Central highland farmer peppered with success

21/05/2008 -- 9:06 PM

Gia Lai (VNA) - A farmer in Central Highlands Gia Lai province’s Chu Se district has enjoyed a bumper pepper crop, harvesting an average 15 tonnes per ha, the highest ever yield in Vietnam and even the world. The figure is much higher than the district’s average of 4-5 tonnes per ha and the world level of 0.8-1.2 tonnes per ha, according to the Vietnam Pepper Association. Farmer Nguyen Van Queo explained the pepper variety was from Phu Quoc and his technique included ensuring the distances between pepper trees was long enough so that the crops gained the most sunshine and avoided pestilent insects. The farmer revealed that he used organic fertilizers instead of chemical ones, and in particular, he did not spray pesticides directly onto pepper leaves. These pepper cultivation techniques can enable growers are able to cut down production costs by 30-35 million VND per ha each year, he said. Queo began growing pepper trees in 2007 and now has nine hectares of the crop, which is the largest acreage in Chu Se district, the Vietnam’s main pepper granary. In addition, Queo has successfully produced a distinctive tasting red pepper, that was recognized as high-quality farm produce by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The farmer says he struggles to keep up with demand for the red pepper, which brings in an income 3-4 times higher than that of the black one. Last year, the central highlander harvested more than 20 tonnes of produce from just 1.5 ha of pepper trees, earning 1.5 billion VND. He estimated that the 3.5-ha pepper garden is likely to fetch around 5 billion VND this year thanks to increasing world prices. Local authorities recently permitted Queo to build a 30 ha hygienic pepper production centre which will serve as a venue for him to transfer techniques to other farmers. Vietnam is the world’s largest pepper exporter, with an annual output of 100,000 tonnes, accounting for 50 percent of the global market share. In the first quarter of this year, the country shipped abroad 16,000 tonnes of the product, posting a turnover of 55 million USD. The pepper sector gained a record export value of 268 million USD in 2007, a year-on-year increase of 29 percent despite a 42 percent fall in volume. The Vietnam Pepper Association reported that the world pepper price continues to rise as processors keep buying in raw material.-Enditem
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