A replanted coffee orchard in Kon Tum province’s Kon Tum city (Photo: baokontum.com.vn)
Kon Tum (VNS/VNA) - Coffee farms in the Tay Nguyen(Central Highlands) province of Kon Tum are producing higher yields fromnew coffee trees and older trees grafter with with young shoots.
Coffee is a key crop in Kon Tum and other provincesin Tay Nguyen region, the country's largest coffee producer.
Kon Tum has been replacing old coffee trees since 2014and has employed advanced techniques. It has alsohelped farmers buy coffee seedlings, fertiliser and pesticide.
Nguyen Thanh Chung, who has a 0.5ha coffee orchard in Dak Ha district’sDak Ha township, replanted his 30 year – old coffee trees in 2016.
His new trees have a yield of about 20 tonnes of freshbeans per hectare compared to a yield of 11 tonnes of the old coffee trees.
“The replanting has offered better efficiency,” he said.
The province has replanted more than 1,208ha of old coffeesince 2014, according to its Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The province has 2,180ha of old coffee trees, including1,430ha of robusta coffee and 750ha of arabica coffee, which need to bereplaced to improve yield.
Farmers have replanted old coffee trees with new coffeevarieties with high yields, good quality, and disease resistance. The TR4variety, for instance, is harvested in the dry season, providing easyconditions for farmers to process.
The province’s coffee areas increased from16,600ha in 2016 to 21,470ha last year, according to the department.
However, irrigation projects provide water for only onepart, leaving many coffee areas facing the threat of drought in the dryseason.
Many farmers in recent years havebeen using drip or spray irrigation systems to save water.
Under the Vietnam Sustainable Agriculture TransformationProject in Kon Tum (VnSAT Kon Tum), many farmers have been provided 50 percentof the investment costs to buy efficient irrigation systems.
Nguyen Xuan Hai, one of the farmers in Dak Ha district’s Ha Moncommune benefiting from VnSAT Kon Tum, bought a spray irrigation systemwhich uses Israeli irrigation technology.
The system, which cost 90 million VND (3,900 USD),can both irrigate and fertilise coffee trees at the same time as thefertiliser is mixed with the water.
Previously, he spent about eight hours irrigating coffeetrees each time, but now spends only 40 minutes.
Kon Tum is facing drought, but his coffee orchardhas developed well because it has sufficient irrigation water.
“The use of the system has improved the qualityof coffee as irrigation water and fertiliser are sprayed equally onthe coffee trees,” he said.
The Israeli irrigation technology helps farmerssave water and reduces fertiliser and labour costs, according to the VnSATKon Tum’s Management Board.
Farmers save 30 – 40 percent of irrigation watercompared to traditional irrigation methods, while coffee yield is improvedby 15 – 20 percent./.
Coffee is a key crop in Kon Tum and other provincesin Tay Nguyen region, the country's largest coffee producer.
Kon Tum has been replacing old coffee trees since 2014and has employed advanced techniques. It has alsohelped farmers buy coffee seedlings, fertiliser and pesticide.
Nguyen Thanh Chung, who has a 0.5ha coffee orchard in Dak Ha district’sDak Ha township, replanted his 30 year – old coffee trees in 2016.
His new trees have a yield of about 20 tonnes of freshbeans per hectare compared to a yield of 11 tonnes of the old coffee trees.
“The replanting has offered better efficiency,” he said.
The province has replanted more than 1,208ha of old coffeesince 2014, according to its Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The province has 2,180ha of old coffee trees, including1,430ha of robusta coffee and 750ha of arabica coffee, which need to bereplaced to improve yield.
Farmers have replanted old coffee trees with new coffeevarieties with high yields, good quality, and disease resistance. The TR4variety, for instance, is harvested in the dry season, providing easyconditions for farmers to process.
The province’s coffee areas increased from16,600ha in 2016 to 21,470ha last year, according to the department.
However, irrigation projects provide water for only onepart, leaving many coffee areas facing the threat of drought in the dryseason.
Many farmers in recent years havebeen using drip or spray irrigation systems to save water.
Under the Vietnam Sustainable Agriculture TransformationProject in Kon Tum (VnSAT Kon Tum), many farmers have been provided 50 percentof the investment costs to buy efficient irrigation systems.
Nguyen Xuan Hai, one of the farmers in Dak Ha district’s Ha Moncommune benefiting from VnSAT Kon Tum, bought a spray irrigation systemwhich uses Israeli irrigation technology.
The system, which cost 90 million VND (3,900 USD),can both irrigate and fertilise coffee trees at the same time as thefertiliser is mixed with the water.
Previously, he spent about eight hours irrigating coffeetrees each time, but now spends only 40 minutes.
Kon Tum is facing drought, but his coffee orchardhas developed well because it has sufficient irrigation water.
“The use of the system has improved the qualityof coffee as irrigation water and fertiliser are sprayed equally onthe coffee trees,” he said.
The Israeli irrigation technology helps farmerssave water and reduces fertiliser and labour costs, according to the VnSATKon Tum’s Management Board.
Farmers save 30 – 40 percent of irrigation watercompared to traditional irrigation methods, while coffee yield is improvedby 15 – 20 percent./.
VNA
