New arabica varieties to rejuvenate Vietnam coffee sector

Better-quality arabica coffee will soon be planted in Vietnam, the world’s largest supplier of the less-valued robusta variety, boosting biodiversity and climate resilience.

The better varieties, to be grown in the northwest, result from a five-year project carried out by the French Agricultural Research Center for International Development (CIRAD) in the region.

CIRAD presented the fruits of these five years of coffee varietal research in Vietnam at the French Embassy in Hanoi on June 6. The organization said the new arabica varieties are now available to rejuvenate coffee growing in the northwestern region.

“Coffee growing in Vietnam dates back to around 30 years. The varieties grown are no longer suitable in view of the climate change expected in the coming years," said CIRAD coffee researcher Pierre Marraccini.

“By 2025, half of the 20,000 hectares of coffee plantations in northwestern Vietnam will have to be recultivated,” he added.

CIRAD has since 2017 been working with Vietnamese and European research organizations to test new arabica coffee varieties (F1 hybrids) in the mountains of Son La and Dien Bien provinces. Those new varieties, which were initially bred and popularized in Central America, should allow Vietnam’s coffee sector to adapt to climate change and boost coffee quality.

The varieties tested were chosen to be grown in agroforestry systems, which consist of mixing crops and trees within plots, according to CIRAD. "The trees provide the coffee plants with shade, replicating the conditions in which coffee used to grow in its zone of origin, and this is an asset in view of recent climate change," Marraccini explained.

Agroforestry also boosts soil fertility and helps maintain biodiversity, capture carbon and cut input use. For producers, it also provides additional income, from the timber or fruits produced by the trees, according to CIRAD.

"The F1 hybrids Mundo Maya H16, Centroamericano H1 and Starmaya consistently gave high yields under an agroforest cover, while Catimor yields fell," Clément Rigal, a CIRAD researcher specializing in agroforestry, said at the June 6 presentation at the French Embassy in Hanoi.

"The new varieties are largely suitable for northwestern Vietnam, and particularly for mountain zones. They are more vigorous than Catimor and produce better coffee,” he added.

The presentation of results was followed by a tasting session, with five samples of beans harvested from the experimental plots planted in Son La in 2018.

"Thanks to their taste, these varieties have considerable potential to boost the quality of the coffee produced in northwestern Vietnam," said Paul Le, Vice President of Thai retail major Central Retail Group, who came from Ho Chi Minh City for the tasting.

Dao The Anh, Vice President of Vietnamese Agricultural Academy of Sciences, said: “This is a great opportunity for us to replace old coffee varieties with the new hybrids developed by CIRAD.” He hoped the new varieties would also bring better prices to producers.

Funding for the introduction and monitoring of these new varieties came from the EU through the Breedcafs project from 2017 to 2022; and the French development agency, along with the EU through the ASSET project as of 2021.