About to harvest the world's largest durian garden, where will Hoang Anh Gia Lai's Duc sell it?

This year, Mr. Doan Nguyen Duc (Bau Duc) - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hoang Anh Gia Lai Joint Stock Company (HAGL) is busy preparing to harvest durian. Currently, HAGL owns the world's largest durian farm, covering 1,200 hectares in Laos. That is the Bolaven farm located in Pakson province, expected to be harvested in October-November, mainly Monthong and Musang King durian varieties.

This is the first year that durian orchards in Laos have produced fruit, including 5-year-old Monthong durian trees that have produced a lot of fruit, an average of 20-30 fruits, each weighing 2-4 kg.

For the durian growing area in Gia Lai province, last year Bau Duc started harvesting the fruit, with an average yield of about 10 tons/ha.

A 6-year-old durian tree bears 54 fruits in Hoang Anh Gia Lai's garden. Photo: Thi Ha

HAGL said that this is a natural off-season durian so the selling price is likely to be higher than the main season. If durian trees are well cared for, they will flower and bear fruit in the 4th year, reaching basic productivity in the 7th year. A mature tree produces 80-100 fruits, the fruit weight is controlled from 2-5kg. The average yield is 25 to 30 tons/ha, plus the off-season factor, which will bring very high economic value.

With nearly 300 hectares to be harvested this year, Mr. Duc expects the company to earn about 2,000 tons of durian, equivalent to 200 billion VND in revenue (calculated at current prices). By 2025-2026, this figure could reach thousands of billions of VND.

Previously, talking to Dan Viet about finding a place to sell durian, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of HAGL said that he had calculated very carefully so he was not worried about the output market.

"I have a lot of customers who buy durian, all of them are big and long-term customers in China. Last year, the harvest was low so I could only sell a few hundred tons," said Mr. Duc.

This person revealed that although Monthong durians are not ready to be harvested until August, since May, Chinese traders have asked to buy them and are willing to pay deposits at attractive prices.

Mr. Duc also affirmed that in the next 10 years, durian will still not be enough to meet consumer demand, because durian is a perennial tree, it takes 6-7 years to bear fruit. Durian trees are very difficult to grow, not everywhere can produce high productivity. Chinese people love to eat durian, but currently the price of durian is still too expensive so not everyone can buy it to eat regularly.

"Second, durian can now be exported to the US and Europe in the form of whole frozen fruit and frozen segments. Currently, China is still the country that eats the most durian, other countries are just starting to learn. Therefore, I am sure that the market will grow bigger and bigger" - Mr. Duc affirmed.

To have good productivity and high quality fruit in terms of taste and sweetness, Mr. Duc said he invited 10 experts from Thailand to Laos to "eat and sleep" with durian, while in the growing area of ​​Vietnam, expert La Canh Cuong will advise.

According to HAGL, in order for durian trees to bear fruit and produce high yields, the selected seedlings must have a clear origin and grow healthily without pests or diseases. Durian is a fruit with high economic value, so the care process also requires a lot of meticulousness and care. HAGL has a team of skilled, hard-working technical staff in the orchards to ensure that the care process is carried out promptly and completely.

"HAGL commits not to harvest unripe fruit and not to sell fruit that does not meet dryness standards," the company said.

Bau Duc's durian garden in Gia Lai has been harvested since 2023. Photo: HAGL

Mr. Le Hong Phu, who is contracted 31 hectares of durian in Gia Lai by HAGL, said that this year his garden harvested about 500 tons of fruit, nearly double the same period last year. "Many trees after pollination bear up to 100 fruits, but to help them grow stably and have good quality, I only keep 30-50 fruits," Mr. Phu shared.

With three main products: durian, banana and pork, Hoang Anh Gia Lai expects this year's revenue to reach over VND7,700 billion, up 20.3% over the same period, and after-tax profit to be over VND1,300 billion. To date, the company has planted an additional 500 hectares of durian and 2,000 hectares of banana, bringing the total area to nearly 2,000 hectares of durian and 9,000 hectares of banana.

"HAGL bananas are sold at Lotte supermarkets in Korea and supermarkets in Japan. We strive to increase the rate of banana exports to Korea and Japan to 50%, the rest is exported to China because the Korean and Japanese markets are stable, with prices fixed for the whole year" - Mr. Duc said.

By applying the contract mechanism for banana farm directors and durian garden "owners", Mr. Duc hopes that in the next 2 years, HAG will not only have "billionaire farmers" but the company's durian will also be popular both domestically and internationally.

Source: https://danviet.vn/sap-thu-hoach-vuon-sau-rieng-lon-nhat-the-gioi-bau-duc-hoang-anh-gia-lai-se-tieu-thu-o-dau-20240627172210978.htm