Vietnam to export 150,000 tons of pepper in 2016: association

Vietnam's pepper export volume will reach 150,000 tons in 2016, up 12.8 percent year-on-year, the Vietnam Pepper Association (VPA) made the forecast on Monday.

In the first nine months of the year, Vietnam earned some 1.2 billion U.S. dollars from exports of nearly 145,500 tons of pepper, up 13.1 percent in value and 31.5 percent in volume year-on-year.

Vietnam accounted for 32 percent of the world's total pepper output and held more than 56 percent of world market share, according to the association.

Vietnamese pepper products are exported to some 100 countries and regions, with Asia, Europe and the United States being the biggest markets.

Do Ha Nam, the VPA chairman, was quoted by local Vietnam News on Monday that the industry had seen robust growth, but faced challenges related to climate change and stunted vines on farms.

High pepper prices in recent years have persuaded farmers to expand cultivation, even on unsuitable land without any planning, while the abuse of fertilizers has caused plants to degenerate quickly and be more vulnerable to disease.

Farmers, processors and distributors are urged to focus more on safety and hygiene as importers are demanding higher food safety requirements, said Nam.

Vietnam's pepper cultivation has increased rapidly in the past years, reaching 85,000 hectares by the end of last year.

The figure reached 100,000 hectares by the end of the first quarter of this year, doubling the figure set by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's master zoning plan for the development of the pepper industry by 2020.

Many farmers in the country's Central Highlands and southern provinces had chopped down their rubber, cashew and coffee trees to plant pepper, reported Vietnam News. Endit