Cashew production in Vietnam predicted to drop nearly 20%

Le Van Duc, deputy head of the Department of Crop Production under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), blamed the yield decrease on unseasonal rains in January-March, which destroyed cashew flowers. The country’s total cashew nut output is forecast to hit over 252,000 tonnes in 2017, decreasing nearly 52,000 tonnes compared with the previous year’s figure. The amount meets only around 15-20 percent of businesses’ demands for raw cashew nuts.A report released by the MARD shows that cashew output in the southern province of Binh Phuoc contracted by about 17.41 percent per ha; southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, 15.13 percent; and the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, over 50 percent.In 2016, cashew nut was Vietnam’s major farm produce, only behind coffee in terms of export value. The country shipped 348,000 tonnes of cashew nuts for 2.84 billion USD, up 5.6 percent in volume and 18.4 percent in value from a year ago.

source: english.vietnamnet.vn