In some regions, farmers have been over-intensifying coffee cultivation without paying sufficient attention to sustainable practices. The national average yield is nearly 2 tons per hectare, with many areas reaching 3–4 tons—levels that are very high compared with global standards.
According to a survey by the Western Highlands Agro-Forestry Science and Technology Institute, only about 50 % of households apply NPK fertilizer following recommended guidelines. The rest apply higher rates than prescribed and also irrigate more—6,000–7,000 m³ of water per hectare—causing plantations to deteriorate quickly, with rising pest pressures and sharply higher costs of production.
To address these issues, in recent years the coffee sector has adopted new cell-culture technology: in-vitro somatic embryo propagation in a liquid medium, while preserving the desirable traits of selected elite Robusta (Coffea canephora) clones noted for high yield, quality, and strong disease resistance. From just 1 g of plant tissue, as many as 600,000 somatic embryos can be generated within a few months, with a regeneration rate of up to 47 %.
Nguyen Van Truong, Deputy General Director of the Vietnam National Coffee Corporation (Vinacafe), stated: “From 2009–2010, Vinacafe will invest over 950 billion VND to implement a comprehensive set of technical solutions for coffee replanting, helping to achieve the goal of sustainable coffee development.” Beginning with the 2009 rainy season, Vinacafe has already top-worked (cut back and grafted) more than 300 ha of old coffee, replacing them with carefully selected elite Robusta clones such as TR4 and TR5—varieties officially recognized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. These clones deliver high yields of 4.2–7.3 tons of green coffee per hectare per year.
Data from the Department of Crop Production show that Vietnam currently has about 86,000 ha of coffee over 20 years old—17.3 % of total coffee area. In addition, more than 40,000 ha of coffee under 20 years old already exhibit signs of aging, with poor growth, many non-fruiting branches, and low yield and quality. The Department estimates that within the next 5–10 years, around 140,000–160,000 ha of coffee will need to be replanted or converted to other crops.