In the heyday, pepper trees brought export turnover to Gia Lai about 150 million USD/year. But in recent years, the status of the once “black gold” tree is gradually losing.
Gia Lai farmers are busy harvesting the pepper crop in 2023.
The area has decreased deeply, the price is unstable, making farmers no longer interested in pepper. To regain the position of pepper, Gia Lai province has implemented many solutions synchronously.
Sustainable organic model
After a long time, the pepper tree became an obsession of Chu Se people when the price fell deeply, but now pepper has shown signs of prosperity with a price of over 60,000 VND/kg and has remained stable for a long time. It is forecasted that by the end of this year and the following years, the price will be stable according to the increasing amplitude and it is likely that by the end of 2023, the price will reach from 90,000 to 100,000 VND/kg.
This is the motivation for the people of Chu Se to rebuild the pepper garden with the expectation of returning to the “golden age” after many years of neglect. In order to avoid going down the same path when investing massively, people have been more careful with moderate investment, and at the same time, towards organic farming methods for sustainable development.
As one of the pioneer households in organic pepper cultivation, Mr. Le Hung Huan’s family (village 7, Ia Blang commune, Chu Se district) now has 8 hectares of pepper cultivation; of which 3 ha are newly planted and 5 ha are entering the business stage. If the whole “pepper capital” in Chu Se and Chu Puh districts was once sick and died, Huan’s garden was still green, giving a stable yield.
To achieve this success, from the very beginning, his family has applied scientific and technical measures, especially focusing on taking care of the pepper garden in the direction of sustainable organic. One of the measures applied by Mr. Huan is to let the grass grow green under the pepper tree. While most other pepper gardens are cleaned of grass under the root.
“The method of putting grass under the root will greatly reduce the maintenance work. When you see that the grass grows tall, just take the cutter to cut the upper part, leave about 10cm below the root, just do it a few times a year. The benefit of grass is that in the rainy season to prevent waterlogging, in the dry season, it cools the soil, helping pepper plants to grow well and sustainably. The grass clippings are turned into organic fertilizer. At the same time, it is necessary to limit the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, almost only using organic fertilizers, “said Mr. Huan.
Similarly, Mr. Huynh Mau’s pepper garden (village 3, Nam Yang commune, Dak Doa district) also confirms the right direction in changing planting methods. With the direction of pure agricultural development, applying organic farming methods to the pepper garden, Mr. Mau’s garden is still green with stable yield. According to Mr. Mau, although this year’s weather is not favorable, the productivity of the orchard is still quite high, with an average of about 3 kg of dry pepper per pole.
“The family has about 5 hectares of pepper associated with the Nam Yang Agricultural and Service Cooperative that produces organically. Farming in this direction helps the garden grow sustainably, with less pests, long life and stable yield. In particular, the selling price is higher than normal pepper from 20,000-22,000 VND/kg. Besides, doing organic farming not only protects the health of themselves but also the consumers “- Mr. Mau shared.
According to Mr. Nguyen Tan Cong – Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nam Yang Agricultural and Service Cooperative, in the past, when pepper prices were high, people massively planted and over-exploited, resulting in dead trees. After this difficult period, people’s awareness has changed and they have chosen better farming solutions, in accordance with the direction and trend of the market, which is sustainable farming.
One of the sustainable pepper farming solutions for members of the cooperative is to produce in the most natural way, without forcing crops, using a lot of organic fertilizers, planting shade trees… Thanks Accordingly, the cooperative successfully built the Le Chi pepper brand in 2018 and was certified by Control Union to meet organic standards of the US and Europe.
This cooperative is the first unit in the Central Highlands to achieve organic certification for pepper plants. In addition to raw export, the cooperative also started deep processing, creating products such as: skull pepper, red pepper, salted pepper, green pepper, powdered pepper, pickled pepper, etc. to meet domestic demand. countries and exports – Mr. Cong informed.
Gia Lai farmers harvest the pepper crop in 2023.
Rediscover the position of the “black gold” tree
After the pepper tree experienced a “severe illness”, farmers began to change their awareness, no longer massively planting, “everyone doing it”. Now, people know how to link production in a green and sustainable way.
In addition, local authorities, businesses and growers have had a clearer view of the weaknesses, difficulties as well as opportunities in production and business. Thereby, focusing on reorganizing production in the direction of promoting the application of science and technology, linking intensive farming sustainably; standardize the cultivation and transfer process, replicate the clean and safe production model, gradually form a sustainable pepper material area as well as improve the value of “black gold” crops on Gia Lai land.
According to Mr. Nguyen Tan Cong, Nam Yang Agricultural and Service Cooperative is currently associated with organic pepper production on about 70 hectares with more than 50 participating households.
Thanks to that, the cooperative has successfully built the Le Chi pepper brand and was certified by Control Union to meet organic standards of the US and Europe.
