HANOI, Dec 21 (Reuters) – Floods have killed six more people in Vietnam’s Central Highlands coffee belt, taking the death toll to 60 over the last 10 days, but officials said on Wednesday the important coffee crop was not affected.

The six, two of them children, drowned as heavy rains triggered floods in the eastern and southeastern parts of Daklak province, which are not key coffee growing areas, an official at Daklak’s disaster management department said.

“The damaged coffee area, mainly along streams and rivers, is relatively small, between 300 and 400 hectares,” he said, referring to an area of between 740 and 990 acres.

Irrigation projects were damaged and more than 1,100 homes inundated in the districts of Ea Kar, Krong Bong and Krong Ana.

Daklak, which has 160,000 hectares of coffee plantations, produces a third of Vietnam’s output. The country is the world’s second-largest producer of the commodity after Brazil.

The rain has prevented coffee growers from drying cherries, raising concerns about quality as beans ferment and turn black if kept indoors for too long, making them unfit for export.

HANOI, Dec 21 (Reuters) – Floods have killed six more people in Vietnam’s
Central Highlands coffee belt, taking the death toll to 60 over the last 10
days, but officials said on Wednesday the important coffee crop was not
affected.

The six, two of them children, drowned as heavy rains triggered floods in the
eastern and southeastern parts of Daklak province, which are not key coffee
growing areas, an official at Daklak’s disaster management department said.

“The damaged coffee area, mainly along streams and rivers, is relatively
small, between 300 and 400 hectares,” he said, referring to an area of between
740 and 990 acres.

Irrigation projects were damaged and more than 1,100 homes inundated in the
districts of Ea Kar, Krong Bong and Krong Ana.

Daklak, which has 160,000 hectares of coffee plantations, produces a third of
Vietnam’s output. The country is the world’s second-largest producer of the
commodity after Brazil.

The rain has prevented coffee growers from drying cherries, raising concerns
about quality as beans ferment and turn black if kept indoors for too long,
making them unfit for export.