Sustainable development of Vietnam’s pepper sector in the context of international integration

On the morning of August 23, in Dak Nong Province, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in collaboration with the People's Committee of Dak Nong Province, the State Bank of Vietnam, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Vietnam Pepper Association organized a Conference on sustainable development for pepper sector to meet requirements of free trade agreements.

The Conference was attended by more than 300 delegates including leaders of ministries, central and local agencies in agriculture, industry and trade sectors of more than 28 pepper growing provinces across the country, experts, scientists and pepper production cooperatives.

In Vietnam, pepper is cultivated in 28 provinces, mainly in the Central Highlands and Southeast region. Since 2010, ​​pepper area has increased rapidly, reaching 152,000 hectares in 2017, an increase of 196%, exceeding the government planning of over 100,000 hectares. This area began to reduce to 149 thousand hectares in 2018 and is expected to be 140,000 hectares this year. This is mainly due to the recent sharp fall in pepper prices, forcing farmers to reduce their investment on their farms including pest and disease management. This, in turn, has led to quality depletion, affecting pepper’s resistance to diseases and unfavorable weather conditions. According to reports of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Binh Phuoc, Dong Nai and Ba Ria Vung Tau provinces, over 22 thousand hectares of ​​pepper died in last year.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the year 2019 is forecasted to be a very difficult year for Vietnam pepper sector with further pepper price drop, slow year-on-year growth. This will be a challenge for Vietnam pepper sector, especially in the context of Vietnam joining free trade agreements.

The Conference focused on evaluating the pepper market trends, and at the same time discussing a number of solutions to improve the added value and competitiveness of Vietnam's pepper sector, such as: review existing pepper varieties, intensify the selection of varieties at F1 nursery farms to ensure good seed sources for production development, continue to invest in the research system to select, create and import pepper varieties to adapt to climate change and disease conditions, develop mechanisms to encourage sustainable pepper development, and develop supply chain to enhance value of production, processing and export.

Mr. Le Quoc Doanh, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that in the context of international integration, to meet the requirements of free trade agreements, Vietnam pepper sector needs to renew the growth model, focusing on quality right from raw material production stage to create high quality products and participate in "difficult" markets.

Representative of Department of Crop Production (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) noted that currently in Vietnam, there are about 30 harmful microorganisms in pepper plants, of which 13 types including the foot rot/quick death caused by fungi, slow death/pepper yellows caused by nematodes, mealybugs, anthracnose ... often threaten to cause great damage to pepper production. “Provinces need to review the whole area of ​​pepper production, the infected area, the areas where pepper plants had died so as to determine specifically the areas suitable for pepper to encourage farmers to maintain their production. In addition, for the ​​severely infected areas or areas where pepper plants had died, provinces need to take stronger action in providing warnings to prevent people from replanting to switch to other crops to reduce disease pressure and ensure regular income ”.

PSAV