Perennial Cropping System Development and Economic Performance of Perennial Cropping System in Dak Lak Province, Vietnam45259

Perennial Cropping System Development and Economic Performance of Perennial Cropping System in Dak Lak Province, Vietnam Thuy Phan Thi (1),(2),(*), Thuy Bui Thi Thanh (1), Hop Ho Thi Minh (2), Niem Le Duc (1), Philippe Lebailly (2) Tay Nguyen University, Dak Lak, Vietnam Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University Liège, Belgium *Correspondence: phanthuydhtn@gmail.com Abstract: The paper deals with the perennial crop development in Dak Lak Province by using the mixed data collection of quantity and quality At the same time, the economic efficiency of two major perennial crop systems including mono-cropping and intercropping systems concentrating on coffee and pepper was analyzed The findings indicated that development and adjustment of perennial crop systems in Dak Lak province highly related to economic, political and social changes; and underwent through five main stages as following large scale perennial crop plantations as early-stage; perennial crop systems as state-owned and cooperative farms; intensified perennial crop systems; mixed perennial crop systems; and specialized and diversified perennial crop systems Additionally, the study revealed that intercropping systems were more efficient than mono-cropping systems due to the potential presence of economies of scope Consequently, the results provided useful information for local households in making sustainable production strategies and policymakers in enacting suitable policies as well as diagnosis of the future evolution of perennial crops for the coming years Keywords: Perennial crop systems; historical development; economic performance; Dak Lak; Vietnam Introduction There were various definitions of cropping systems and interacting with farming resources such as land, labor and capital showed by previous authors (Diepart & Allaverdian 2018; Rana & Rana 2011) Furthermore, the cropping system is an important component of the farming system of which the perennial crop sector is one of the elements of the cash crop system (FAO 2019) As compared to annual crops, perennial crops can be harvested multiple times before dying or replacing On the other side, regarding many authors such as (Alexander et al 2015; Araya et al 2012; Galati et al 2016; Hatfield & Walthall 2014; Nguyen 2017), the changes of agricultural, in general, and cropping systems, in particular, are results of climate change, agro-technology, socio-economic transformation, liberalization and globalization In which, cropping systems not only changed along the time, the local, the regional and international economic situation but also sustainably adapted to the specific conditions to ensure human needs under population growth (Darnhofer et al 2010; Hatfield & Walthall 2014) In other words, these changes require to move to another place or to develop new practices for survival (FAO 1999; Fresco & Westphal 1988; Lebailly et al 2015) Thus, the major trends and trajectories of different farm types were accurately understood to apply appropriate strategies in protecting natural resources as well as securing households’ income by enhancing productivity (Jayne et al 2014) Subsequently, determining the evolution of cropping systems to support future research and extension might be enclosed to the best service of the rural communities (Herridge et al 2019) Moreover, economic performance is the key in determining the resilience and sustainability of farming systems because economic change caused the threads to agricultural lands and natural resources (Barbier et al 2010; Zinnanti et al 2019) Thus, a study about the historical development of perennial crop systems and its economic efficiency is essential The perennial crops such were introduced to Vietnam at the end of the nineteenth century by the French Until now, they have become the top 10 commodities in the world and play a crucial part in agricultural development and export earnings Interestingly, Vietnam had become the biggest exporter of black pepper and the second largest for coffee from 2011 to 2013 (ICC 2019; OECD 2015) Perennial crops have been growing popularly in Central Highlands of Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Gia Lai, Lam Dong, and Kon Tum thanks to the favorable conditions Going beyond, the changes in driving forces such as ecological, technical, socioeconomic, political issues resulted in either challenge in perennial crop production or adopting different approaches (Pham et al 2001; Phan et.al 2019a) In other words, there was a significant relationship between the changes such as economic reform, government support (by direct and indirect policies) and evolution of perennial crop