On a plane flying from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi in 1991, arranged in order, I suddenly saw General Vo Nguyen Giap sitting in the front seat, I came to say hello. Uncle look to find out? I present my name is Trinh Van Y - Vice Chairman of Ben Tre People's Committee went to Hanoi to attend the National Assembly meeting (Session VIII), Uncle motioned to the person to change seats so that I could sit down, Uncle asked a lot about the situation economy, life of Ben Tre people, the focus is coconut trees.
Souvenir photo with General Vo Nguyen Giap on the 9th session, National Assembly Session VIII (1991).
The next morning, at the opening of the 9th session, the 8th National Assembly, I met Mr. Vo Nguyen Giap again. At recess, Giap found me, walking around behind the National Assembly hall, talking intimately about the coconut economy. Uncle Giap said: Ben Tre has the largest coconut area in the country, coconut trees are industrial crops, processed will have many valuable products for society, as "rare and precious open oil plant". We need to manage and promote the effects of coconut, the higher the effectiveness, the more coconut growing area will be, the more oil the plant oil will become more affluent and practical, contributing to economic development and solving life. people.
Listening to General Vo Nguyen Giap's prediction about the coconut economy, I am excited, looking back at the current situation: Ben Tre has about 47,000 hectares of coconut plantation, some processing facilities for crude oil, sintered coal, coconut fiber, coconut candy, coconut jam, raw products are stagnant. Provincial leaders strive to exploit the market to import modern equipment such as German ETP oil pressing equipment, Indian oil extraction equipment, Hanoi University of Science and Technology to pilot investment in building activated carbon base. calculated (from coconut shell charcoal material) ... but the products only consume mainly the domestic market, consume slowly, coconut growers economic life is difficult, some households cut coconut (planting longan, planting citrus), then returning to growing coconut takes 3-4 years to harvest again. Economics, life was even more difficult.
In 2018, according to the data of the Department of Industry and Trade, the whole province has more than 71,000 hectares of coconut, accounting for over 42% of the total area of coconut nationwide, yielding about 9,000 fruits / ha, from coconut raw materials produced and processed goods. Hundreds of high-value products are supplied for domestic consumption and export such as: coconut oil, cosmetics, canned drinks, canned, desiccated coconut, coconut milk, coconut milk powder, coconut candy, coconut fiber, coco peat, sintered coal, handicraft items (from coconut looks, coconut stalks, coconut shells, coconut stems ...) are very attractive.
Intense vitality of coconut trees after typhoon No. 9, 2006.
Going to the countryside, 3 Luong coconut (Luong Phu, Luong Hoa, Luong Quoi), 3 Chau coconut (Chau Phu, Chau Thoi and Chau Binh) on the two sides of the provincial road 885 are known as good coconut areas, during the war. against the US to save the country devastated by bombs and toxic chemicals, now restored most of the newly planted coconut varieties were wrongly selected. Ba Lai dam has improved the fertile land along the Ba Lai River; coconut gardens of Phu Vang, Thoi Lai, Chau Hung and Long Hoa communes (Binh Dai); Huu Dinh, Phuoc Thanh and Tam Phuoc (Chau Thanh) coconut are very green. Especially in Chau Binh commune, the "thorny scrub forest" was transformed into a very affluent coconut forest. Coconut garden paired on Ham Luong river; Hung Nhuong, Hung Le, Thanh Phu Dong, Phuoc Long and Son Phu (Giong Trom district), coconut gardens in Dinh Thuy commune, Phuoc Hiep (Mo Cay Nam district), coconut garden in Tan Thanh Binh (Mo Cay Bac district) still green, many coconut gardens are intercropped, intercropping very effectively. Along Co Chien river, such as Hoa Loi commune and Thoi Thanh commune (Thanh Phu district), coconut garden is 15-20 years old and green.
Promote the advantages of waterway and road traffic, upgrade and expand 4-wheel vehicles, agricultural vehicles, small trucks, and forestry vehicles in the countryside to shade coconut trees, produce coconut trees with three skins, copra desiccated coconut, coconut jam, sintered coconut shell, coconut fiber, coir threads, woven carpets from coconut fiber, coconut basket weaving, baled coco peat, coconut wood sawing establishments, carpentry facilities, craft handicrafts from coconuts ... along roads and rivers are convenient for transporting goods to warehouses, recycling consumption and export, making rural areas increasingly prosperous. Besides, the province has formed a number of very modern coconut processing plants such as Viet Coconut Co., Ltd. to import and export coconut materials to produce and process products day and night. , refined canned coconut water, canned, desiccated coconut, coconut milk, coconut flour, refined coconut oil cosmetic and consumer. Coconut Coconut Import Export Manufacturing and Trading Co., Ltd imports modern equipment, is building a factory from coconut material and many units and businesses that have been operating will attract a large amount of coconuts.
According to statistics, coconut products exported in 2018 were estimated at US $ 215 million, accounting for 22.40% of the province's total export turnover. Calculating the value chain of coconut in Ben Tre brings great economic efficiency. However, the reality of life of coconut farmers is still very difficult and disadvantaged (coconut price drops, about 20,000 to 30,000 VND / dozen 12 fruits), only coconut gardens have contracts with production facilities. Export and processing of products are bought at the price of 50 to 60 thousand VND / dozen 12 fruits.
Design thinking, coconut farmers need to think and change individual production practices, backward. It is necessary to participate in and promote the value chain of coconut trees, through the form of contracts with modern production and processing plants or joining cooperatives and production cooperatives, in order to create a wide material area. large, produced in a clean, safe process, meeting export standards and competitive in the world market, contributing to increasing the value of coconut trees, increasing incomes for coconut growers, economic life lift up.
"Coconut is an open-air oil field with plans for exploitation, investment, fostering and an increasingly prosperous oil field". Many years have passed clearly demonstrating the opinion of Mr. Vo Nguyen Giap about the economic potential of Ben Tre coconut which is still valid.
