R’kiri neighbours expand macadamia cultivation
RATANAKKIRI province’s two eastern neighbours, Gia Lai and Kon Tum in Vietnam’s Central Highlands region, have unveiled plans to expand macadamia cultivation.
Gia Lai will grow the nut in coffee plantations and forests, its Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said.
The province has more than 10,000ha of forest lands without forest trees, and macadamia trees could be planted there, it said.
Intercropping of macadamia trees in coffee farms would be increased as the former can provide shade and shield coffee shrubs from winds besides p r ov i d i n g a n a d d i t i o n a l income equivalent to the income from coffee, it said.
The province has nearly 100,000ha of coffee plantations where the macadamia could be intercropped, it added.
It shares a 19km frontier with Andong Meas district’s eastern Nhang commune and O’Yadav district’s Sesan, Pak Nhai, Yatung and Pate communes in Cambodia’s Ratanakkiri.
The department’s deputy director Vu Ngoc An said macadamia trees have been planted in the province since 2010 mostly together with coffee.
Farmers normally intercrop 100-150 macadamia trees per hectare of coffee field, he said.
The province has around 600ha under macadamia, including 580ha in northeastern Kbang district.
Kbang Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development head Ma Van Tinh said farmers’ harvest of one to 1.5 tonnes of nuts per hectare in case of monoculture and 500kg if intercropped.
They earn 50-150 million dong ($2,150-6,450) per hectare per year, he said.
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In recent years the decline in the prices of coffee, pepper and cashew, major crops in Gia Lai and Kon Tum, has caused many farmers to intercrop macadamia with coffee and pepper or switch completely to the nut to improve their livelihoods.
Macadamia offers higher incomes than coffee while the production cost is lower, farmers have said.
Pham Van Vu planted 300 macadamia trees in his 2ha coffee farm in Hai Yang commune, Dak Doa district, Gia Lai in 2013, and they began to yield nuts three years later. “The harvest has been increasing steadily since 2017.”
He harvested one tonne last year and earned more than 100 million dong from it, he said.
He hopes to harvest 1.5 tonnes of nuts this year and earn 160 million dong.
Traders rate the quality of macadamia in Hai Yang higher than in other places, and so farmers there do not need to worry about being able to sell their produce, he added.
Dak Doa district Agriculture Service Centre director Diep Dai Quoc said his centre plans to provide farmers with macadamia seedlings for intercropping on 5ha.
At 85km from Cambodia, Hai Yang would zone growing areas to develop macadamia into a specifically identified local product, he said.
The commune has 20ha under the nut, most of them interplanted in old coffee orchards.
It has an establishment that buys raw nuts and produces macadamia essential oil and other products, which are sold to major cities like Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Danang.
Meanwhile, Kon Tum province, north of Gia Lai, plans to cultivate macadamia trees on 1000ha by 2025, its Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said.
It said the province is an ideal location for tropical trees that require high humidity.
It shares a 140km frontier with Taveng district’s eastern Taveng Loeu commune and Andong Meas district’s Nhang commune in Ratanakkiri.
Provincial Sub-department of Plant Protection director Doan Nang Ruong said for sustainable development, the Vietnam Macadamia Association ( VMA) should provide quality seedlings to farmers, and province authorities should link enterprises across the country with local farmers to ensure demand for the nuts.
The department’s deputy director Tran Van Chuong too said the province needs the support of the association to source quality seedlings.
There are many sources of macadamia seeds in the market, but they offer low yields, are plagued by pests and result in low value, dissuading farmers from growing the trees, he said.
The provincial People’s Committee should offer incentives to attract investment in macadamia processing, and the association should help identify businesses that buy macadamia and make highly processed products, he added.
VMA d e put y c ha i r man Nguyen Lan Hung said Kon Tum has a lot of lands suitable for growing the nut, and intercropping of macadamia with coffee should be increased since the former would also shield the coffee shrubs from the sun and winds.
Tran Trung Anh, a farmer in
Macadamia offers higher incomes than coffee while the production cost is lower
the province, said that, similar to Gia Lai, one to 1.5 tonnes of nuts could be harvested per hectare in case of monoculture and 500kg if intercropped.
It also nets farmers 50 to 150 million dong per hectare per year, he said, with raw nuts bought for 80,000-120,000 dong per kilogramme as in its southern provincial neighbour.
Kon Tum and Gia Lai have suitable climate and soil for macadamia plantation and convenient transport to places like Ho Chi Minh City and neighbouring provinces.
But having a source for seedlings is an important factor.
The association already has nurseries in the Central Highlands region that provide quality seeds to farmers.
Macadamia trees have been planted in Kon Tum since 2013, mostly together with coffee. It has around 350ha under the nut now, whose output is estimated at 30 tonnes a year.
With its neighbours pushing for ramped-up macadamia production, will Ratanakkiri follow suit, given its similar climate and soil conditions?