Not the coconut people today love coconut so much, but how many generations ago. Coconut is food, a spirit that has been handed down until now. We do not forget the light from the coconut leaf torch. Show children the way, neighbors are when the dark. Flames give us warmth and glory.
From the natural setting
Ben Tre is famous for its coconut trees because it has the largest area and yield in the country. The Mekong Delta accounts for 70% of the coconut plantation area.
No one knows where the coconut trees in Ben Tre come from. Many people think that coconut trees brought by my father from Central Vietnam. Some believe, as the coconut drifted from the Philippines. It is possible that in the half of 17th century, coconut trees have followed our father from the Central region and thrived due to the climate and soil.
Through many ups and downs, but his father always clinging to the village keep the coconut trees are always developed in Ben Tre land, so that today’s children inherited.
Ben Tre has the largest coconut area in the country
Ben Tre coconut trees are grown mainly in Giong Trom, Chau Thanh and Mo Cay districts. Before 1975, Ben Tre had about 20,000 hectares of coconut trees. After 1975, the area of coconut was only 16,000 hectares. After that, coconut was restored and reached 45,000 hectares in the early 1990s. By the end of the 1990s coconut was shrunk again to grow other fruit trees.
Since 2000, with the appropriate policy of the local government, coconut trees have grown back. In 2000 the province had 37,758 hectares of coconuts, yielding 231.7 million of fruit per year. In 2001, it reduced to 35,540 ha, yielding 222.2 million fruits a year. In 2005, the area of coconut increased again, 37,595 hectares, output 258.8 million fruit per year. In 2010, the area of coconut up to 50,000 ha. Ben Tre always has a coconut plantation program. By 2015, Ben Tre will achieve 65,000 hectares of coconut, ensuring the raw materials for the province’s coconut processing industry.
Coconut has always been a strong crop in the Ben Tre cropping system, contributing remarkably to the new economic, cultural and social landscape of Ben Tre Province. Coconut has many uses, providing soft drinks, coconut oil and coconut for export. The rest of the coconut is used to make products that are valuable and popular. And it is the value-added products that coconut trees create jobs for many residents in the province.
(According to the book “The story of coconut trees” by PN Tri Nhan Company implemented and released during the Festival Ben Tre coconut IV)
