Market study and development potential of Walnut in Northwest Vietnam

Abstract

Walnut has been identified as a tree species that can grow well at elevations of 1,000masl, similar to areas in Northern upland of Vietnam. The trees produce nutritious nuts that can be stored and transported easily. Walnut appears to be a suitable component in an agroforestry system that can be introduced to address the challenges of shifting cultivation and mono -
cropping with short - term food crops in hilly landscape of the region. However, prior to the promotion of agroforestry systems with Walnut, market aspects for Walnut should be studied. This study reports about the current market situation of Walnut in Vietnam, assesses its development potential, and gives recommendation for Walnut production in Northern
Vietnam. The market for Walnuts in Vietnam has already been established, with Walnuts distributed through a network of Chinese medicinal shops Tạp chí KHLN 2014 Hoàng ThịLụa et al., 2014(2) across the country, mostly in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city. The estimated domestic market size of Walnut in Vietnam is around 22,000 tons (in 2011) and entirely imported. Given the high value and large volume of Walnuts being traded in international market, domestic production of Walnut is still
absent. Since there is an existing demand for Walnut as a healthy food, the production of Walnut in Vietnam should focus on serving Vietnamese consumers. An additional 5,000ha of Walnut production areas could be established in the next five years, given that 2,000ha will be established in Dong Van/ha Giang province by 2015. More Walnut production area, on top of the 5,000ha, could be planted if consumers prefer to purchase Vietnamese Walnut products than the imported ones or if the government imposes measure to protect local growers in the form of import tariffs or barriers. In spite of recommendations for domestic production to meet market demand in Vietnam, a detailed production model with associated cost and volume output is to be developed to confirm potential realization of economic value at farm level. Especially when Walnut is planted on steep slope, the cost for tending activities and harvesting should be carefully taken into consideration.