Lack of raw material to prevent export of cashew nut

Over the past decade, Vietnam has had the productivity and output of top cashew nuts in the world and continuously kept the top for exporting cashew nuts, the industry is expected to face many challenges if this sector does not quickly change

increasing the productivity and improving the quality of cashew nuts are important solutions for the sustainable development of the industry. Picture: ST.

World supply slowed down

After 28 years of export (1988-2016), Vietnam cashew industry has grown steadily, occupying the world market. Since 2006, Vietnam has become the largest exporter of cashew nuts in the world. Not only that, in the field of the processing industry, Vietnam also ranked second and in productivity, output occupies the third place in the world. In 2016, Vietnam exported 347,000 tons of cashew nut, valued at 2.84 billion USD, processing over 50% of cashew production of the world. For the first 9 months of 2017, exports continued to show positive signs when the total export turnover reached 257 thousand tons and 2.55 billion USD, down 0.2% in volume but up 25% in value compared to the same period in 2016. Notably, the average export price of cashew nuts in the first eight months of 2017 reached over $ 9,800 / ton, up 26.5% over the same period last year.

Although the export value of cashew nuts has grown satisfactorily, according to Le Van Lien, an expert on market analysis, the disadvantages are that Vietnam only participates in the processing stage, equivalent to 18% of the chain of cashew nuts. The biggest profit is still in the process of processing roasted salt and distribution with a total value of nearly 60%. Cashew sector in Vietnam is facing many challenges when participating in major markets such as USA, Europe, Japan ...

Relating to the challenges of participating in large markets, in-depth analysis of causes, according to Department of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries and Salt Processing (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development): There are 345 companies exporting cashew nuts in the country. Small enterprises with a turnover of less than 5 million USD / year accounted for 73%. This is the factor leading to the unfair competition between the companies, resulting in uneven quality, causing damage to the whole industry, in the long run, unfavorable to the Vietnamese cashew industry.

In addition to the unhealthy competition among enterprises, which directly affects the quality of cashew nut export, the great weakness of the cashew industry that has existed for many years is the lack of raw materials. At present, domestic production only meets 20-25% of raw materials. Over the past time, Vietnam has to push up the import of raw cashew nuts from Cambodia, India, West Africa, Ivory Coast ... In 2016, the total amount of imported crude cashew nuts is 1.1 tons and in the first nine months of this year, This was up 1.13 million tons and $ 2.22 billion, an increase of 42.5% in volume and up to 83.6% in value over the same period of 2016. "under prediction, the supply of the world will not increase”. This is a great challenge for the processing and export of Vietnam both in terms of raw material price and import volume in the coming time, "he said.

Area, productivity goes down

While the global supply of raw cashew nuts has not increased, the area and productivity of cashew in the country tend to decrease, so the problem about the raw materials for processing, exporting things becomes harder to solve.

The statistics of the Department of Crop Production (MARD) show that: The area of cashew nut in 2005 is over 433 thousand hectares, by 2012 it is nearly 326 thousand hectares and now there are only over 301 thousand hectares. The new planting area also tends to decrease. Specifically, in 2006 planted 25.5 thousand hectares, in 2008 to 11.5 thousand hectares, while in 2016, the new plantation area is only about 5.6 thousand hectares. In addition, the area of old conditions for re-cultivation is large, the cashew area in the planning area, aging, breeding, poor growth, low productivity accounts for about 80 thousand ha in the South East and Central Highlands.

In terms of productivity, the productivity of the raw cashew nut fluctuates continuously, depending on weather conditions and climate. In the period 2008-2013, Vietnam cashew nut production remained low under 1 ton/hectare. Since 2014, when cashew trees have been closely monitored and intensively directed, of which intensive cultivation has yielded more than 12 quintals per hectare. However, the drought of 2016 and the outbreak of 2017 have reduced yields to just 755 kg per hectare.

Mr. Nguyen Hong Son, Director of the Cultivation Department said: One of the most insurmountable constraints of the Vietnamese cashew industry is the unsuitable seedling structure. "Breeding selection has not been properly considered. From 1999 to date, only 13 varieties have been created and approved for trial production, there is no officially recognized seed for production. In addition, cashew growers do not attach importance of advanced irrigation methods and do not apply intercropping to increase the efficiency of cashew production, "Son said.

the raw material of the world slows down while the source of raw materials in the country is also tight, how do the processing industry and export processing develop sustainably? According to this question, Lien said that it is difficult for the world's supply of cashew to grow, but it is also an opportunity for Vietnam to build high-yielding and stable cashew inputs. Actively regulating prices, reducing dependence on imported raw materials. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to apply synchronous technology in cashew cultivation to increase productivity to 30-40% compared to current is a breakthrough solution. When there is a good source of seed, cashew yield can be up to 2.5-3 tons/ha.

In relation to this issue, Mr. Nguyen Hong Son added: The solution that the sector of cultivation oriented to gradually develop the cashew industry is to promote re-cultivation, in parallel with improving the quality of cashew, renovating orchards, rejuvenating orchards, improving productivity, quality as well as economic efficiency. "In addition, cooperative production in the cashew industry is very urgent. Local authorities and branches must promote the formation of cashew producers. Vietnam Cashew Association, the Association of provinces to mobilize member companies to promote links, construction of raw materials, large fields. In addition, the Vietnam Cashew Association instructed the farmers to help farmers improve technical capacity, stabilize the purchase price ... to farmers peace of mind to invest in production, "Son stressed.