Push for development of macadamia cultivation
Hai urged MARD to coordinate with relevant ministries, agencies and localities to implement the government’s direction on macadamia development.
Macadamia is an edible nut native to Australia and that has found popularity in commercial and agricultural markets.
They have the highest amount of mono-unsaturated fats of any known seed and a number of healthy properties.
The macadamia tree takes about 10 years to begin producing commercial quantities of nuts, but they have a production life of about 100 years. They require fertile, well-drained soil, annual rainfall of 1,000–2,000mm, and temperatures above 10C, with an optimum temperature of 25C.
MARD has been running pilot programmes in ten localities since 2002.
The results show Vietnam has a suitable climate to create a viable macadamia industry, with potential for 400,000 ha in the Central Highlands region and 40,000 ha in the north west.
MARD said its current plan was have 10,000 ha of macadamia by 2020.