systems (Lindskog et al 2005; Scherr et al 2015) However, empirical evidence on the analysis of the evolution and profitability of the different perennial crop systems in Dak Lak Province, Central Highlands, Vietnam is limited In such circumstances, the purpose of this study is to give a comprehensively real picture of the temporal and spatial transformation in perennial crop systems at distinct stages Furthermore, evolutionary information can be used to explain how farms generate and adapt changes in driving forces at different levels (Han Quang et al 2017) Besides, an analysis of the economic efficiency of two representative perennial crop systems provides empirical evidence and opportunities for practices This can help farmers in choosing perennial crop production systems as well as policymakers in enacting the appropriate strategies to perennial crop system in forthcoming years Methodology 2.1 Study area This study was carried out in Dak Lak Province with advantageous conditions for agricultural development including basaltic soil and flat or gently hilly relief, especially for perennial crops such as coffee, pepper, etc Based on knowledge from provincial documents, Dak Lak Province was divided into six agro-ecological zones by soil types, rainfall patterns, and altitudes based on various sources (Karimov et al 2016) Additionally, as a result of discussions with head and key informants at the provincial level, agricultural experts and survey implementation, Dak Lak Province was separated into three perennial crop zones by fertility criterion as below: Zone 1: Highly favorable for perennial crops growing (including Buon Ma Thuot City, CuM'gar, Cu Kuin, Krong Ana, Krong Buk, EaHleo, Krong Ana, Krong Pak Districts) Zone 2: Moderately favorable for perennial crop growing Zone 3: Unfavorable for perennial crop Moreover, based on secondary data, observation and conducting the survey, two distinct cropping systems chosen in this study are mono-cropping systems (Mono-Coffee Systems-MCSes and Mono-pepper systems-MPSes) and intercropping systems (coffee and pepper intercropping-CPI) 2.2 Data collection For reliable findings, the study collected both qualitative and quantitative data from primary and secondary sources (Faruque et al 2017; Ulmer & Wilson 2003) The primary data were gathered from visual observation, key informant interviews (KIs), Focus Group Discussion (FGDs), and household surveys through questionnaires Furthermore, the economic performance of two major perennial crop systems showed via using simple and stratified random sampling of perennial crop households Secondary data were gathered from differently official sources such as annual statistic books published by the General Statistics Office (GSO), the Dak Lak Statistics Office, Provincial People’s Committee, maps, historical books, annual reports of local authorities in Villages, Communes, Districts, and Province Furthermore, research documents and scientific reports were also collected as complementary sources for this study KIs and FGDs provided qualitative data on the following subjects: (1) the history of changes of local perennial crop systems regarding coffee and pepper; (2) current cropping patterns and changes of perennial crop systems overtime; (3) key driven forces of change related to adopt the current perennial crop systems (4) Simultaneously, to collect quantitative data, a list of 86 households who cultivated mono and intercropping systems related to coffee and pepper in the three villages was conducted by the same probability of statistical units (FAO 2016) It means the study collected 10% of villagers (selected households (N) = 0.1 n (n=populated size), who are cultivating coffee and pepper crops The households list provided 90 plot samples for data about perennial crop production because some households owned more than one piece The farms that were between 0.5 and is similar to the average area of local farms The data at given year including (1) profile of perennial crop system such as area, yield, age; (2) the cropping calendar (timing of plot care crops and harvesting); (3) annual cost (inputs, labor); sale of crop and revenues Table The distribution of surveyed samples by research sites Region Commune MCSes MPSes CPI Total Samples BMT Ea Kao 12 9 30 Cu Mgar Cu Sue 12 15 35 Cu Kuin Ea Ktur 11 25 32 28 30 90 Total samples 2.3 Data analysis - Analysis of the evolution of perennial crop systems The historical analysis was obtained by hierarchy, chronology and timeline methods - Economic analysis This study used a comparative analysis (examining the differences in economic efficiency) and descriptive statistical analysis (means, percentages, charts, and growth rates) Many indicators such as production cost, revenue, value-added, and profit indicate