Vietnam is one of the world’s largest exporters of pepper but the country is struggling hard to change its small-scale methods of pepper production into a professional, large-scale industry to make the most of its full potential.
In early 2009, Vietnamese enterprises exported some 25,000 tonnes of various kinds of pepper, a 65 percent increase from the same period last year, according to the Vietnam Pepper Association (VPA). However, they had to deal with a 31-percent drop in the price of black pepper and white pepper prices fell by 29 percent, pulling the export revenue of pepper down to only US$60 million.
The drop in price has caused Vietnam an annual estimated loss of tens of millions of US dollars showing that the country is still short of strong, well-known brand names.
The Southeast Asian country’s pepper exports make up more than 50 percent of pepper traded throughout the world. However, analysts still regard the pepper sector as lacking sustainability because pepper trees in Vietnam are easily infected with the harmful fungus Phytopthora. Vietnamese businesses also fail to collaborate with pepper planters to create their own brand names, which subsequently leaves Vietnamese pepper susceptible to pressure from fluctuations in world prices.
In general, pepper production remains scattered and on a small scale without proactive and effective strategies to look for new consumer markets. As a result, in 2008, the price of black pepper fell from VND73,500 per kg to 54,500 per kg and then to VND30,000 per kg by the end of the year. In early 2009, prices have hovered around VND30,000 per kg.
Some Vietnamese pepper growers pay little attention to issues such as the variety of seeds and growing techniques, resulting in poor quality and low output.
The six major provinces that produce pepper have developed the sole trademark of Chu Se, as pepper exports with well-known brand names sell for 15-20 percent more.
Farmers in Chu Se district in Gia Lai province has set a good example of producing as many as 10 million tonnes of pepper per ha on average and winning a series of contracts with both domestic and foreign businesses.
Do Ha Nam, Chairman of the VPA, says that strategies need to be devised to make farmers more responsible for their pepper products. The association will make a greater effort to protect the legitimate rights of enterprises and farming households and help them build their own trademarks.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has planned to keep 50,000 ha of land for growing pepper to achieve an output of 100,000 tonnes per year while guiding planters to comply with GAP standards to produce high-quality pepper. The ministry will gradually introduce forms of collective production and disseminate market information to farmers apart from supporting businesses in promoting trade worldwide.
VietNamNet |
