A club for coffee growers to share their cultivation knowledge and
experiences has made its debut in the southern province of Dong Nai.
It has attracted over 100 coffee farmers from the
Central Highlands provinces of Dak Lak, Dac Nong, Lam Dong and Gia Lai,
who will regularly discuss vital issues including agronomic seasonal
concerns, weather forecast, pests, diseases, weed management as well as
market prices and export conditions.
Bayer
CropScience Vietnam will provide training and organise seminars
featuring agronomists and experts on sustainable coffee production,
innovative pesticide solutions to improve yield, quality and profits.
Pham Xuan Quang, a club’s manager, said, “This is a useful forum for better coffee yields.”
The English language daily Viet Nam News quoted Torsten Velden, Bayer
CropScience’s country division as saying that as coffee is second only
to rice in value of agricultural products exported from Vietnam, they
would like to support this further.
“With the
launch of the club, we aim to create a forum where key coffee growers in
Vietnam can reflect and develop their professional aspirations in the
field, and eventually help increase yield, quality, and profit in a
sustainable manner,” he said.
The opening of the
club follows a programme called Bayer Much More Coffee, which was
started in 2013 to improve agronomy methods and make efficient use of
crop protection inputs.
The programme was developed
with the Western Highlands Agriculture and Science Institute and has
been tested and proven with the support of coffee farmers.
Coffee farmers taking part in the programme have seen their profits
increase by at least 25 percent compared to normal practices, the
company said.-VNA