Hanoi (VNA) – The Ministry of Industry and Trade expects pepper to remaina key foreign currency earner for Vietnam this year, with targeted exportturnover of 1.6 billion USD despite a fall in output in some farming areas.

With an expected year-on-year export growth of13 percent, pepper is hoped to be among the 13 commodities earning shipmentrevenue of more than 1.5 billion USD in 2017.

In 2016, Vietnam shipped abroad 177,000 tonnesof pepper worth 1.42 billion USD, rising by 34.3 percent in volume and 12.9percent in value.

The markets with the strongest surges in pepperimports from the country were Pakistan (up 3.14 times), the Philippines (3times), the US (31.3 percent), Egypt (23.2 percent), Spain (14 percent), andIndia (12 percent).

In January 2017, about 8,000 tonnes of pepperwere exported, raking in 56 million USD, down 18 percent in volume and 37percent in value.

Many insiders attributed the fall to the LunarNew Year holiday, which made importers step up purchases at the end of 2016 andeased activities in January.

They believe that as a leading exporter withsome of the best pepper in the world, Vietnam will enjoy faster export growthin 2017.

The Vietnam Pepper Association (VPA) predictedthe country’s pepper output will hike at least 15 percent in the 2016-2017 cropalthough the yield in some localities could decline due to diseases and lastyear’s drought.

A survey conducted by the VPA shows that the productionof old pepper farms (more than 10 years old) in the districts of Bu Dop (BinhPhuoc province), Dak R’lap (Dak Nong district), Cu Kuin and Ea H’leo (Dak Lak),and Dak Doa and Chu Puh (Gia Lai province) may drop about 30 percent from the2015-2016 crop. Chu Se (Gia Lai) and Ea Ktur (Dak Lak), which are long-standingpepper growers, may record a tumble of 60-70 percent.

However, cultivation areas are expanding,increasing by 15-20 percent in 2016 from the previous year, due to higherpepper prices. The area of pepper farmed since 2010, with relatively highproductivity – 5 tonnes per hectare on average, accounts for 10-20 percent ofthe area to be harvested between this February and April.

The output of the 2016-2017 crop is likely togrow 15-20 percent from the 2015-2016 crop, bringing this year’s pepperproduction to about 180,000 tonnes, the VPA noted.-VNA