Dutch NGO Supports Vietnam Farmers to Grow Tea, Cardamom

A seminar was held in the Vietnamese northern province of Lao Cai on May 29 to review the growing of tea and cardamom in Lao Cai, Lai Chau and Ha Giang provinces, funded by the Dutch development organization SNV. After being in operation for five years, from 2008-2012, the project has helped over 7,000 cardamom growing households to increase productivity, and raise their incomes by 15%-20%. The Dutch non-governmental organization has also helped to link up farmers and businesses with each other. Under the program, Lao Cai province developed a 35 hectares organic tea plantation in Bao Thang district. SNV provided support for trade promotions and helped to introduce cardamom to South Korea and Japan. Thank to the SNV’s support, Lao Cai province has effectively implemented model from production to consumption, said Pham Dinh Que, deputy head of the provincial Agriculture and Rural Development Department. As part of the project, farmers now have much more capacity, Que added. The province has also applied advances in technology to production and processing to improve the quality of products to meet domestic and foreign demands.

Source: qdnd.vn