which cropping systems generating the best economic performance for households (Hill & Bradley 2015; Newton et al 2012) Furthermore, a Kruskal Wallis -test was applied to test whether there is a significant difference in the non-parametrical distribution of distinct groups (Chu Nguyen & Hoang 2008) 3 Results 3.1 The development of perennial cropping systems in Dak Lak province Sourse: Secondary data, KIs and FGDs Figure Important historical milestones and consequences of perennial crop systems 3.1.1 Large -scale plantations of perennial crop systems under the regime Dak Lak has exploited the best appropriate conditions for the growth of the perennial crop such as coffee, rubber by the French since the 1920s (Tran & D’haeze 2005; ICC 2019; Pham et al 2001) In this era, two major crops as coffee and rubber were planted initially for economic purpose At that time, coffee and rubber trees were only practiced and developed by large -scale plantation in highly suitable fertility for perennial crop growing regions-Zone There was a limitation of a low population density, a dependence of natural conditions, a lack of manpower, know-how knowledge and simple implemented tools In this context, the production was inefficient as a result of mainly mono-coffee and rubber systems (Do 2016) 3.1.2 Existence of state and cooperative owned farms of perennial crop systems The perennial crops recovered after the Revolution of Vietnam In the past, most plantations operated under State ownership and cooperatives However, in 1981 the private ownership admitted under Decree 100 (Khoan 100) (Meyfroidt et al 2013) To take advantages of natural conditions, mono-cropping systems were applied causing absolute exploitation of land area in Zone Furthermore, the high population density thanks to resettlement program (New economic Zones-NEZs) made the perennial crops expanding on moderately favorable for perennial crops' growth -Zone (Maurice G 2004; Lindskog et al 2005) Although other cash crops like pepper and tea were planted at the beginning of the 1980s, lands were owned by the state in formal management (namely, State ownership) (Muller & Zeller 2002) This leads to stagnancy in the economy with low productivity of perennial crops Table 2: The number of farms and producers participated in owned state and cooperative production Year State owned Farms Number (Farms) Producers (People) Cooperatives Number (Farms) Producers (People) 1978 12 930 17 121 1981 19 23 885 122 40 600 1985 28 43 521 184 58 728 (Source: People’s Committee of Dak Lak 1986) 3.1.3 Intensifed perennial crop systems From 1986 to the 1990s, perennial crop sector in Dak Lak, especially in the coffeegrowing area had a significant increase The reasons for rapid growth of the coffee sector were the policy privatization, economic liberalization, state-sponsored migration and price spikes (as the frost in Brazil destroyed a large part of the coffee production led to a sharp reduction in the international coffee supply which in turn made the high price of coffee) (Dang & Shively 2008) to lead Vietnam as becoming the world’s second-largest exporter of coffee (Pham et al 2001) Furthermore, labor and capital intensive have been because of introduced fertilizer, improved rural infrastructure, and markets as well as expanded irrigated systems since 1992 Additionally, local governments explained an increase in the coffee-growing area due to demographic resettlement, socio-economic liberalization and EDESUS 2019, FOR PEER REVIEW https://edesus.ueb.edu.vn legislation towards land ownership Perennial crops were planted to Zone and (unsuitable lands for growing perennial crops) Furthermore, spontaneous migration was also a reason for the diversification of perennial crops Besides, the direct and indirect government-supported funds encouraged the development of perennial crops (Dang & Shively 2008) By direct support, the government enacted financial, technological and economic policies Additionally, the local government stimulated to apply new crops or efficient crop management methods In such, farmers could access the finance as well as knowledge of crop protection (Cheesman et al 2007; D’haeze et al 2005) Additionally, indirect support has made a large number of migrants from constrained and crowded regions to Dak Lak Province as well as more investment in rural areas However, the overexploitation of perennial crops resulted in some enormous vulnerability such as land degradation and deforestation (Figure 1) Figure The coffee growing area during 1986-2000 (Source: Dak Lak PSO 1986, 2011) 3.1.4 Mixed perennial crop systems Unfortunately, in 2004, coffee price decreased dramatically As Ponte S, the global coffee chain changed significantly due to new consumption fashion, the evolution of corporate