Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a loan programme by the State Bank of Viet Nam for replanting coffee trees in the Central Highlands in 2014–20.
He also instructed the central bank to co-ordinate with relevant agencies to carry out the loan programme and ensure it is a success.
The Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development and Industry and Trade and the provincial authorities of Lam Dong, Kon Tum, Dak Nong, Dak Lak, and Gia Lai have been ordered to co-ordinate with the bank to facilitate the implementation the programme by providing coffee growers farming know-how and promoting their products.
They were also instructed to help farmers easily get access to the loans.
According to the Department of Cultivation, coffee is cultivated in 22 provinces and cities across the country, with five major areas being the Central Highlands, the south-east, the southern and northern parts of the Central Region, and the middle part of the northern region.
At the end of last year 641,000ha were under coffee, but on 15 per cent of it the trees were over 20 years old, and on 25 per cent they were 15-20 years old.
