Vietnamese farmer invests over $1.4mn in clean banana production
Vietnamese farmer invests over $1.4mn in clean banana production
A farmer in southern Vietnam has invested more than US$1 million in a clean process to produce bananas in the hope of bringing the Vietnamese fruit to the world.
At the end of 2014, farmer Vo Quan Huy decided to spend $1.4 million growing more than 100 hectares of bananas the clean way in Long An Province and Tay Ninh Province.
The 70ha banana farm in Tay Ninh’s Trang Bang District is considered the largest of its kind in the south, which meets requirements for clean production.
Each harvest needs around VND300 million ($13,393) per hectare.
Huy, who has six farms raising cattle as well as growing sugarcane, chilli, and watermelon in Long An, Bac Lieu, Soc Trang, Binh Phuoc and Tay Ninh, also registered the brand FOHLA (Food Huy Long An) for his banana products in mid-2015.
He has so far exported more than 500 metric tons of bananas to Singapore, India and China under this brand.
The 61-year-old farmer said he is in talks with importers from Japan and Malaysia to increase his shipments, targeting 10,000 metric tons in exports each year by 2017.
“The toughest part of a farmer stepping out into the global market is he is inexperienced,” he said.
