growing in the mid-1990s but then the area was cut down due to falling pepper prices.
Since 2009, prices have gone up again, inspiring farmers to come back and develop their farms. Now, a kilo of black pepper costs VND90,000-110,000 ($4.4-5.3 ) and ripe pepper goes for VND150,000-160,000 ($7.3-7.7 ).
By 2015, the district hopes to expand cultivation to 500ha and raise yearly production to 1,200-1,500 tonnes.
This year, Truc’s office carried out a programme to help local pepper growers apply Global Good Agricultural Practice.
"Global GAP helps improve the productivity and quality of pepper and reduce its production cost," he said.
The district’s pepper is famous for its strong taste thanks to favourable weather and soil conditions as well as superior breeding and cultivation techniques.
"Under the Global GAP, pepper is grown through a clean, safe process without using chemical fertilisers, which means better quality and success at market," Truc said.
"Some companies even offer prices that are 20-30 per cent higher than market prices in cases they drop down."
This success proved the co-operation between growers and producers was a factor in making growers interested in pepper farming, Truc said. However, he said that the farmers in his district still faced difficulties, including water shortages in the dry season and high labour costs.
At present, an automatic drip system was being tested in three pepper gardens, which should save water, labour and petrol to run pumping machines, Truc said.
Lam Tan Thanh, a farmer in Duong Dong Town, said that he used little chemical fertiliser and that some households even used fish remains [left after the process of making fish sauce].
High quality pepper is usually sold to tourists at VND180,00-200,000 ($8.7-9.7) per kilo. Pepper gardens have also become tourist attractions in the island district.
Early this month, the National Office of Intellectual Property of Viet Nam, under the Ministry of Science and Technology, granted a trademark certificate for Phu Quoc pepper.
Vice chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Tran Thanh Nam said that the recognition for the local pepper could help promote its production and its value for tourism.
Phu Quoc, 62 nautical miles away from Rach Gia City, is the largest island in Viet Nam, comprising the island proper and 21 other islets. It is a popular tourist destination and famous for fish sauce in addition to its pepper. — VNS
Deprecated: strpos(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($haystack) of type string is deprecated in /home/agriviek8Qv/agriviet.net/public_html/wp-includes/comment-template.php on line 2522