Agricultural Commodities

Vietnam plans to gradually reduce rice production and switch to other more profitable crops, a plan that experts say makes sense since the country grows so much paddy and is a massive exporter of the unprofitable crop. The National Assembly’s Economic Committee recently agreed with the government’s proposal to reduce the area under paddy by 270,000 hectares to 3.76 million hectares by 2020. Another 400,000 ha of land in places where seawater is salinizes rivers during the dry season will be used for other crops, but could revert to growing paddy if required.

Washington: If you have a daily coffee habit, here is something to buzz about: A new study has found that those cups of joe cut the risk of bowel cancer. Researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center of Keck Medicine of USC examined over 5,100 men and women who had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer within the past six months, along with an additional 4,000 men and women with no history of colorectal cancer to serve as a control group. “We found that drinking coffee is associated with lower risk of colorectal cancer, and the more coffee consumed, the lower the risk,” said senior author Stephen Gruber.

Farmers in the Central Highlands and southeastern provinces are grappling to find water for their pepper and coffee farms as there is no sign of drought abating. The Vietnam Pepper Association (VPA) confirmed that drought has wreaked havoc on pepper farms in many provinces in the Central Highlands and southeastern regions and on Phu Quoc Island off mainland Kien Giang Province. VPA did not provide an exact figure of the pepper acreage hit by the calamity but warned that the dry season has not peaked.

Vietnamese dairy firm TH has recently announced US$2.7 billion of investment into cow farms, a milk plant and distribution channels in Russia. Chairwoman Thai Huong said the market has great potential because Russia is facing a dairy shortage due to sanctions imposed by the EU for its military intervention in Ukraine. The company is expected to have a herd of 350,000 cows and build a plant with an annual capacity of 1.8 million tons of milk. Its made-in-Russia products are set to hit the market from the middle of 2017. TH is one of many fast growing Vietnamese firms that have sought new opportunities abroad

Noey Neumark sits on a miniature blue stool – Ha Noi’s classic throne – admiring the bowl of banh da tron (flat noodles) she ordered from a food vendor. “Vietnamese food is just so pretty,” she says. “It’s very photogenic.” As if on cue, she hands the bowl to her boyfriend, Peter Petracca, who stands up to photograph their meal, occasionally shifting to get the perfect angle and lighting. Unphased by the inquisitive stares they attract, they upload the photo to Instagram, where their 5,400-plus followers can feast their eyes upon their latest culinary find. Using the Instagram handle @vietnomnom, the American couple has successfully tapped into the social media sphere by giving people the eye candy they want: colourful, mouthwatering meals, with clever captions and addresses detailing where to find the food.

Families in Vietnam’s major cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are turning to clean food tended by their relatives in rural provinces after recent news exposing the alarming use of banned chemicals in the food industry. Phuong, a resident in District 12, Ho Chi Minh City, said all ingredients used for cooking in her family are transported directly from their hometown in Quang Ngai, a province in central Vietnam.

If you like healthier options when dining out, consider Vietnamese cuisine for a refreshing detour. Clean, simple ingredients combined with a unique mix of fragrant herbs and spices pull out the bold flavors that define Vietnamese fare. Luckily, some of the best Vietnamese dishes can be found at Mekong Restaurant on Wade Hampton Boulevard where owner and chef Huy Tran delivers a delicious menu filled with traditional options.

Native to China and Vietnam, star anise is now grown in southern China, Indo-China, and Japan. It is star shaped, with five and ten pointed boat-shaped sections. The fruit is picked before it can ripen, and dried. The stars are available whole, or ground to a red-brown powder. It has a pungent and strong taste.

The Vietnam Macadamia Association has been officially set up under a decision by the Ministry of Interior Affairs. LienVietPost Bank and Him Lam JSC were two major businesses lobbying for the association.

HANOI: Vietnam's rubber exports in the first quarter rose 20.6 percent from a year ago to an estimated 236,300 tonnes, the government said on Friday. Revenue from the January-March shipment eased 4.9 percent from the same period last year to $266 million, the government's General Statistics Office said in its monthly report, reflecting a slow price recovery in global markets.

Vietnamese agencies are considering allowing the import of Chinese poultry meat. The inews has been published on the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s (MARD) Department of Animal Health’s website. The import was put into discussion at the fourth official conference of the Vietnamese and Chinese animal health agencies. If the two sides can reach consensus on the issue, Chinese poultry will arrive in Vietnam through official channels. To date, Chinese poultry has been entering Vietnam through unofficial channels, especially via border gates.

[MANILA] Emerging pests and diseases are posing a threat to the sturdy cassava, a promising crop for developing nations as it can withstand drought and is resistant to climate change. “Higher yields and productivity in cassavas will increase production and these in turn will attract important funds for further research and development.” Cassava “witches’ broom” (CWB) is one such systemic disease caused by phytoplasma, which are microscopic pathogenic agents. The disease causes a broom-like leaf proliferation at the top of the plant, reducing root starch content and crop yields. This is an issue as the starch content contains much of the crop’s value and thus directly affects farmers’ incomes. 

Drought and salt intrusion has worsened and damaged a large shrimp farming area in Vietnam's Mekong Delta, causing raw material shortages for export processing plants, reports Talk Vietnam. Shrimp farmers have suffered spreading mortalities in coastal provinces such as Ben Tre, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang and Kien Giang.

ANALYSIS - The National Fish and Seafood (NF&S) company is helping 824 integrated black tiger shrimp and mangrove farms in Vietnam's Ca Mau province achieve sustainable certification through an aquaculture improvement project. 

This week, I am focusing the blog on Vietnamese food, a category of food and restaurants with which the Coast is blessed. If you have never been to a Vietnamese restaurant, just pick one, they are all good. Try the pho first, then move on and explore. I have never encountered anything on a Vietnamese menu that wasn’t glorious.

HỘI AN – The ancient town is hosting the first Há»™i An International Food Festival from March 14 to 20. Twelve international chefs from 12 countries -- Greece, Mauritius, Turkey and Sweden, besides the United Kingdom, Slovenia, Germany and Italy, as well as Russia, India, Sri Lanka and France, in addition to Việt Nam – are attending the festival. The city’s culture and sports centre said the food festival week would transform the city into a truly international culinary destination.