Quintessence of Vietnamese agricultural products: Binh Phuoc basalt durian

The remarkable 30 hectare durian farm

Speaking of durian, most people will probably think that it is a product from the Western region. But durian has now also reached the red soil of the East. Amidst the green of the vast rubber, cashew and pepper forests are the green durian farm that are generating high income for farmers in the area.

Following the officers into the farm, we were truly captivated by the giant 30-hectare durian farm belonging to Mr. Truong Van Dao's family in Bau Nghe village, Phuoc Tin commune, Phuoc Long town. Taking us on a tour around the farm, Mr. Dao couldn't help but happily share about the farming process to create delicious, local-flavored durians.

“Nature is quite favorable to Binh Phuoc, giving the land an extremely fertile basalt red soil, this soil characteristically contains a high amount of sulfur, making a very distinctly flavored durian. As such, Binh Phuoc durian is drier, sweeter and not pungent, with an eye-catching light yellow color, people can eat this fruit for days", Mr. Dao shared.

Holding a round, aromatic durian fruit in his hand, Mr. Dao shared that he is very passionate about growing durian it is but also very hard, taxing job daily. Taking care of durian trees is like taking care of a baby. He must monitor its "health" every day. He must handle problems immediately at early signs of an unhealthy tree, otherwise he will risk losing the tree. Growing durian trees, from when the tree is planted to when the tree blooms, yields fruits and so forth, requires specific techniques, and farmers have to tinker manually and learn to apply these techniques on their farms in the most reasonable, economical way. 

The entire farming area of ​​Mr. Dao's family is currently installed with an automatic irrigation system, trees are coded, symbols are used to track fruit until harvest; pest management as well as care procedures are bio-organic, so pests and diseases are limited, the trunk is strong, and the yield is stable. According to Mr. Dao's calculations, each hectare of durian from the 8th year onwards will give a yield of 15 to 20 tons if invested and cared for in the correct technical process. With the current average price of durian at 35,000 - 50,000 VND/kg, the income can reach billion of VND/hectare.

“Many people have long believed that using chemical pesticides and plant stimulants is more profitable. But in reality, organic farming is really beneficial in the long run because the soil is nourished, not degraded by chemicals, and the trees can have a longer life. And the older the durian tree, the juicier the fruit is and therefore the higher economic value it has", Dao confidently affirmed.

Mr. Dao added that in 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, national consumption of agricultural products faced many difficulties. To counteract such problems, he did not hesitate to invest in building a freezing machines system for preliminary and deep processing of products. With this approach, the family's durian brand is well received by the domestic market in both the South and the North. He no longer has to worry about output for the farm's durian products when the market fluctuates.

The story of Minh Tam's connection to grow durians

Alongside Mr. Ba Dao's durian farm, most durian growers in Binh Phuoc have boldly changed farming practices after realizing the benefits and opportunities for sustainable economic development from organic durian farming, and they also link production, form specialized farming areas. The most notable of which is the Minh Tam clean durian farming cooperative group (Hon Quan district), this is one of the units with close links between farmers and businesses. In this linkage, input materials, fertilizers, biological pesticides as well as science and technology advances are all supported fully by Loc Troi Group, product output is fully covered by Chanh Thu company, so farmers only have to focus on farming, the income is much higher than that from traditional methods.

We visited Minh Tam cooperative group when the technical staff from Loc Troi Group was in the process of transfering scientific and technology advances. Mr. Nguyen Duc Hanh, leader of the cooperation group, said that most local farmers cultivated pepper plants in the past. It was only until 2011 when pepper prices went down, along with spreading diseases on trees that farmers started to convert to durian cultivation. However, due to lack of technology, many problems present themselves including pests and diseases, slow growth, low yield, and price pressure from traders.

After realizing that the organic durian farming trend reduces investment costs, yield good products with consumption by companies, the cooperative group joined Loc Troi Group in building the raw materials area for Chanh Thu exporting company since 2016. Thanks to this collaboration, most  members have mastered the science and technology, and most importantly, the company will go to the farms to buy all of the prouducts at a price 30% higher than the market.

According to Mr. Hanh, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021 and 2022 has significantly affected domestic agricultural products. However, thanks to the close connection between the company and the cooperative group, output of the past crop was purchased entirely by the company. The average price of durian last year fluctuated between 35,000 and 40,000 VND/kg, but the cooperative group still sold durian at an average price of 45,000/kg. 70% of which are grade 1 durian, sold for 48,000 VND/kg.

Nguyen Van Doan, technical officer from Loc Troi Group in charge of fruit trees in the Southeast region said that the group is cooperating with Chanh Thu company to continue building linkages between production and consumption. The group plans to implement the supply chain and production linkage on durian trees in Hon Quan. After this project, the group will implement the production linkage model in all districts of Binh Phuoc and the Southeast region, expanding from durian trees to other key products such as citrus trees, vegetables, and so forth.

“In the globalization trend, brand is considered a passport for each product when entering the world market. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a brand besides clean production for fruit trees outside of Binh Phuoc durian. Brand establishment does not only help sell the products, but more importantly, it helps promote the image of the province. However, this task requires a close cooperation between the "state, businesses, scientists and farmers". The province will create favorable conditions for businesses to attract investment in Binh Phuoc, as well as issue appropriate mechanisms and policies to support cooperative groups, cooperatives and farmers in mastering science, technology, making profits on their own land", emphasized Ms. Le Thi Anh Tuyet, Deputy Director of Binh Phuoc Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.