PM: Domestic macadamia sector needs strategy

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at the conference in Dak Lak on September 29. (Photo: VNA)

Dak Lak - Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on September 29 assigned the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to build a development strategy for the macadamia sector, with planning, varieties, markets, and investment capital to all be taken into account.

Very few crops post annual growth of 24 percent like macadamia nuts do, which contributes to poverty reduction in remote areas as well as environmental protection and national security, the PM told a conference in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak.

Therefore, he continued, it is necessary to form a production chain for the nuts.

Domestic macadamia output has increased 24.5-fold over the past three years to reach 6,600 tonnes of raw nuts, he said, and revenue is three-times higher than for coffee. The figures would be even higher with the application of science and technology.

He called for growing areas to be expanded, saying that the northwest and Central Highlands regions could serve as stable production areas.

The PM asked the banking sector, along with businesses and associations, to help farmers with macadamia production, processing, and export.

It was reported at the conference that macadamia is being grown in 23 provinces nationwide, covering more than 16,500 ha, including 15,400 ha in nine provinces which are inside the areas designated for macadamia cultivation in the northwest and Central Highlands which .

Vietnam exports more than 2,400 tonnes of dried macadamia each year to markets such as Japan, China, the Republic of Korea (RoK), Singapore, the US, and France.

According to Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong, the sector has generated jobs and raised the incomes of some 10,000 farming households, giving rural areas a much-needed facelift.

Global macadamia supply and demand are expected to rise 9 percent and 12 percent, respectively, in the time ahead, which is an important foundation for Vietnam to participate more deeply in the field, the PM said.