companies In other words, technical development resulted in low-cost Robusta processing to parallel inelastic demand which contributed the decrease of international coffee price to below 40 cents per pound in 2004 (Doutriaux et al 2008; Ponte 2002) Moreover, frequently natural disadvantages such as drought, pests and infectious diseases are challenges to farmers To solve these, the government implemented many policies including a ban of planting more coffee trees through enforcement of land use rights and limitation of bank loans related (Cheesman et al 2007) Also, the government encouraged convertibility of coffee in the unsuitable areas to more profitable and fewer water crops such as cashew and cassava, cotton, pepper, and corn (Lindskog et al 2005; Meyfroidt et al 2013) Apart from coffee, hence, other crops such as rubber, pepper and cashew in both perennial and annual crop mixed systems developed steadily over this period However, as the previous period, an expansion of perennial crops is a reason for deforestation resulting in various other obstacles as degradation and soil erosion 3.1.5 Specialized and diversified perennial crop systems From 2010, perennial crops continuously faced challenges For instance, aging of coffee tree stock that accounts for over one-third of the provincial coffee-growing areas was 15–20 years resulting in low yields and returns (Ho 2018) Apart from pests and infectious diseases on pepper, a fall in the price of rubber, coffee and pepper made farmers into difficulties such as bad debts and discouragement (Scherr et al 2015) Under this condition, different crop systems practiced In terms of coffee, applying technology and innovation for perennial crops was popular such as irrigation, seedling and processing Especially, certified coffee production attracted participants Although linkages, certified production and development of specialty coffee trees have given more efficient than conventional models, certificated production has not been apply widely because of strict requirements Table The area and number of producers by certificate in Dak Lak Province Certificate 2013 2015 2017 2018 (2) (3) (1) (2) (3) (1) (2) (3) (1) (2) (3) UTZ 16.8 14.5 29 19.5 14.5 17 15.6 11.0 6.2 5.6 37.1 25.4 14 25.2 15.5 8.7 6.7 2.1 - 5.1 2.8 4C 36.8 23.0 RFA 7.4 3.2 4.3 FLO 0.2 0.4 3.0 0.5 0.6 0.3 0.7 0.5 GI - - 10 - - 12 - - 12 - - (1): Number of certificate; (2): Area (thousand hectares); (3) Producers (Thousand people) Source: Provincial People’s Committee of Dak Lak 2018 On the other hand, the 2014 good price of pepper motivated farmers to convert from coffee plantations or intercropped orchards Unfortunately, pepper price from 2016 to now has dropped significantly causing many difficulties for producers To mitigate market risks, intercropping systems such as coffee and pepper and diversified perennial crop systems (coffee, pepper and fruit) have become more popular According to People’s Committee of Dak Lak, there are over 39 000 of the intercropping area with 11 000 intercropping models of coffee and pepper (People’s Committee of Dak Lak 2019) Intercropping systems including coffee trees and others (pepper and cashew) are generating higher profitability than conventional ones (Nguyen & Phan 2017; Phan et al 2019b) Additionally, diversified systems including perennial crops and fruits (avocado and durian) are popular with higher returns and sustainability (Ho et al 2017) Nonetheless, the intercropped area is still limited A lack of government intervention and farmers’ financial constraints negotiation also led to inefficiency 3.2 Current perennial crop systems comparison 3.2.1 Characteristics of perennial crop systems - Mono-cropping and intercropping systems profile The profile of three perennial crop systems is presented in Table as following below: Table 4: General information of three selected systems Indicators MCSes (n= 32) MPSes (n=28) CPI (n=30) Average plot area (ha) 1.1 0.8 1.0 Coffee 958 - 964 Pepper - 1344 914 Coffee 17 - 13 Pepper - 7.43 7.3 Coffee 2.1 - 2.3 Pepper - 2.3 1.8 Crop losses 25 27 22 Distance (Km) 1.8 0.5 1.7 Density (tree/ha) Average age of system (years) Yield (tons/ha) Source: Authors’ own calculations For MCSes, the average growing area was at 1.1 The density reached 958 trees per ha, which was a lower density than the technical recommendation (1100 trees/ha) ( Phan 2015; ICC 2019) because of many trees dying without replacement at the gap (coffee growers converted other crops instead of new planting of coffee tree) Also, the yield reached only 2.1 tons per which linked to (Amarasinghe et al 2015), because of the high proportion of aging tree stock (17 years in this study) and the fluctuation of weather On the other hand, MPSes started from residential gardens of very small acreage in