(HSV VIETNAM GROUP) – With the goal of bringing the value of the local cashew industry to 69 trillion VND, Binh Phuoc is implementing many synchronous solutions to attract investment in cashew processing.
There is a shortage of cashew raw materials right in the cashew capital
For many years, Binh Phuoc cashew nuts have always been highly appreciated by domestic and foreign consumers for their quality and nutritional value, so cashew trees have become the number 1 local industrial crop.
Currently, Binh Phuoc is considered the cashew "capital" with an area of more than 152,000 hectares, accounting for nearly 50% of the total cashew growing area of the country. Binh Phuoc cashew trees are grown mainly in Bu Dang, Bu Gia Map, Phu Rieng and Dong Phu districts.
In 2018, the National Office of Intellectual Property issued a geographical indication registration certificate for Binh Phuoc cashew products. Binh Phuoc Provincial People's Committee is the organization managing this geographical indication.
Due to its large cashew area and output and high quality cashew nuts, Binh Phuoc is the locality with the highest concentration of cashew factories and processing facilities. Information from the People's Committee of Binh Phuoc province shows that, by 2022, this province will have about 500 businesses operating in the field of processing, importing and exporting cashew products, accounting for 70% of businesses and 50-80% of the country's cashew processing capacity.
In recent years, investment capital in cashew processing in Binh Phuoc has been increasing, helping to improve the level of processing technology, automation and mechanization at cashew processing facilities. Thereby, improving the kernel recovery rate as well as investment efficiency, leading to increasing processing output, export turnover and the appearance of more and more new products with high added value.
It can be said that, with production capacity and technological level, Binh Phuoc cashew processing industry has handled well the output for raw cashew nuts of the province. Some deeply processed cashew products with high added value have been sold in the best segments of the cashew value chain and are starting to have brands in the market at both national and international levels.
The above factors have created strengths for Binh Phuoc cashew industry, making cashew nuts become the main export product of Binh Phuoc province with high export value. According to Ms. Tran Tue Hien, Chairman of Binh Phuoc Provincial People's Committee, Binh Phuoc cashew export turnover currently reaches more than 1 billion USD/year. With such export value, each year, the cashew processing industry contributes 30-45% of the province's total export turnover.
However, Binh Phuoc enterprises have invested heavily in cashew processing technology over the years (mechanization, automation...), which has led to the total cashew processing capacity in the province far exceeding the raw cashew production capacity. According to estimates by Binh Phuoc cashew businesses, the current raw cashew output only meets about 30% of processing needs, the remaining 70% must be imported from Africa, Cambodia, Indonesia...
Farmers are still struggling with cashew trees
While Binh Phuoc cashew processing enterprises are increasingly dependent on imported raw cashew resources, the province's cashew raw material area is tending to shrink.
The reason is that cashew farmers still struggle with this crop due to low and unstable productivity, so the economic efficiency is not high. Therefore, many cashew growing households in Binh Phuoc are gradually switching to other crops.
With a cashew garden area of up to 35 hectares, Mr. Pham Dai So, in the border commune of Bu Gia Map (Bu Gia Map district) is one of the farmers who still retains a large cashew area in the locality. Mr. So said that in previous years, despite being affected by the weather, the yield still reached more than 1 ton/ha. This year is the year most affected, with cashew yield reaching less than 400kg/ha. Meanwhile, the purchasing price of fresh cashew nuts is 1,000-2,000 VND/kg lower than the same period, leading to revenue not covering expenses. He also plans to convert part of the area to rubber growing for economic development.
"The price of cashew nuts in recent years has fluctuated around 20-25 thousand VND/kg, while prices are increasingly escalating. If taken care of well, the cashew yield is about 1.2-2.5 tons/ha, on average each hectare of cashew nuts gives an income of about 40-50 million VND/ha. Compared to other crops, this is a fairly modest income level, with a large area like my family it is still okay, families with an area of less than 3 hectares are like growing for food. happy," Mr. Pham Dai So shared.
According to the Binh Phuoc Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Binh Phuoc is the cashew kernel processing center of Vietnam and Vietnam is the world's cashew kernel processing center, but there is no sustainable cashew raw material area, when the cashew growing areas in Binh Phuoc in particular and the whole country in general are increasingly shrinking and the output is not much. This is the key reason why factories have to compete to buy raw cashew nuts from Africa.
"Most cashew processing facilities in the area have not focused on investing in developing raw material areas; have not supported or signed purchasing contracts with cashew growers, so the source of raw materials is not stable, there is a shortage of domestic raw materials for processing. In addition, the connection between businesses and farmers in the production - processing - business chain is not tight. Many cashew processing facilities are on a very small scale, with limited financial potential," said Mr. Tran Van Phuong - Deputy Director of Binh Duong Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Phuoc commented.
Attract investment in cashew processing
Determining that cashew will still be a key industrial crop and a key export product for many years to come when world consumption demand is huge, Binh Phuoc province is setting many ambitious goals for its cashew industry. Specifically, by 2025, the production value of cashew nuts of all kinds and cashew shell oil will reach more than 43 trillion VND, of which the proportion of deeply processed cashew nuts will reach 15% or more. By 2030, the production value of cashew nuts of all kinds and cashew shell oil will reach 69 trillion VND, the proportion of deeply processed cashew nuts will reach 25% or more.
To achieve the above goals, Binh Phuoc plans a cashew raw material area of 140 thousand hectares, focusing on the districts of Bu Gia Map, Phu Rieng, Bu Dang and Dong Phu.
In addition, Binh Phuoc implements solutions to improve the economic efficiency of cashew trees so that farmers can feel secure in sticking with this crop and creating a stable and sustainable source of raw materials for cashew processing factories. The leading solution is to improve cashew growing productivity in the province in the direction of linking planning of specialized cashew growing areas and research into breeding cashew varieties with high productivity and quality, suitable for the natural conditions of the province. In particular, we focus on technical measures to bring cashew productivity to 2.5 tons/ha or more.
At the same time, Binh Phuoc's cashew industry is oriented to quickly shift to organic agricultural production (at least applying 5–10% of the raw material area).
Ha Diem HSV