Dak Lak is preparing to enter the main durian harvest season in 2025, but farmers are currently worried about the fact that the import market is increasingly tightening standards and technical requirements, and the durian purchase price is lower than in previous years.
In recent times, with the role of supporting cultivation and connecting consumption for farmers; Dak Lak Durian Association has continuously had solutions and recommendations to ensure planning orientation and best preparation for this fruit to be exported...
Facing many challenges
To date, Dak Lak province has about 41,000 hectares of durian (including 1,000 hectares of the old Phu Yen province), with an expected output of about 400,000 tons in 2025. This industry is facing many difficulties, especially the tightening of plant quarantine standards, growing area codes, packaging facility codes, and high requirements on cultivation techniques, traceability, product quality control, etc. of the import market. Therefore, growers and businesses are in need of practical and timely support.
Mr. Le Anh Trung, Chairman of the Dak Lak Durian Association, shared that with the current durian season this year, there are three difficult problems for farmers. Firstly, Dak Lak province's durian continues to have a good harvest in terms of output, and the quality of the fruit has been improved. However, the low prices at the beginning of the season have made growers worried. Many farmers are under pressure due to high investment costs, unstable output, and falling prices, making cultivation difficult.
Second, some growing areas have not yet been granted codes, or have difficulty maintaining the cultivation process according to export requirements. This is a problem that has been raised for many years, but has not yet been resolved. Third, in some places, there is still internal competition, traders forcing down prices, farmers lack updated information about export markets and limit production, cooperation with key enterprises, thus reducing the ability to ensure output. The root cause of all three of these problems, according to the Dak Lak Durian Association, is that there is no focal point to solve the problems right from the time of cultivation implementation to export output. To solve this problem, the Dak Lak Durian Association, as a bridge between farmers - enterprises - State management agencies, has been and is continuing to promote its activities.
In the short term, during this crop season, the Association is recommending that relevant departments and branches strengthen inspection and supervision of the purchase, packaging and export of durian in accordance with the Protocol with China; in order to speed up the process of granting codes for growing areas and packaging facilities to farmers. In the long term, the Association will focus on supporting members to organize production according to standard processes, connect with reputable exporting enterprises, and work with farmers to improve their ability to access market information, in order to create a sustainable chain of links between growers - enterprises - markets. Only then can farmers' difficulties be completely resolved.
Right before this year's durian harvest, the Dak Lak Durian Association, in collaboration with the German Development Cooperation Organization (GIZ), organized three training courses to improve capacity for 500 farmers, cooperative owners and fruit export enterprises in the province.
Through training courses, farmers, cooperative and business owners are informed by experts about the following contents: Sustainable durian cultivation techniques, application of good agricultural practices (VietGAP); safe use of pesticides; dissemination of import market regulations; use of electronic farming logbooks associated with product traceability; survey, assessment, planning of purchasing links between exporting enterprises and growers... At the same time, instructions on how to take soil and leaf samples and conduct inspection, analysis, and evaluation of indicators related to export durian quality regulations...
Mr. Nguyen Van Son in Ea Kiet commune shared: “My family has been growing 2 hectares of durian for the 7th year and is preparing to enter the harvest season. The training course has helped me and other durian growers grasp sustainable farming techniques, how to safely use pesticides; the use of electronic farming diaries associated with product traceability and understanding more about the regulations of the import market... From there, we apply it in practice to improve the efficiency of durian production right this harvest season...”.
URGENT TRANSPARENCY OF “SAFE ZONE”
Mr. Le Anh Trung shared: To overcome difficulties, requiring the confirmation and transparency of "safe areas" is the most direct and key solution for Dak Lak durian. Dak Lak Durian Association has proactively developed short-term, focused solutions to confirm the quality of durian. Currently, the Association has coordinated with scientific organizations to research and test pesticide residues and heavy metals in key growing areas, thereby clearly identifying "safe areas" in a transparent manner, so that domestic enterprises and foreign partners can confidently cooperate, contributing to stabilizing the market and increasing the value of Vietnamese durian.
In the long term, the Association has planned to build a sustainable development strategy for the province's durian industry, with three main pillars. One is to work with the government, businesses and farmers to reorganize production stages according to raw material areas with codes and clear contracts. Close cooperation, with contracts between farmers and businesses, ensures that farmers feel secure in farming, and at the same time, have sustainable contracts. Second, the Association and the government will strengthen investment mobilization, attract and promote the processing industry, especially frozen products, to reduce dependence on the fresh fruit market.
Thereby, helping Dak Lak durian in the main season have more advantages for export, but it requires scientific planning, support policies, and effective investment attraction from the government and management sectors. Third, encourage businesses to cooperate with local authorities to build the Dak Lak durian brand associated with traceability and export standards. This is an important solution to increase the value and image of responsibility of producers and exporters to the market, and fundamentally solve the problem of floating agricultural products, affecting the vision of sustainable farming planning for local and national agriculture.
According to experts, in addition to current Chinese customers, the Dak Lak Durian Association is aiming to promote more diverse export markets as well as build a market risk warning information system, helping farmers increase their farming management capacity. The current advantage is that Dak Lak province has plans to support farmers in promoting digital transformation in production and market connection. This is a long-term journey, requiring the cooperation of the entire industry, from the government, businesses to durian growers, to create a closed, safe and sustainable production and consumption ecosystem ■
Source: https://baolamdong.vn/phat-trien-ben-vung-nganh-hang-sau-rieng-383585.html
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