the last decades Although they have been developed strongly due to favorable prices recently, the average size of pepper was the smallest one compared to the rest, by 0.8 Regarding pepper density, it was not high, only 1344 trees/ha as compared to recommendation (about 1700 trees/ha) Pure pepper gardens were converted from renewing an old coffee plantation instead of an initial design for MPSes Unfortunately, black pepper that was sensitive with diseases was affected about 2000 in 2017 (equal to 13.2% of all plant diseases in the whole country such as foot rot or quick wilt disease, Pollu disease, slow decline or slow wilt, and stunt disease) Most MPSes have been planted since the 2000s which is quite youth (7.43 years), to create yields at 2.3 tons/ha The surveyed data showed that MPSes were applied in an unregulated way (in areas not zoned for farming), with wooden and concrete pillars rather than live plants Even though rubber trees could be used as pillars, play areas, ponds and rice fields were used to grow pepper In terms of diversified systems as CPI, it can obtain higher yields, more returns or mitigate environmental damages such as in Uganda with coffee-banana intercropping (van Asten et al 2011), Thai Lan with rubber-based intercropping systems (other perennial crops or fruit) (Romyen et al 2018) CPI that was formed from coffee and pepper grew together in the same field In such, pepper was grown initially into a coffee garden as a shade tree Over time, this model has been widely and enthusiastically in farmers' plantations According to the surveyed data, CPI planting was quite young (7.3 years of pepper, 13 years of coffee, and 1.0 of plot size) Besides that, the density was mentioned to be estimated at 964 coffee trees and 914 pepper trees per ha, including two intercropping methods: Group (a small sub-area of coffee and pepper was planted in the orchard) and intersection (two coffee rows or three coffee rows or five coffee rows to intercrop one pepper row where pepper was designed at the intersection point of coffee holes) Additionally, the yield of CPI was at 2.3 tons of coffee and 1.8 tons of pepper/ha (Table 4) According to interviewees, high pepper density means the competition for space and light leading to decrease yields Furthermore, many respondents admitted that there were some productive difficulties due to specific techniques (i.e., irrigation and harvesting) Cropping calendar Figure illustrated the calendar of coffee and pepper crops in distinct perennial crop systems during the cropping year by various activities Under dry season with high sunlight and evapotranspiration during six months, irrigation and pruning of coffee become the main activities in MCSes The coffee trees, for example, are provided water from January to April by pumping from private wells or drip irrigation systems Meanwhile, pruning often occurs after harvesting season that significantly attracted by both men and women, sometimes, households hired non-family labor by fixed- paid wage (3000 VND/coffee tree), with the average of pruning coffee trees about 40 trees/day/person Harvesting lengthens from October to December when coffee is harvested totally Additionally, fertilizer is used at least three times for breaking flower, feeding fruits and recovering post-harvesting among two seasons On the other hand, weed control was carried out in mainly wet season However, weeding that needs to be done at least monthly is costly by requiring more labors as shown Nowadays, producers considered applying equipment and herbicide to kill grass rather than by hand In terms of MPSes, crop care activities are considered the same as MCSes However, pruning has just carried out with living poles for pepper growing on the vine (alive trees as Cassia siamea and/or Leucaena leucocephala; fruit) during the rainy season Besides, turning to irrigation, pepper although require less water than coffee, it needs to be irrigated more regularly For instance, coffee needs about three rounds per year, pepper is at least ten-dayirrigated cycles Additionally, on the rainy season, drainage needs to be done as fast as possible to avoid flooding the soil On the other hand, harvesting is a constraint when farmers have to spend at least two-three month with a high demand of labors, from Feb to April Concerning CPI, farmers considered costing more workdays as compared to others As responded by interviews, most of the planters implemented concurrently some operations such as fertilizer, irrigation, and weeding However, some farmers separated such acts on crops for growth Nonetheless, this act requires many labors and technology to secure each other Figure 2: Coffee and pepper crop calendar during a cropping season (Source: Secondary data, KIs, FGDs, 2017/2018) 3.2.1 