With macadamia nuts in season, farmers are delighted.

With suitable climate and soil conditions, macadamia trees have been grown in Dak Lak for over 20 years, concentrated in the communes of Dlie Ya, Krong Nang, Phu Xuan, Tam Giang, etc., covering an area of nearly 4,000 hectares, of which over 1,500 hectares are producing fruit; mainly intercropped in coffee, pepper, and fruit orchards at a density of about 100 trees/ha. This year's yield is estimated at over 3,500 tons. The peak harvest season for macadamia trees is from June to August each year.

Mr. Dinh Tat Thang (Giang Minh village, Phu Xuan commune) previously intercropped coffee with durian, but the economic efficiency was not high. In 2011, realizing that the land and climate here were suitable for macadamia trees, he experimented with planting over 100 trees intercropped in his coffee garden. By 2013, seeing that the trees were easy to care for, resistant to pests and diseases, and suitable for the local climate, he boldly expanded to 400 trees on an area of 1.3 hectares.

Leaders of Phu Xuan commune visited the macadamia nut farming model of Mr. Dinh Tat Thang's family (Giang Minh village).

According to Mr. Thang, macadamia trees only require significant investment in the initial stage; they start bearing fruit from the fifth year onwards, with stable yields from the seventh year. With 7 tons of fruit harvested this year, after deducting expenses, his family earned approximately 500 million VND. “Macadamia cultivation is stable, consistent year after year, unlike coffee trees which are subject to uncertainty. Furthermore, the market for the product is very favorable; after harvesting, macadamia nuts can be sold immediately to local processing facilities or traders can come directly to the farm to buy them,” Mr. Thang said.

Similarly, Ms. Vu Thi Hanh's family (Tam Binh village, Tam Giang commune) also owns more than 1 hectare of land planted with coffee intercropped with pepper. However, due to the fluctuating price of coffee and the difficulty and high investment costs of caring for pepper plants, in 2016 she decided to switch to planting 300 macadamia trees. According to Ms. Hanh, to master cultivation techniques, she was given the opportunity by the commune government to participate in training courses and visit successful macadamia farming models in other localities to learn from their experiences. “In the near future, my family will plant an additional 1,000 trees on an area of about 3 hectares. Macadamia trees require little care and are not affected by drought, so the risks are minimal. With the current relatively high and stable selling price, my family has a stable income. This year, my family expects to harvest about 4 tons of fruit, and after deducting expenses, we will have a profit of about 300 million VND,” Ms. Hanh happily said.

Phu Xuan commune is one of the localities (after merger) with the largest macadamia nut cultivation area in the province, with 446 hectares and an estimated production of 1,327 tons. Mr. Nguyen Tien An, Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, said: “Identifying agricultural production as the local strength, the Commune People's Committee focuses on promoting and encouraging people to implement solutions to restructure crop cultivation towards developing key industrial crops with high economic value and sustainability such as coffee, macadamia nuts, durian... The commune also cooperates with specialized units to provide technical support, establish consumption linkages, and strongly apply scientific and technological advancements in biotechnology and automation technology to planting, caring for, harvesting, and processing to help people feel secure in production and sustainably increase their income.”

Besides stable prices, macadamia farmers are also excited because macadamia nuts are popular in the market and easy to sell. After harvesting, farmers can sell them to local dealers and processing facilities without having to travel far. In fact, many processing facility owners are willing to come directly to the farms to purchase the nuts from the farmers.

These days, at Damaca Nguyen Phuong Joint Stock Company (Krong Nang commune), the atmosphere is bustling with buying and selling from afternoon to evening as people harvest macadamia nuts in their orchards and transport the product to sell to the company immediately. According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Phuong, the company's director, this year, due to the influence of weather and climate, the yield of macadamia trees in some key areas of the province is lower than last year, but the production is still high because many new orchards have started to yield. In particular, after the province merger, the area planted with macadamia trees in the East (formerly Phu Yen province) is also about 100 hectares.

Preliminary processing of macadamia nuts at Damaca Nguyen Phuong Joint Stock Company (Krong Nang commune).

“Our company currently purchases products from 25 affiliated households in the communes of Krông Năng, Dliê Ya, Tam Giang, and Phú Xuân. In addition, the company also collaborates with several businesses to purchase macadamia nuts from people in the eastern part of the province. In the future, our goal is to expand the affiliated area to the eastern communes of the province, thereby building a sustainable, export-standard raw material area and contributing to increasing people's income,” Ms. Thu Phương shared.

Similarly, this year, An Nhi Macadamia Company Limited (Tam Binh village, Tam Giang commune) has also invested in machinery and built a factory to purchase macadamia nuts from farmers in the commune and neighboring areas. Currently, the demand for macadamia nuts in the market is quite high, so during the macadamia harvest season, the company is ready to purchase all the produce from the people. This year, the company expects to purchase 200-300 tons of nuts for processing and sale on the market.

This year's macadamia harvest season is earlier than in 2024. In addition to purchasing the nuts, businesses are directly supporting farmers with cultivation techniques, guidance on care, harvesting, and processing to ensure standards are met. This partnership not only helps improve product quality but also builds a sustainable link between growers and businesses, creating a foundation for developing raw material areas linked to deep processing and export to demanding markets.

Macadamia is a valuable forestry crop, and farmers can certainly become wealthy from it. However, to make macadamia a strong agricultural sector, relevant authorities need to plan for suitable microclimates, select appropriate plant varieties, and establish market outlets for the product. For farmers, developing macadamia cultivation requires careful research into seed selection and establishing links with macadamia nut producers and consumers for sustainable development.

Source: https://baodaklak.vn/kinh-te/202508/mac-ca-vao-vu-nong-dan-phan-khoi-2901a51/