Vietnam: Cotton plans could be nipped in the bud

The Government has drafted a plan to increase the area under cotton to 76,000 hectares and output of the crop to 60,000 tonnes in a decade, but there are many hurdles to achieving these targets, a former cotton industry executive has warned.

Nguyen Huu Binh, ex-general director of the Viet Nam Cotton Joint-Stock Company said, it was difficult to encourage farmers to grow more cotton since it had not been a profitable job in recent years.

"Besides there is not much land available for growing cotton, even in areas zoned for the purpose," he said.

Of the 76,000ha the Government hopes to farm cotton on, the Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) provinces will account for more than 32,000ha and the rest of the central region for 39,000ha.

If the plan succeeds, the area under cotton will increase from around 8,000ha now to 30,000 ha in 2015 before going up to 76,000ha in 2020.
By then output will go up from about 1,500 tonnes last year to 20,000 tonnes.

The plan also calls for focusing on intensive farming to raise output and quality, and developing large cotton plantations in many provinces.

The plan, estimated to require an investment of VNÐ9 trillion ($474 million), was adopted following a worrying drop in the area under the cash crop.

Meanwhile demand for cotton has been increasing relentlessly. This year the textile industry needs around 350,000 tonnes but domestic output only meets about 2 per cent of this, with the rest being imported.

Many cotton farmers have switched to other crops in the last few years due to low yields and prices.

Nguyen Van Dung, deputy chairman of Binh Thuan Province Peoples Committee, said the yields were low and the declining trend was likely to continue because the crop was mostly grown on infertile land.

On the other hand, the cost of inputs had been rising, he added.