Comparision of economic performance Table The cost and return of perennial crop production in 2017 Unit: Thousands of VND/ha Mono-cropping systems Intercropping Items Sig systems MCS (n = 32) MPS (n = 28) CPI (n = 30) Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Annual cost 43.6 11.1 86.7 39.3 86.3 23.3 0.00* Intermediate cost (IC) 18.5 6.8 38.7 25.4 28.5 12.2 0.00* Labor cost 21.5 4.7 39.2 13.7 45.8 13.6 0.00* Loan interest 1.9 2.6 2.9 4.3 NS Depreciation 1.8 0.9 6.1 2.4 5.5 NS Gross Output 80.8 19 253.5 89 285.4 82.7 0.00* Net Farm Income 55.4 13.3 166.7 59 200 77 0.00* Profit 37 12 135 51.3 165 76 0.00* Source: Authors’ own calculations Interest rate: 10 % 2The life expectancy of perennial crops was 25 years Asymp sig of Kruskal–Wallis test: 0.00 NS: Non-significant Most amortization equipment (equipment owned by the farmers) considered to be linearly fixed at 25 years Annual cost The annual cost of mono-cropping systems comprised 43.6 million for MCSes and 86.7 million for MPSes while CPI was at 86.3 million VND per These costs were higher intermediate and labor costs, which were the two main components For intermediate costs, MPSes was the highest at 38.7 million VND per hectare while CPI was at 28.5 VND per (see Table 5) As Phan et al, fertilizer and pesticide seem to be overused in production, accounting for over 50% of input costs (Phan et al 2019b) This is because (1) price of pepper that is currently higher than that of coffee motivated farmers to invest more; (2) pepper is sensitive to pest and infectious disease making higher usage of pesticide This is evident in the survey as there was a high incidence of disease (i.e., foot rot, slow decline) on most plantations (i.e., 90% of the surveyed households owned at least ten crops lost by diseases) (Duong 2019; Nguyen & Bui 2011) However, due to promising profitability, the 2017 pepper-growing areas exceeded provincial master plans, accounting for 150% of growth (NIAPP 2017) This led to a glut in the market and a fall of pepper prices by half compared to the previous year On the other hand, MCses were at 18.5 million VND per which seem to be more suitable for poor or fewer capital farmers With labor costs-mainly for harvesting, both MPSes (45.5%) and CPI (58% of annual costs) were more labor-intensive than MCSes (see Table 5), especially black pepper (i.e., 40 kg fresh pepper/day collected as compared to 100 kg fresh coffee/day) This created an intense demand for labors in the harvesting season because harvest duration could not be lasted longer due to crop characteristics Interestingly, CPI has the harvest periods are from September to November (for coffee) and February to April (for pepper) facilitating family labor usage Thus, this system had the greatest number of family labor days comparing the others, about 213 days over the year (a working day = 160 000 VND) In other words, CPI creates more opportunities for family labors than others To conclude, the available evidence showed that MCSes incurred the lowest production costs, whereas MPSes had the highest Returns The output of MCSes, MPSes, and CPI reached about 81, 254, and 286 million VND per (where total output equals coffee and/or pepper yield multiply by coffee and/or pepper price) Net farm income was about 37 for MCSes, 167 for MPSes, and 200 million per for CPI, respectively (Table 5) MCSes seem to have lower economic efficiency in revenue and profit criteria than the others Simultaneously, the CPI had the best performance among the three systems due to economic scope of coffee and pepper consistent with many previous studies (Phan et al 2019a; Phan et al 2019b) For instance, the profit of CPI accounted for 165 million VND while MCSes and MPSes reached 37 and 135 million VND per ha, respectively Conclusions and discussion There is a great consensus on the growth of perennial crop systems in the Dak Lak Province during different stages Under this circumstance, appropriate perennial crop systems were applied as an adoption for an institution, society, economy and environment The changes of perennial crop happened through types of crops and systems in which cultivated area increased significantly, even in the unsuitable areas The perennial crop systems showed the trends including firstly, large -scale coffee and rubber plantations were likely to be low know-how and simple equipment tools under regime depending on natural conditions considerably; secondly, perennial crop systems as state owned-farms and cooperatives paralleled production of individual rights thanks to land allocation; thirdly, to take the most advantages of the market, perennial crop such as coffee was intensified by households’ resource utilization; fourthly, reducing risk and maximizing the efficiency of the market, integrated systems such