Potential benefits from the adoption of new groundnut varieties in northern Vietnam: An ex ante assessment

Enabled by land reforms and fuelled by technological change, agricultural production in Vietnam grew tremendously after the mid-1980s. Focusing on groundnut, an export-oriented cash and food crop, this paper provides estimates of potential benefits from the adoption of improved varieties in northern Vietnam. At farm level, switching over to improved varieties generates additional revenue of VND1.8 to 3.9 million per hectare (US$1 is equivalent to about VND15,969). The aggregate benefits for northern Vietnam are huge. With the groundnut area remaining unchanged, the annual value of benefits from the adoption of improved varieties in 80% of the area by 2020 will be VND571,691 million (US$35.8 million) at a real discount rate of 5%. These benefits will be 14% larger if the groundnut area continues to expand at the rate achieved in the recent past.