“Brown gold” awakens in frontier

ĐBP - Amidst the rolling hills, coffee plants are gradually blanketing the landscape in green. There, each season of white blossoms and every harvest of ripe red cherries not only carries the characteristic flavor of the mountains but also opens new expectations for the local agricultural economy. From a modest beginning, Điện Biên province is now setting its sights on developing over 20,000 hectares of coffee by 2030.

The Mường Khoe valley in Mường Ảng has long been renowned as the “Arabica capital” of the Northwest. Blessed by nature with a cool year-round climate, fertile soil, and ideal altitude, this land is solidifying its position on the Vietnamese coffee map through both impressive yield and superior quality. On November 6, 2025, the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam officially granted the Geographical Indication (GI) certificate for Mường Ảng Coffee, a testament to the perfect harmony between specific natural conditions and the long-standing cultivation techniques of the local people.

Trần Minh Giáp, Vice Chairman of the Mường Ảng commune People’s Committee, noted that for many years, coffee has truly brought a more prosperous and stable life to the people. At this point, it remains the key crop, playing a vital role in promoting commodity-oriented agricultural development.

In Búng Lao commune, coffee is also asserting its role as a primary economic driver. With nearly 800 hectares currently in cultivation, the locality plans to plant an additional 400 hectares in 2026, striving toward a goal of nearly 2,000 hectares by 2030. Rather than focusing solely on expansion, Búng Lao is carving out its own path by integrating coffee development with experiential tourism.

In 2025, the commune organized its first-ever Coffee Festival linked with eco-tourism, attracting a large number of residents and visitors. The event featured vibrant activities such as the “Talented farmers” competition, where participants showcased their knowledge of cultivation and processing, alongside coffee picking contests and stalls displaying OCOP products and local agricultural specialties.

Tạ Mạnh Cường, Party Secretary and Chairman of the Búng Lao People’s Council, shared that the development of coffee is seen as more than just expanding acreage; it must be tied to value enhancement. The Coffee Festival serves as a starting point to promote the product and connect consumption, step-by-step turning coffee into a signature tourism product of the locality.

After years of taking root in Điện Biên, coffee has confirmed its status as a high-value crop and a stable livelihood that contributes to poverty reduction for thousands of households. Farmers are shifting from fragmented, small-scale production to linked production through cooperatives, participating in every stage from planting and care to harvesting and preliminary processing. To realize the ambitious goal of 20,000 hectares by 2030, the province plans to plant approximately 12,000 new hectares over the next five years, averaging 2,400 hectares annually.

Specifically for 2026, following Resolution No.04-NQ/TU of the Executive Board of the provincial Party Committee, Điện Biên strives to plant 5,000 new hectares, bringing the total provincial area to over 13,000 hectares. This creates a strategic breakthrough right from the first year of implementation. Many communes have already established nurseries to ensure a local supply of seedlings, with several localities such as Mường Phăng, Nà Bủng, Mường Pồn, Nà Tấu, Núa Ngam, and Na Son registering new planting areas that exceed their initial targets.

Lê Xuân Cảnh, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, observed that while Son La currently leads the Northwest in coffee acreage, Điện Biên is rapidly narrowing the gap. The province is moving toward becoming a large-scale commodity coffee production region that holds a central role in the area.