10. INTEGRATED PRODUCTION PRACTICES OF CASHEW IN VIETNAM - Nguyen Minh Chau[10]

1. INTRODUCTION

The cashew was introduced into Vietnam in the 19^th century. It was originally grown in home gardens as a shade tree. Cashew has been recognized as an industrial crop since about 10 years ago. Soil and climatic conditions in Quangnam-Danang province and further to the South are considered suitable for cashew production. In 1980, the area under cashew occupied only 30,000 ha. It has since gone up to 250,000 ha by 1996. The total production in 1996 was 122,070 tons with an export value of US$122,070 million for cashew kernel. At present, many provinces in the South including Dongnai, Songbe, Tayninh and Binhthuan are having large extents of cashew plantations in production.

2. PRESENT STATUS OF CASHEW PRODUCTION

In the early 1980s, the cashew tree was considered as a forest tree or a shade tree for home gardens. Seedlings were mostly used as planting material and little care was given for its culture. As a result, the crop gave very low yields and poor quality nuts. In August 1989 however, the crop was recognized by the government as an industrial crop and came under the Ministry of Agriculture. In 1990, The Vietnam Cashew Tree Association was set up to promote the development of the crop, and since then there has been a rapid increase in the area of production (Table 1).

Cashew yields however, have not improved yet, mainly because of inferior germplasm, poor management and aftercare of orchards which have resulted in low yields. In 1995-1998 about 30,000 ha of cashew trees were cut down and replaced by mango and longan; also other trees in Songbe, Dongnai and Tayninh provinces due to their unstable yields and low income.

3. PRODUCTION OF PLANTING MATERIAL

The most popular practice was selecting high yielding trees and using the seeds for planting. This method has led to low yields as most progenies from such trees were not true to type. However, since 1994, about 46 % of new cashew plantations have been planted with selected clones raised vegetatively (Table 2).

Table 1. Area and Production of Cashew in Some Provinces of Vietnam

Zones/Provinces		Area (‘000 ha)		Production (‘000 tons)
		1995a	1996b	1995	1996
1. Eastern Provinces		135.29	149.00	39.31	83.32
	Dongnai	32.99	45.00	11.40	25.00
	Songbe	77.54	82.00	16.22	45.00
	Tayninh	7.51	15.00	7.64	8.40
	Baria-Vungtau	17.25	7.00	4.05	3.92
2. Central Coastal Provinces		21.12	61.00	5.26	26.70
	Binhthuan	12.98	20.00	3.90	11.20
	Ninhthuan	0.45	5.00	0.14	1.75
	Khanhhoa	1.86	4.00	0.49	1.50
	Phuyen		10.00		3.50
	Binhdinh	5.86	7.00	0.67	2.50
	Quangngai	0.27	10.00	0.06	3.50
	Quang-nam-Danang		5.00		1.75
3. Central Highland Provinces		28.44	27.00	3.93	9.50
	Gilai	11.48	10.00	0.30	3.50
	Kontum		5.00		1.75
	Daklak	9.63	5.00	1.88	1.75
	Lamdong	7.34	7.00	1.75	2.50
4. Other Provinces		5.70	13.00	5.18	4.55
Total		187.55	250.00	50.68	122.07

^a Agricultural statistics, 1994-1995

^b Donafood, 1996

Year	Varieties (%)		Density (trees/ha)
	Selected	Unselected	> 400	300-400	200-300	150-200
Prior to 1987	0.0	100.0	67.2	27.8	5.0	-
1988-1990	5.8	92.2	31.0	45.6	15.4	8.0
1991-1993	28.3	71.7	35.3	30.0	23.7	11.0
1994-1996	46.5	53.5	12.3	19.5	52.2	16.0

Source: Bien and Binh, 1997.

4. ESTABLISHMENT OF CASHEW ORCHARDS

Cashew trees were usually established on degraded soils in the eastern provinces and central coastal provinces of the South. The current spacing applied is 10m x 5 m (200 plants/ha). Before 1990 however, farmers resorted to high density planting as high as 400 trees/ha (Table 2). It was the general practice to add organic manure at the rate of 10-20 kg/planting hole.

5. CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF CASHEW ORCHARDS

Most of the cashew growers neither apply fertilizer nor prune their trees. This is mainly because the low and unstable yields from their cashew crop does not encourage them to manage their crop using such inputs. It has been estimated that only 37.7 % of the cashew plantations were fertilized while the rest did not receive any fertilizer (Table 3). The survey also revealed that the fertilized cashew yielded on average 155 kg more than the unfertilized orchards with an overall yield of 698 kg/ha for the fertilized orchards and 543 kg/ha for the unfertilized, respectively.

Table 3. Application of Modern Agro-Techniques for Cashew

Technologies	Percentage of Farmersa Applying Modern Agro-Techniques
Applied	Applied	Yield (kg/ha)	Not Applied	Yield (kg/ha)
Fertilizerb	37.7	698	62.3	543
Pruning	56.5	672	43.5	672
Plant protectionc	21.7	-	78.3	-

^a Total survey sample: 143 farmers
^b 50-100 kg/ha (NPK 16:16:8)
^c Agro-chemicals applied

Source: Hien, Bien et al, 1996

Of the pests that afflict the cashew crop, shoot borer and red bug were recorded as the most serious pests on the crop. (Hien, Bien, 1996), Table 4. Control measures applied for pests and diseases were practiced only in 2.17% of orchards.

