Lam Dong (VNS/VNA) - TheTay Nguyen (Central Highlands) region has replaced 118,202ha of old coffeetrees by planting new ones or grafting old coffee trees with young sprouts toimprove yield since 2014, or 98.5 percent of the total area to be replanted in2014-2020.

Most of replantedareas, spread over 84,165ha, have new coffee varieties with high yield andquality, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

Lam Dong province hasthe largest replanted area in the five Central Highlands provinces, followed by Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Gia Lai, and Kon Tum.

In its Di Linh district, farmers have replaced more than 24,000ha in the last 10 years,according to the district's Agriculture and Rural Development Bureau.

The average yieldfrom new plants in the district is 3.2 tonnes per hectare per year against anaverage yield in the region of 2.6 tonnes, according to MARD.

Speaking at a recent seminarin Lam Dong, Le Van Duc, deputy head of the Plant CultivationDepartment, said the process of replacing old coffee trees has faced severaldifficulties like coffee farmers lacking incomes until the first crop in thenew trees, high cost of replanting and farmers’ inability to access bank loans.

Nguyen Van Chau,deputy director of the Lam Dong Department of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment, said the cost of replanting is 200 – 300 million VND (8,650 –12,960 USD) per hectare and banks only provide loans of up to 80 percent of this.

“Therefore, a largenumber of farmers are reluctant to replace their old coffee trees.”

The country, aleading coffee exporter, has 690,000ha under the crop in 20 provinces, with DakLak being the largest producer.

Farmers intercrop116,282ha of coffee in the five Central Highlands provinces and the southernprovinces of Binh Phuoc and Ba Ria - Vung Tau, the seven largest producers,with other crops like pepper, avocado, durian, and cashew.

This is efficient andgives them high incomes, especially during times of low coffee prices likeearly this year, according to the Plant Cultivation Department.

MARD wants to replacea further 30,000 – 40,000ha of old coffee trees by 2025.

Deputy Minister ofAgriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh said local and other relevantauthorities should have plans to produce more quality seedlings for replacingold trees.

Besides, they shouldhelp farmers get loans to finance the replacement work, he said.

The ministry plans tokeep the area under coffee at 600,000ha and ensure yields of 2.7 – 2.9 tonnesby 2025.

It has encouragedfarmers to switch to other crops in areas not suitable for growing coffee./.