The Government has this year implemented several measures to help cotton farmers in the highland province of Gia Lai after fields were abandoned for years due to the financial inability of the farmers to maintain them.
To revive the industry, the government gave seven tons of cotton seeds to farmers in the province.
In addition, the Vietnam Cotton Co. has supported farmers with seedlings, fertilizers, and pesticides worth around VND5 million per hectare. The firm has also committed to buy all cotton products at prices not lower than VND9,000 a kilo.
Thanks to such efforts, cotton now covers an area of more than 1,100 hectares so far this year, five times higher than previous crops.
At the height of production, Gia Lai Province’s cotton area covered more than 6,000 hectares from 2000 to 2004, but this dropped sharply after cotton prices fell.
