International pepper conference discusses solutions on sustainable development

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in association with the International Pepper Community held the 47th International Pepper Conference on November 12 in Vung Tau City in Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province with participation of 400 representatives from 25 countries which are members and important partners of pepper industry.

The conference was held amid the context that production and trading of black pepper all around the world have been affected by several disadvantageous factors, including decreasing price, unusual climate change and uncontrolled diseases on pepper plants. Besides, consumers tend to demand for high-quality and safe products while production cost strongly increases and pepper price changes unpredictably.

Therefore, the conference is an opportunity for representatives to discuss solutions for sustainable pepper cultivation practices in order to meet global market requirements at the present and in the future.

Agricultural deputy minister Le Quoc Doanh said that Vietnam currently is the largest pepper producer and exporter in the world with export volume of 250,000 tons of pepper, accounting for 40 percent of global pepper production. Pepper industry has created livelihood for more than 200,000 farming households. Pepper processing capacity of Vietnam has improved significantly and processing technology has approached general standards of global market.

He also said that the demand for pepper in the world is still high. Besides using as spice in food, pepper is also used in health-care, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. This conference was an important event for enterprises, exporters, importers, farmers and international organizations to share information as well as promote interest in development of pepper industry in the world.