In Vietnam, because there is still a large area of newly-grown pepper plantation since 2014 and 2015, pepper production will slightly increase this year to around 240,000-250,000 tons, of which, 235,000 tons of pepper are for export.
Although several places have shifted to grow other crops instead of pepper or intercropped other crops with pepper plants, the area of pepper will still be at around 100,000 hectares by 2020, compared to its peak of 150,000 hectares of pepper.
Amid the situation, VPA warned pepper farmers that they should focus on improving the quality of pepper instead of quantity and reducing the use of inorganic fertilizers and chemical pesticides to switch to use organic fertilizers and probiotics and develop organic pepper plantations with food safety certificate. This is not only a tendency but also a way out for pepper industry.
