Connect and develop the Khanh Son durian link chain

Three planting area codes for durian export to China have been granted

On October 28, Khanh Son District People's Committee, in collaboration with Khanh Hoa Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and Van Hoa Development Investment Co., Ltd (Van Hoa Co.), held a conference on connecting supply and demand, build production-consumption linkages for durian in the district.

The mountainous district of Khanh Son is known as Khanh Hoa’s "capital of fruit trees”. Up to now this district has 3,300 ha of fruit trees, of which more than 2,100 ha are durian, having a current output of more than 12,000 tons.

Vice Chairman of Khanh Son District People's Committee Nguyen Quoc Dong said that the district had been approved by the General Department of Customs of China and Khanh Son Sub-Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection to issue three planting area codes for official durian export to China. Specifically, the Ba Cum Bac Fruit Cooperative Group, Son Binh Fruit Cooperative Group and the family of grower Nguyen Huu Duc in Tha Mang village, Ba Cum Bac commune with a total area of 90.5 ha.

This is an important premise contributing to protecting the district's durian brand in the process of circulation and consumption in the market, avoiding the situation of taking advantage of the trademark or mixing products of other localities into the growing areas that have been granted codes. Planting area code is also the "key" to opening the doors for Vietnamese agro-products and is a condition of necessity if agro-products are to be officially exported.

Tran Thien Hung, Director of Khanh Hoa Sub-Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, said, “In the face of increasingly strict requirements and quality management of agro-products, in the coming period the agriculture sector will promote extensive information dissemination to organizations and individuals in the area, standing side by side with production and business establishments wishing to acquire planting area codes by providing more guidance and assistance.”

The leader of Khanh Hoa Sub-Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection also asked the People's Committees of districts to direct specialized agencies while the People's Committees of communes and townships review and check the current status of planting areas wishing to be granted codes. Enterprises are required to proactively take measures to protect their codes and promptly notify management agencies when detecting related violations of code usage.

Linking durian chain is necessary

Van Hoa Co. expressed their wish to work with cooperatives, cooperative groups and growers in the meeting to jointly develop the planting area codes, join the link chain and benefit together. “The company aims to create durian link chains with people across the country with a total area of 12,000 ha and output of approximately 300,000 tons/year,” said Le Anh Trung, representative of Van Hoa Co.

When cooperatives, cooperative groups and growers join the durian link chain, the company will support interest-free production investment loans of VND 50 million/ha. Along with that, the Company has a policy of paying post-harvest bonuses of VND 500/kg for cooperatives and cooperative groups and VND 300/kg for growers that record and produce according to the prescribed procedure. Van Hoa Co. also trains growers on planting, plant care and planting area code maintenance as durian is subject to annual inspection and planting area code re-evaluation.

Mai Van Khang, a durian grower in Son Lam commune (Khanh Son), said that the district and the agricultural sector connecting durian growers with Van Hoa Co. to have a sustainable product consumption output is an act of great necessity. But for the link chain to be sustainable, it is necessary to have a commitment to a stable purchase price.

Regarding this issue, the representative of Van Hoa Co. said that the company’s cooperation with durian growers when participating in the link chain will be clearly shown in the contract. The company commits to farmers to buy durian with the right procedure, the price of buying will be fixed before the harvest date and it will remain unchanged. The company is ready to bear the impact of price fluctuation.