as perennial crops, annual crops and livestock should be practiced; fifthly, to increase the efficiency of the resources (land, labor and capital) and resilience, the specialized perennial crops should be applied technology such as the production of specialty products and certificate as well as intercropping systems Moreover, perennial crops required different activities for each system This was carried out by households at different levels depending on their capabilities Unfortunately, returns are very priced sensitive (Huynh 2018) Meanwhile, environmental production encountered risks such as pests and infectious diseases Although the government offered guidance and support like technical advice, funds and seedling, these limited due to a concentration on the coffee sector Currently, two major perennial crop systems have been existing including monocropping and intercropping systems In this, intercropping systems demonstrated to be likely more returns than mono-cropping ones In other words, significant output complementarity between coffee and pepper crops production was discovered thanks to the potential presence of economic scope However, there is a need to have correct guidance for farmers’ on-farm practices (density, preventing pests and infectious disease, the amount of used fertilizer and pesticide) Besides, the successful models should be widened for farmers through the sharing experience at different levels from province to villages Moreover, the training programs should be organized to give academic knowledge for farmers are crucial In the coming years, the government should enact policies that improve the sustainability of perennial crop systems For the vulnerable production, re-organization of perennial crop production and marketing activities (building strong cooperatives among main agents like producers, scientists, banks, the government, companies and investors) would enhance the value chain performance as well as the power of farmers Likewise, associations such as farmers unions and women associations should operate more efficiently References Alexander, P., Paustian, K., Smith, P.M.D (2015) The economics of soil C sequestration and agricultural emissions abatement Soil, 1: 331-339 Amarasinghe, U.A., Hoanh, C.T., D’haeze, D., Hung, T.Q (2015) Toward sustainable coffee production in Vietnam: More coffee with less water Agricultural Systems, 136: 96–105 Araya, A., Stroosnijder, L., Habtu, S., Keesstra, S.D., Berhe, M., Hadgu, K.M (2012) Risk assessment by sowing date for barley (Hordeum vulgare) in northern Ethiopia Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 154: 30–37 Barbier, E.B., Burgess, J.C., Grainger, A (2010) The forest transition: Towards a more comprehensive theoretical framework Land Use Policy, 27(2): 98–107 Cheesman, J., Son, T.V.H., Bennett, J (2007) Valuing irrigation water for coffee production in Dak Lak, Vietnam: A marginal productivity analysis Research Report Retrieved from http://se.ueh.edu.vn/wp-content/uploads/nghien-cuu/19-Tran-Vo-Hung8 Son-Valuing-irrigation-water-for-coffee-production-in-Dal-Lak-Viet-Nam.pdf (accessed on 15/9/2019) Chu Nguyen, M.N., Hoang, T (2008) Analysis data for research with SPSS Hong Duc publisher, Vietnam, 2008, 295 Dak Lak PSO (Dak Lak Provincial Statistical Office) (1986) Dak Lak Socio-economic Statistical Data Source (1975-1985) Dak Lak Dak Lak PSO (Dak Lak Provincial Statistical Office) (2011) Dak Lak Socio-economic Statistical Data Source (2000-2010) Dang, T.H., Shively, G (2008) Coffee boom, coffee bust and smallholder response in Vietnam’s central highlands Review of Development Economics, 12(2): 312–326 Darnhofer, I., Bellon, S., Dedieu, B., Milestad, R (2010) Adaptiveness to enhance the sustainability of farming systems A review Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 30(3): 545–555 Diepart, J.C., Allaverdian, C (2018) Farming Systems Analysis: A guidebook for researchers and development practitioners in Myanmar GRET Retrieved from https://www.gret.org/publication/farming-systems-analysis-guidebookmyanmar/?lang=en (accessed on 15/9/2019) D’haeze, D., Deckers, J., Raes, D., Phong, T A., Loi, H.V (2005) Environmental and socio-economic impacts of institutional reforms on the agricultural sector of Vietnam: Land suitability assessment for Robusta coffee in the Dak Gan region Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 105(1-2): 59-76 Doutriaux, S., Geisler, C., Shively, G (2008) Competing for coffee space: development-induced displacement in the Central Highlands of Vietnam Rural Sociology, 73(4): 528–554 Do, V.D (2016) Những thành tựu định hướng phát triển kinh tế Đắk Lắk qua thời kỳ (Achievements and orientation for Dak Lak province over stages) Editor Le Ngoc Diep; 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