Scientists raise doubts about macadamia cultivation plan
Scientists raise doubts about macadamia cultivation plan
While government officials have urged the farming of macadamia nuts on a large scale as a solution to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty, analysts are doubtful about the “macadamia miracle”.
Workshops and conferences on macadamia cultivation have been organized recently.
At the events, macadamia nuts were described as the goose that could lay golden eggs.
The national macadamia development program is reportedly going smoothly as bankers have pledged to provide loans.
Nguyen Duc Huong, deputy chair of LienViet Post Bank, told the press: “We will not only discuss this, but we will start right away.”
Huong, an advocate of the macadamia development plan, in April 2014 once mentioned a macadamia growing project in the Central Highlands with initial capital of VND10 trillion.
Nevertheless, scientists have voiced their doubts about the national plan’s feasibility.
Dr. Tran Vinh, deputy head of the Central Highlands Agriculture and Forestry Institute, who has spent many years on research about macadamia nuts, said there still exist unanswered questions.
Vinh, as a scientist, disagreed with the opinion that Vietnam needs to begin developing the macadamia growing area immediately. There is no need to conduct more experiments.
“There are very few research works on macadamia trees in Vietnam,” he explained.
In fact, his institute is carrying out research work on the topic, but this is just a low-level work, while the feasibility of the macadamia cultivation program needs to be confirmed by ministry-level research work.
“It is necessary to conduct thorough surveys on variety creation, cultivation technique and many other things,” he said, adding that massive unplanned development of macadamia areas would have serious consequences.
Meanwhile, farmers, the biggest beneficiaries of the program, still lack necessary information.
How is the tree cultivated? Who will they sell macadamia nuts to? Who will be the main consumers? How much profit can they expect? These questions remain unanswered.
An analyst noted that the estimates about economic efficiency of macadamia nut exports have been calculated based on world reports.
“Why doesn’t Australia, which has been growing macadamia for many years, try to develop more macadamia areas if the profits are really attractive? Because it is not so easy to make profits,” he said.
Vinh warned that macadamia trees cannot be grown anywhere. It requires very strict ecological conditions and a cool climate, including a stable low temperature of between 18-25oC for several months during flowering and fruit setting.
Macadamia trees cannot develop in every area in the Central Highlands, even though the Highlands in general are believed to have ideal conditions for macadamia growing.
Macadamia has been present in Vietnam for the last 10 years. To date, it has been cultivated on 2,000 hectares.
