About 1,500 coffee farmers in Vietnam's Central Highlands province ofLam Dong are set to receive free training in agricultural techniques tohelp boost their crop yields and quality of coffee beans.

Thetraining is part of the Coffee Made Happy project, a programme onboosting sustainability of farming run by Mondelez International, whichcommitted to invest at least 200 million USD to empower one millioncoffee farming entrepreneurs in coffee-growing countries includingPeru , Vietnam , Brazil and Indonesia by 2020.

About 100,000 Vietnamese coffee farmers are expected to benefit from theprogramme during the next two years, according to the global coffeecompany.

Mondelez International's Global Coffee PresidentHubert Weber said the programme focused on helping farmers to becomemore successful entrepreneurs by working with partners to improve theircoffee production and business skills.

Deputy Director of CropProduction Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment Pham Dong Quang said that although coffee is a key crop forVietnam , the sector is facing major challenges including poor linksbetween farmers and enterprises, large aging coffee areas and limitedfarming techniques that reduce the quality of beans.

Lastmonth, the Prime Minister approved a national plan on restructuringagriculture including coffee farming, he said, adding that the countrywould maintain its Robusta coffee growing area and expand the Arabicacoffee area, while re-cultivating 150,000ha of aging coffee trees andboosting application of Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) and linksamong growers and enterprises.

Last year, Vietnam had about622,000ha of coffee, producing 1.3 million tonnes, making the countryone of the world's top coffee exporters. There are 500,000 householdsgrowing coffee, mostly in the Central Highlands of Tay Nguyen.-VNA