Typhoon to damage pepper crop

A typhoon last month flattened 1,000 hectares (2,470 acres) of pepper plants in the central part of Vietnam, the world's largest producer of black pepper, and could reduce its 2010 crop output, an industry report said on Thursday. The affected areas account for just 2 percent of Vietnam's total crop area, but included 500 hectares in Gia Lai province, home of Chu Se pepper, known for its quality, the Vietnam Pepper Association said.
"Due to unfavourable weather, the yield and output of the 2010 crop harvest could fall seriously," the report said, without giving any estimates. It said another 400 hectares were damaged in Daklak. Gia Lai and Daklak in the Central Highlands coffee belt are Vietnam's second- and third-largest pepper growing provinces after Binh Phuoc. Vietnamese growers harvest pepper between February and May. Typhoon Ketsana ploughed into the region in late September, killing 163 people, destroying or damaging nearly 500,000 houses and leaving damage estimated at 14.34 trillion dong ($804 million), government reports said.