Cocoa beans grown in southern Ben Tre Province were ranked among the best in Asia by US-based Cargill Corporation.

The company's local subsidiary, Cargill Vietnam, is one of the biggest exporters of cocoa here and sent bean samples from Ben Tre to the US for testing. Results showed that the fat content of Vietnamese cocoa is 55-56 per cent - the higher the fat content, the better the bean.

There are about 10,000 hectares suitable for cocoa farming in the province, according to Government statistics, though only 2,000 hectares are used.

Cocoa plantations, which are often integrated with coconut cultivation, annually produce about 1.5 tonnes of beans per hectare. Cocoa is then sold for between VND22,000-22,500 a kilogram.

Nationwide, about 8,000 hectares are dedicated to cocoa production, which are mainly concentrated in the southern provinces of Ben Tre, Tien Giang, Binh Phuoc, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Dong Nai; and in the Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) provinces of Dac Lac and Dac Nong.

Government officials plan to increase the total acreage under cocoa farming to 20,000 hectares by 2010.