Table 4. Pests and Diseases Recorded in Cashew Orchards in Dongnai, 1996

Diseases and Pests	Percentage of orchards showing infestation	Damage level
Insects
Red Bug (Helopeltis antonii)	60.5	Serious
Shoot borer (Alcides sp.)	92.3	Serious
Stem borer (Plocaederus ferrugineus, P. obesus)	23.4	Moderate
Leaf miner (Acroercops sp.)	84.3	Serious
Mealy bug (Coccidae), Ants	65.8	Moderate
Diseases
Sooty mold (Mellol sp., Capnodium sp)	7.2	Limited
Anthracnose (Colletotrichum sp., Fusarium sp.)	32.4	Moderate

7. REJUVENATION OF ORCHARDS BY TOPWORKING

Although rejuvenation of old trees by topworking with selected high yielding clones has been recommended, this has however, not been widely applied by farmers, despite the fact that production and productivity of cashew can be certainly improved if the method is practiced (Donafood, 1996).

8. HARVESTING OF NUTS AND YIELD

Due to the fact that the majority of plantations were established with low yielding genetic material and managed poorly, average yields of cashew are as low as 500-600 kg per ha per year. The size of cashew kernels is also below accepted standards and market acceptance is a problem for the producers.

9. MARKETING

Nearly 90 percent of cashew kernels produced in Vietnam are exported mainly to Canada, China, USA, Japan and Australia. The export price ranged from US $ 5,300 to 5,500 per ton. In 1996, about 24,000 tons were exported. This brought US $ 120 million to the country in 1996. The local market consumed only about 10 % of total production, mainly as snack food and confectionery items such as cashew candy, popular among local consumers in Song Be province.

Marketing has not been well organized and most of the cashew kernel is exported by several companies incorporated in the provinces. There are no Growers’ Cooperatives established for the marketing of cashew as yet. Competition for the export of cashew exists strongly among the private companies. National policy is towards the establishment of a single export Agency to handle cashew exports. This strategy has yet to be ratified by the Central government. The current practice therefore of exporting processed and unprocessed cashew, is bound to continue for some time.

10. POTENTIAL FOR CASHEW PRODUCTION DEVELOPMENT

Cashew production projections for the year 2000 is planned to increase to 250,000 tons as against 126,000 tons at present (Table 5). The export value of kernels by the year 2000 is estimated to be around US $ 240 million as compared to US$115 million in 1996. The anticipated average yield is expected to increase to reach 1 ton/ha by then, which the country hopes to achieve through the application of advanced technologies such as use of fertilizer, better cultural practices and high yielding clones raised vegetatively through the adoption of grafting techniques.

Table 5. Current Area of Production and Future Projections

Criteria	1996	2000	2010
1. Production extents (in ‘000 ha)	250	400	600
2. Average yield (tons/ha)	0.7	1.0	1.2
3. Production (‘000 tons)	126	250	600
4. Planned exports (kernel)	24	50	120
Projected export value (millions in US$)	115	240	576
Processing labor force (‘000 persons)	60	150	250

Source: Vietnam Cashew Tree Association, 1997

The major constraints in the cashew industry are as follows:

Technical Issues

• Lack of improved varieties.
• Agro-ecological areas suitable for cashew are yet to be identified.
• Lack of sufficient high quality planting material.

Policy Aspects

The following policy issues need to be approved by government to support the cashew industry:

• Amount of capital investment required for care and management of existing cashew plantations and for new plantings will be around 1,250 billion VN dong by the year 2000 (Vietnam Cashew Tree Association, 1997). Another 500 billion VN dong will be required for new processing facilities for cashew.
• A Cashew Tree research center should be established to backstop production activities.
• Growers’ Cooperatives should be organized for marketing of cashew products.
• Demonstrations and extension programs to assist farmers in topworking old trees should be initiated in order to attain higher yields.

12. CONCLUDING REMARKS

The cashew crop has demonstrated its adaptability to local growing conditions in Vietnam and has emerged as an important export crop which at present provides valuable foreign exchange of nearly US$115 million per year (1996). This has amply demonstrated its place in the agricultural production system of the country although many policy changes and technical inputs are needed to assist further development of the crop. In order to realize the projected targets of expanding the area under production to 400,000 ha with a yield of 1 ton/ha producing about 300,000 tons, more research and development efforts are urgently needed. It is therefore hoped that the target of earning US $ 288 million by the year 2000 can be achieved.

REFERENCES

Bien, P.V and N.T Binh, 1997. Cashew tree technical aspects. Workshop on Cashew Tree Development in Vietnam, Hanoi. (11 pages).

National Institute of Planning and Projects, 1997. Orientation for Cashew Tree Development in Vietnam, Hanoi (20 pages).

Vietnam Cashew Tree Association, 1997. Present Situation of Cashew Production and Programs for Cashew Development up to 2010. Workshop on Cashew Tree Development in Vietnam, Hanoi (12 pages).

Donafood, 1996. Cultural Practices for Cashew Trees. Agric. Services Department of Dongnai Province (18 pages).