Vietnam, Cambodia to develop cashew farming area

Cashew processing in the Nhat Huy JSC in Binh Duong, Vietnam. (Photo: VNA)

HCM City (VNA) – The Vietnam Cashew Association (VINACAS) is working with the Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to establish a cashew farming area in Cambodia that is able to produce 1 million tonnes of material cashew annually.

VINACAS President Nguyen Duc Thanh unveiled the information at the association’s seminar in HCM City on December 7 to seek ways to support foreign trade of cashew between 2018 and 2019.

Addressing the event, Thanh said Vietnam has remained the world’s largest exporter of cashew and seen a robust growth of the cashew processing industry in recent years. 

However, the domestic supplies of cashew nuts have only satisfied about 20-35 percent of the firms’ demand for materials while imports of cashew face risks from quality control and payment, he noted.

Cambodia is able to produce high-quality cashew nuts thanks to good varieties and favourable weather conditions, Thanh stated, adding that the Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and some local growers are proposing to cooperate with the VINACAS to build a “one-million-tonne” cashew growing plantation on an area of 500,000 hectares in Cambodia in the future.

VINACAS guaranteed to purchase all the amount of cashew nuts to be harvested on the area and will closely coordinate with Cambodia to translate the plan into reality, he vowed.

Director-General of the Cambodian General Department of Agriculture Hean Vanhorn said Cambodia looks forward to Vietnam’s support in cultivating and harvesting techniques and quarantine technologies to ensure the cashew productivity and quality.

VINACAS decided to provide Cambodia with 1.5 billion VND in financial support for the development of the plan from 2018-2022.

Cambodia is currently Vietnam’s fifth biggest supplier of raw cashew and if the plan works out well, it will become the world’s largest raw cashew producer in the future