Pepper growers in the Central Highlands province of Vietnam are earning considerable profits from sharply rising pepper prices.
Coffee farmers in the central region of Vietnam.
Wum from Nam Yang Commune in Gia Lai Province’s Dak Doa District said her family has harvested pepper since January and the work would finish in early April.
“Thanks to the higher pepper prices, we have reaped profits which can help us to build a new house,” according to Wum.
Nam Yang Agricultural and Services Cooperative in Nam Yang Commune is home to 80,000 hectares of pepper.
Nguyen Thi Nga, deputy director of the cooperative, said that the cooperative’s pepper products were sold for VND3,000 more than the market price, and 15 hectares of certified organic pepper fields were sold at 25 percent higher than the market price.
With a total of 8,800 hectares of pepper, Gia Lai’s total pepper output is expected to reach 30,000 tonnes this harvest.
Nguyen Vu Hoang Yen, chairman of Nam Yang Commune, said that farmers have been advised not to massively expand pepper growing to avoid oversupply. Instead, they should focus on developing the sustainable organic model to improve pepper quality and productivity.
