PM okays cotton development plan

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a plan to develop cotton cultivation, with the area under the crop to reach 30,000ha and output to increase to 20,000 tonnes in 2015.

The plan also targets that the total area under cotton cultivation will increase to 76,000ha, with a total output of 60,000 tonnes in 2020.
Of the 76,000ha, the Central Highlands provinces will account for more than 32,000ha; southern central provinces, 27,000ha; central provinces, 12,000ha; and northern provinces, more than 2,000ha.

The development of cotton will be focussed on intensive farming to raise output and quality, and develop large cotton plantations in many provinces.

BinhThuan Province, for instance, will invest in 10 plantations with a total area of 1,300ha; Ninh Thuan Province, five plantations with 2,800ha; and Dak Lak Province, 10 plantations with 4,500ha.

The plan also targets to develop cotton growing areas, which needs irrigation systems to 9,000ha in 2015 and 40,000ha in 2020.

Central Highland provinces will focus on using drip irrigation systems for cotton cultivation and coastal central provinces will use drilled wells.

The Government will offer financial support for building infrastructure and irrigation systems in cotton-zoned areas.

The State budget will also grant financial assistance for activities of cotton research and technology transfer.

The Government will encourage cotton processors to support cotton growers in mechanising their cultivation progress from preparing land to harvesting, preserving and processing. A fund for stabilising cotton prices will also be set up to ensure the benefits of growers .

Many of them have switched to other crops over the past years in the context of low yield and low prices.

The country’s cotton area has dropped to 3,000ha in the 2008-09 season from 32,600ha in the 2001-02 season.

The output currently only meets 2 per cent of the demand of the textile industry.

To raise the output of cotton, companies under the Viet Nam Cotton Joint-Stock Company have implemented several measures to support growers in the 2008-09 season, including providing free seeds, pesticides and fertilisers with a total finance support of VND3 million (US$162) per hectare.

The companies have also purchased all cotton from supported growers with a price of at least VND9,000 a kilogram.

The Government has also assigned the Viet Nam Textile and Garment Group to shoulder the task of developing cotton cultivation and irrigation projects for major cotton-zoned areas.

VietNamNet/VNS

Tags: Vietnam cotton