Good price but bad harvest
These days, Mr. Nguyen An Son, who has a coffee garden of more than 7 hectares in Ea Kpam commune, Cu M'gar district (Dak Lak) is busy entering the harvest season.
To reduce costs and mobilize more workers, Mr. Son chose the form of contracting coffee picking. With this harvesting method, wages will be paid based on the harvested output (price 1,200 VND/kg of fresh coffee).
According to Mr. Son, last season his family harvested 25 tons of coffee beans. Currently, the family has harvested more than half of the coffee garden. However, according to calculations, the family's total garden output this year is estimated to decrease by 40% compared to last year.
Mr. Son confided: "Coffee production decreased because the recent dry season lasted too long, causing the coffee trees to weaken. Although my garden did not lack water, the high temperature affected the flowering and fruiting process of the coffee."
Regarding this incident, Mr. Son lifted up a coffee branch and analyzed: "Because the weather is too sunny, the coffee tree has to bear fruit many times. Therefore, now on one branch, there are fruits that are already black and ripe, but some fruits are just red, and some fruits are still green."
According to Mr. Son, because the coffee does not ripen evenly, the family has to pick ripe fruit in advance. After that, the family continues to wait for the green fruit to ripen before picking another batch, which is very labor-intensive and costly.
This year, coffee growers are fortunate to have improved incomes thanks to prices doubling compared to last year. Many times, coffee prices have remained high at over VND120,000/kg.
According to the Provincial Statistics Office, Dak Lak is the leading locality in the country in the area of coffee when accounting for more than 40% of the whole area of Vietnam.
In the 2023-2024 crop year, the total coffee area in Dak Lak province is 212,106 hectares. Of which, the area for products is 200,441 hectares, a decrease of 400 hectares compared to the previous crop year, with an average yield of 26.72 quintals/ha.
Dak Lak province's total coffee output reached 535,672 tons, down 23,057 tons compared to the previous crop.
Mr. Nguyen Hoai Duong - Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dak Lak province said that coffee is the main crop of the province.
Coffee prices are at a record high, averaging around VND100,000/kg, at one point reaching VND135,000/kg. This is the highest price ever, 82% higher than the previous crop and nearly three times higher than previous years.
Still many worries
According to the People's Committee of Dak Lak province, coffee beans reaching their highest level in more than 15 years not only contribute to improving and enhancing the lives of growers.
The price increase also creates more resources for farmers to reinvest in care, improve productivity and coffee quality, and sustainably develop this key agricultural product.
However, currently, coffee in Dak Lak is also facing many challenges. The first is the situation of coffee theft.
For example, at the end of October 2024, Mr. Tran Van Luyen's family, residing in Buon Ma Thuot city (Dak Lak), was broken into by 2 people who stole more than 600kg of fresh coffee at night.
Another challenge that the coffee industry in Dak Lak in particular and Vietnam in general is facing is the impact of climate change. It is forecasted that the dry season in the 2024-2025 crop year will be prolonged, making water sources for coffee trees increasingly scarce.
