Address the limitations in durian production and consumption as soon as possible.

In recent years, Vietnam's durian industry has experienced remarkable growth, and durian has become one of the country's key agricultural exports, contributing significantly to foreign exchange earnings. However, the rapid increase in durian acreage and production has revealed numerous difficulties and limitations in production management, processing, preservation, and ensuring product quality and safety. Durian exports are still heavily dependent on the Chinese market, making them vulnerable to price drops when imports from China decrease or other obstacles arise.

Durian harvesting in Thoi Lai district, Can Tho city.

Revealing limitations

Over the past years, the area planted with durian in Vietnam has continuously increased, and durian has become one of the key agricultural export products, accounting for the largest share of export value among Vietnam's fruit exports. In 2015, the total durian area nationwide was only 32,000 hectares, but by 2024 it had increased to 178,800 hectares, with an average increase of 16,300 hectares per year. Durian production has also increased rapidly, with an increase of approximately 126,000 tons per year, reaching over 1.5 million tons per year. While durian export value was only over 277 million USD in 2022, it exceeded 2 billion USD in 2023 and reached 3.2 billion USD in 2024. Durian has made a significant contribution to the growth of the country's agriculture, forestry, and fisheries sector, creating jobs and increasing income for many people.

However, rapid development and growth always carry many risks for both production and consumption, especially as durian importing countries increasingly demand higher quality and safety standards. Meanwhile, durian cultivation by farmers in many parts of our country has been largely spontaneous, fragmented, and small-scale, making it difficult to manage quality and standardize production to meet market requirements. Production linkages along the value chain are limited, and the processes of purchasing, processing, and consuming durian fruit still have shortcomings, lack synchronization, and are not properly controlled or managed, leading to fraudulent planting area codes and the presence of prohibited substances, which negatively impacts exports. Notably, Vietnam's durian exports to the Chinese market faced many difficulties and experienced a sharp decline in the first months of 2025. China tightened its quality control of imported durian and monitored the levels of Yellow O and Cadmium, refusing to allow the passage of durian shipments with levels exceeding the permitted limits for these banned substances.

Vietnam's durian exports still heavily depend on the Chinese market, and in recent years, the majority of exports have been fresh fruit. Therefore, when exports to this market encounter obstacles, a large quantity of durian is diverted to the domestic market. Currently, the selling prices of many durian varieties for farmers in the Mekong Delta have dropped sharply compared to last year. According to Mr. Nguyen Van Dieu, residing in Truong Hoa hamlet, Truong Thang commune, Thoi Lai district, Can Tho city, in 2024 he sold Ri 6 durians at his orchard to traders at an average price of 50,000 VND/kg, but this year the price unexpectedly dropped, resulting in little profit for farmers. Last month, traders placed deposits on his durian orchard at 43,000 VND/kg, but on harvest day, they demanded a price reduction to 38,000 VND/kg for good quality durians, while those damaged by pests were only 50% of the price of the good quality ones. Because he didn't sign a contract with strict binding terms, and also feared that traders wouldn't come to buy when they saw that the price of Ri 6 rice in many localities was only 32,000-35,000 VND/kg, Mr. Dieu had no choice but to lower the selling price as requested by the traders.

Comprehensive solutions are needed.

To stabilize and sustainably develop the durian industry, all stakeholders in the supply chain need to pay attention and participate in implementing synchronized solutions to promptly address difficulties and limitations. In particular, relevant authorities need to review, supplement, and improve legal documents and implement strict management and control measures for input materials used in production, growing areas, growing area codes, and the packaging, processing, and export processes to ensure product quality and safety. According to Mr. Tran Thai Nghiem, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Can Tho City, relevant agencies need to focus on identifying suitable growing areas to re-plan and reorient production according to practical realities, and promptly advise farmers against planting durian in unsuitable locations. Focus on effectively exploiting the domestic market and expanding export markets to avoid dependence on the Chinese market, while diversifying processed products to increase value, and promoting durian consumption through tourism development.

At the "Sustainable Development of the Durian Industry" workshop recently organized by Tien Phong Newspaper, many delegates argued that strengthening supply chain linkages and ensuring transparency are crucial for the sustainable development of the durian industry. They suggested that state management agencies should promptly implement solutions and mechanisms to strictly control both the input and output of the industry chain. Support and promote linkages between farmers, businesses, and relevant parties are also necessary. Furthermore, they emphasized the need to enhance traceability and the identification of growing areas, and to apply information technology to ensure transparency throughout the entire supply chain.

According to Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen, General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, for the sustainable development of Vietnamese durian, urgent solutions are needed, such as establishing a quality monitoring system from the source, strengthening testing at durian production facilities, building food safety monitoring programs, and conducting plant quarantine right at the orchards and packaging facilities by expanding the list and improving the capacity of many qualified testing laboratories covering all growing areas. Strictly handling violations, issuing regulations and strong sanctions to deal with violations of quality, food safety, and trade fraud... In the long term, comprehensive solutions are needed to overcome difficulties in production and export, such as planning concentrated and sustainable growing areas; tightening management and granting codes for growing areas and packaging facilities; strictly controlling input materials; changing cultivation processes; and building a national brand…

Currently, the supply of durian to the market is already very large and is expected to continue increasing in the coming years as more durian orchards begin to bear fruit. Therefore, it is essential for relevant authorities to intensify negotiations, expand markets, and develop processing to diversify markets and products, avoiding over-reliance on a few markets. Businesses need to play a leading role in supply chains and apply information technology to ensure transparency in the supply chain.

Text and photos: KHANH TRUNG

Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/som-khac-phuc-han-che-trong-san-xuat-va-tieu-thu-sau-rieng-a187618.html