The initial trial fields are located in North Central, Vietnam near Vinh City and harvest activities were observed by the local government and media including a regional television news crew.
These fields are only a small part of a broad network of trial fields located across several provinces and it is too early to come to any conclusions, but farmers were pleased with the first yield which also easily met company expectations, the company said.
The results were especially gratifying after an unseasonably long and low temperature winter period that delayed the start of spring growth. Further harvests will be conducted over the ensuing weeks and months and comprehensive data will be gathered over the course of the year.
George Blankenbaker, Stevia Corp president, said: “It has been a long road to get to this point and it is exciting and inspiring to see the level of local interest and enthusiasm from the communities involved in the progress.
“From our perspective, the work is ongoing as we need to verify the economics of the stevia plant on a large scale over the span of an entire year and it is much too early to say that we have succeeded in Vietnam, but it is a very encouraging start.”
Source: Stevia Corp
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