Vietnam’s province of Ben Tre will develop its well-known Xiem coconut through increased market value and new farming technologies as the product is not competitive in the world market, particularly with Thailand as the latter has higher quality and lower production costs.  Ben Tre, known for its 70,000 hectares of coconut land, harvests around 600 million coconuts valued at US$235 million per year.

The province plans to lessen the production cost by creating a network between the coconut farmers and businesses, funding studies on technology and techniques in coconut farming, and increasing the area for coconut planting by about 20 percent.

Ben Tre’s coconuts are exported to the US, Canada and Australia.

You can read the original article here: http://vietnamnews.vn/economy/425518/ben-tre-to-boost-xiem-coconut-exports.html#5m2HY8b6OKmOOqLV.99