Drought for farmers

A mangrove forest in Tra Vinh province’s Duyen Hai district.  (Photo: travinh.gov.vn) Tra Vinh (VNS/VNA) - Farmers in Tra Vinh province’s coastal areas expanded the breeding of shrimp and other aquatic species to an additional 1,700ha of mangrove forests this year, according to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. The breeding in mangrove forests, which now totals 5,780ha, is sustainable and protects the environment against the effects of climate change, said the department. Farmers only need to buy shrimp and fries for breeding since the aquatic species eat wild food in the forests. Farmers normally breed shrimp with a density of 15-20 shrimp per sq.m in mangrove forests. Duyen Hai district has about 5,100ha of mangrove forests used for breeding aquatic species, the province’s largest area, according to the district’s Division of Agriculture and Rural Development. Ngo Oanh Ruong, who has a one-ha mangrove forest in Duyen … [Read more...] about Mangrove forests used to breed aquatic species

Vietnam is one of the biggest coffee and pepper exporters in the world, but the money it earns is modest. High export volume, low export value Vietnam is leading in the world in Robusta coffee exports present in 80 markets, accounting for 14.2 percent of the global coffee bean market. However, its export turnover is far lower than Brazil’s, though Vietnam has great advantages in material growing area. Nguyen Huu Long, the founder of Shin Coffee, commented that in order to get higher added value for Vietnam’s coffee, the country needs to have high-quality products, and a good brand. “Leading companies still don’t think of solutions that can heighten the value for Vietnam’s coffee,” he said.Branding Bao Han Third Vietnam Coffee Day set to begin on December 8 in Gia Lai The third Vietnam Coffee Day event is set to transpire in Pleiku City in the Central Highland province of Gia Lai between December 8 -10, with the participation of … [Read more...] about Earnings from coffee, pepper are modest because of poor branding

Vinamilk was accused of breaking its fresh milk promise on social media Earlier this month, a Facebook account posted a status with pictures it claimed were customs data of Vinamilk’s raw materials imports, most of which is skimmed milk powder. The account also assumed that Vinamilk uses these ingredients to produce “fresh milk”, questioning the quality of Vinamilk's fresh milk and pointing out that the “Shake well before use” instruction has been a permanent fixture on the milk bottles. Another Facebook user claimed that Vinamilk's "pure fresh milk" is actually reconstituted milk which consists of about 20 per cent of fresh milk, while the remainder is milk powder, butter, and additives. These added ingredients are not soluble in fresh milk, therefore, after a certain time they will be precipitated. That is why consumers must "shake well before use". The user also mentioned other fresh milk products from different brands on the market that do not … [Read more...] about Vinamilk hit by not-so-fresh milk accusations

Hanoi (VNA) - According to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, there are still complex developments in the remit of natural disasters in 2019 due to the impact of El Nino phenomenon. The storm season will come late, while hot weather is likely to appear earlier than that in many years across the country, and untimely rains will appear locally. Untimely rain may locally appear early in the South (Source: Vietnam+) Heat waves come early There are still complex developments for natural disasters in 2019 due to the impact of El Nino phenomenon. The ENSO phenomenon, the umbrella term for the El Nino and La Nina phenomena, is predicted to maintain its El Nino status in the first half of 2019 with a probability of 80-90 percent. The average temperature is forecast to be much higher than those of many years. From now until February 10, about three to five cold waves are likely to occur. The cold and chilly spells can occur in the last days of January to early … [Read more...] about 2019: untimely rain, less storms but abnormal

Illustrative image (Source: internet) Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce has reported that the country’s exports of fruits and vegetable to China surged 31 percent in the January-May period to 1.2 billion USD. Export revenue of fruit rose 123 percent to 838.61 million USD. Of the figure, earnings from durian accounted for 48.5 percent, followed by longan, mangosteen and coconut. However, export revenue of vegetable in the period was only 361 million USD, a drop of 33 percent year on year. Cassava was the major currency earner of the country which made up 96 percent of the total exports of farm produce to China, followed by beans and dried vegetable. Speaking to the local media, Auramon Supthaweethum, head of the Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce’s Department of Trade Negotiations, said that the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) helped facilitate exports of vegetable and fruits. She held that the deal is an important tool for … [Read more...] about Thailand sees strong rise in exports of vegetable, fruits to China