Shortly after the US announced it was opening its doors to Vietnamese coconuts, Ben Tre province, a coconut growing hub in the Mekong Delta, introduced a range of policies to ensure the effective and sustainable export of the fruit to the country, the Government News has reported.

Deputy Head of the Ben Tre Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Huynh Quang Duc said that, in the short term, Ben Tre will accelerate the development of growing areas and enhance the quality of production chains.

“The province will also increase technical transfer and update information for growers and businesses so they understand and can abide by standards and regulations applied on official exports,” he said. “Local authorities will conduct regular inspections and supervision of compliance with these standards and regulations as well as the management of growing areas and packaging facility codes.”

Vietnam is also negotiating with China on coconut exports, which are expected to be completed by the end of this year or early next.

“The possibility of official exports of fresh coconuts to the US and China have encouraged businesses from inside and outside of the province to register growing areas and packaging facility codes, opening up a bright future for the coconut industry in both Ben Tre and Vietnam,” he added.

Ben Tre province has some 78,310 ha of coconut trees, up 1.35 per cent year-on-year. In July alone it yielded an estimated 11 million coconuts, bringing the total in the first seven months of the year to 94.6 million.

Since early this year it has expanded the growing area of organic coconuts by 554 ha, bringing the total growing area under organic standards to 17,846 ha.