In addition to providing intermediaries with about 100 tons of black pepper per year for export, the cooperative also processes products such as skull pepper, red pepper, salted pepper, green pepper, powdered pepper, and black pepper. pickling… to meet domestic demand and start exporting to Taiwan (China).
In the “pepper capital” Chu Se, An Thang Gia Lai One Member Limited Liability Company (Ia Blang commune) has also built a stable raw material area with more than 100 hectares of pepper produced according to VietGAP standards. . In addition to consuming products at a price higher than 2,000 VND/kg compared to regular pepper, the company also guides the technical process of sustainable pepper cultivation, providing high-quality organic fertilizer for farmers. .
Mr. Nguyen Duc Thang – Chairman of the Board of Directors of An Thang Gia Lai One Member Limited Liability Company, said that the market for clean pepper consumption is now very large, especially the European and American markets. On average, each month, the company supplies its intermediary partners with about 100 tons of white pepper (white pepper) for export. However, the company’s raw material area does not currently meet the daily production capacity of about 13-14 tons of black pepper.
In the coming time, the company will work with the People’s Committees of Chu Se, Chu Puh, and Chu Prong districts to expand the material area for pepper production according to VietGAP standards to meet demand; at the same time, commits to support people when participating in the linkage chain in terms of cultivation techniques, fertilizers, quality seeds as well as purchasing at higher prices.
Since joining the chain of pepper production in the direction of VietGAP of An Thang Gia Lai One Member Limited Liability Company, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Binh’s orchard (village 6, Ia Blang commune) has always given high productivity and stable. Mr. Binh excitedly said that although it is intercropped in the coffee garden, each pepper pillar gives an average yield of over 5 kg of dry pepper. Entering the 8th year of harvest, the pepper tree is still green, showing no signs of aging. In the near future, he will cooperate with the company to plant about 500 new pepper posts on the family’s replanted coffee area.
Mr. Nguyen Van Hop, Head of Agriculture and Rural Development Department of Chu Se district, said that Chu Se currently has a total pepper growing area of nearly 3,000 hectares with an output of over 11,000 tons/year. The number of households involved in pepper production in the district is 5,454 households. The whole district has 34 pepper trading establishments, 95 purchasing establishments. In addition, in the district, there are 4 organizations producing local products, including An Thang Gia Lai One Member Limited Liability Company, Ia Blang Commune, which has been granted VietGAP Certificate for pepper products. 5.7 ha, output 35 tons/year; Hoai Truong Cooperative, Ia Blang Commune; Ia Ring Cooperative, Ia Tiem Commune and Truc Phung Business Household, Ia Pal Commune.
In the coming time, the district will coordinate with the Chu Se Pepper Association to focus on guiding people in pepper farming techniques towards sustainable organic; establish technical teams to directly advise on how to care, fertilize, and prevent pests right at the orchard. At the same time, select good and suitable seed sources that have been tested to encourage farmers to plant to avoid risks in the cultivation process, Mr. Hop said.
In addition, the district also organizes to build and complete linkage models between businesses and farmers through cooperatives in safe pepper production and processing, ensuring increasingly strict requirements of the market. export. In particular, the district will focus on branding, stamping and geographical indication labels of Chu Se pepper for products and goods to enhance value, protect and monopolize brands worldwide.
Gia Lai province currently has 10,040 hectares of pepper, the average output is about 35,700 tons/year; in which, the area of pepper produced according to standards (VietGAP, GlobalGAP, Organic, Rainforest Alliance) has been certified over 800 hectares; In the remaining area, people are implementing the production process according to good agricultural standards (GAP).
According to the forecast of the Vietnam Pepper Association, pepper prices will remain stable at a high level in the next few years, and the world’s pepper consumption demand from now to 2030 will increase by about 3% per year. However, besides the opportunity, the pepper industry of Vietnam in general and Gia Lai in particular will also face many challenges when it has to ensure production according to the increasing standards of importing countries. Therefore, all levels and sectors need to have solutions to support and orient people to produce in a sustainable way if they do not want to stay out of the game.
Mr. Luu Trung Nghia – Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Gia Lai province said that pepper is still a commodity that brings great export value to Vietnam with approximately 1 billion USD/year and Gia Lai is still is an important “basement” on the map of Vietnam pepper. In the coming time, the province’s agricultural sector will deploy many solutions to create high-quality pepper products, deeply participating in markets with high added value.
Specifically, the province focuses on developing and stably maintaining the pepper area in the area of about 12,000 hectares; in which, focusing resources to support businesses and people to expand production according to good agricultural standards (VietGAP, GlobalGAP), organic agriculture (Organic) … The province will guide localities to plan, determine Specific directions for the development of the pepper material area must be associated with the consumption market, ensuring enhanced competitiveness, added value and reasonable profit distribution between stages in the value chain.
At the same time, the development of pepper production must be associated with strict management of input and output quality of products; promptly prevent and prevent poor quality input materials from being put into production right from the raw material stage to create quality pepper products and participate in markets with high added value.
According to Quang Thai (VNA)
