Varieties selection shapes entire coffee crop cycle

One seedling, a commitment for years

On a misty morning in Nam Nung Commune, Lam Dong Province, thin veils of fog still drift gently across the rolling coffee hills. The sound of grass-cutting machines blends with birdsong, signaling the start of another working day for local farmers.

In his nearly two-hectare coffee plantation, Mr. Mai Hong Quan slowly walks among coffee trees of different ages. On the upper slope, trees entering their third year are beginning to bear their first clusters of cherries. At the foot of the hill, coffee planted last year is sending out vibrant green shoots. Nearby, a newly cleared plot awaits its next planting, where Mr. Quan is preparing to establish another coffee crop.

The decision to expand his plantation this year was the result of three years of careful observation and evaluation on his own farm. Three years ago, while rejuvenating part of an aging coffee plantation, Mr. Quan chose to plant around 1,000 Dwarf Green Robusta coffee seedlings. At the time, many people advised him to opt for other varieties that were being promoted for their high yields. Instead of following market trends, he carefully studied the characteristics of different varieties, visited demonstration farms, and made his decision only after thorough consideration.

The first batch of trees grew steadily, developing well-balanced canopies with uniform growth, and has now begun producing its first coffee cherries. Encouraged by the variety's strong adaptation to the local climate and soil conditions, he planted an additional 1,200 trees last year. This year, with the rainy season well established, he is preparing to plant another 1,800 trees, bringing the total to nearly 4,000.

"Coffee is a long-term crop. Choosing the wrong variety means living with the consequences for more than a decade. I don't make decisions based on advertising, I rely on what the trees actually demonstrate in my own field. After three years of monitoring, I'm convinced that Dwarf Green Robusta is well suited to my farm, so I'm continuing to expand the planting area," Mr. Quan said.

According to Mr. Quan, the main reason he remains committed to the variety is not simply its yield. Nam Nung Commune is located at a relatively high elevation, where temperatures are cooler than in many other parts of the Central Highlands. Under these conditions, Dwarf Green Robusta has demonstrated excellent adaptability, with balanced growth and a compact canopy that facilitates crop management, pruning, and harvesting. Once the plantation reaches full production, with a density of more than 2,000 trees per hectare and proper technical management, yields can reach 7-8 tonnes of green coffee beans per hectare.

More importantly, Mr. Quan has high expectations for bean quality. In his view, today's coffee market increasingly values high-quality raw materials. Choosing the right variety from the outset therefore provides a competitive advantage throughout the plantation's entire production cycle.

Mr. Quan's experience reflects a broader trend in Nam Nung this rainy season, as many coffee growers begin rejuvenating aging plantations or expanding their cultivated areas. After years of watching older coffee trees decline in productivity, farmers have become far more cautious in selecting planting material, recognizing that the choice of variety will influence the performance and profitability of their plantations for many years to come.

Mr. Ngo Xuan Danh, Chairman of the People's Committee of Nam Nung Commune, said the local authorities do not encourage farmers to purchase seedlings from unverified sources. Instead, they advise growers to select planting material from nurseries certified by competent authorities or through the commune's Integrated Service Center, which connects farmers with reputable suppliers.

"In the Central Highlands, farmers should source coffee seedlings from the Eakmat Institute for production and avoid buying planting material of unknown origin on the market. Coffee trees take at least three years from planting to the first harvest. If the seedlings are not of good quality or fail to meet technical standards, the losses can be substantial," Mr. Danh said.

Variety selection comes first

Following the recent administrative merger, Lam Dong has become Viet Nam's largest coffee-producing province. This not only strengthens its position as the country's leading coffee-growing region but also creates new opportunities to develop large-scale, standardized production areas capable of supplying raw materials for value-added processing and export.

According to the Lam Dong Department of Agriculture and Environment, the province currently has 328,732ha of coffee, with annual production exceeding one million tonnes. Combined with more than one million hectares of agricultural land, much of it fertile basalt soil, along with diverse elevations and distinct ecological zones, Lam Dong offers ideal conditions for producing both high-quality Robusta and specialty Arabica coffee. These advantages provide a strong foundation for developing standardized coffee-growing areas that meet the requirements of processors and export markets.

However, as the province's coffee-growing area has largely stabilized, the focus is no longer on expanding acreage but on increasing value per hectare. Priority is being given to rejuvenating aging plantations, adopting high-yield and high-quality varieties that are resilient to climate change, expanding production under sustainable certification schemes, increasing the share of value-added processing, and strengthening value chains from production to market.

Achieving these goals begins with selecting the right coffee variety. The choice of planting material is a decisive factor that shapes the quality and productivity of coffee-growing areas throughout a production cycle that can last for decades.

Dr. Phan Viet Ha, Acting Director of the Western Highlands Agriculture and Forestry Science Institute (WASI), believes that the approach to coffee variety selection must evolve in line with changing market demands rather than focusing solely on productivity.

"For perennial industrial crops such as coffee and pepper, selecting the right variety from the outset is critical. In the past, growers primarily considered yield potential, vigor, or resistance to pests and diseases. Today, however, producers need to first determine whether they are targeting the commercial coffee market, the high-quality coffee segment, or value-added processing. Each production objective requires a different group of varieties," Dr. Ha explained.

According to Dr. Ha, farmers aiming for high-yield commercial production can choose varieties such as TR4, TR9, TR11, or the TRS1 seed-propagated variety. In cooler-growing areas such as Lam Dong Province, or in multi-stem cultivation systems, Dwarf Green Robusta and Thien Truong have demonstrated significant advantages thanks to their strong adaptability, compact canopy structure, and ease of management and harvesting. For growers targeting the premium coffee market, TR11, TR9, and Dwarf Green Robusta are among the most promising options, combining high productivity with excellent bean quality.

Dr. Ha also recommends that coffee plantations should not rely on a single variety. Instead, about 80% of the plantation should consist of a primary variety and 20% of a complementary variety to improve cross-pollination, stabilize yields, and reduce production risks under unfavorable weather conditions. More importantly, all planting material should come from certified, traceable sources recognized by competent authorities. With coffee being a perennial crop, a poor variety choice at the planting stage can affect production efficiency throughout a plantation's lifespan, which may extend for several decades.