"Gathering" marine and forest agricultural products - the "key" to increasing the value of Lam Dong agricultural products: Part 3: Merging dragon fruit from the blue sea to the great forest

Lam Dong province's cooperatives are accepting more different types of goods from associated farmers, hoping to become a "gathering" center for consolidated agricultural products, standing firm and growing stronger in the area.

Dragon fruit and anchovy for export

After 10 - 15 years of going through difficulties and challenges, sometimes even facing risks on the brink of big losses, but thanks to a thorough analysis of objective and subjective reasons, Son Hai High-Tech Agriculture Cooperative, Nam Ban Lam Ha Commune and Ham Kiem Dragon Fruit Production Service Cooperative, Ham Kiem Commune (Lam Dong Province) have persistently recovered with the main crop of dragon fruit merging from the sea to the forest.

We came to Ham Kiem Dragon Fruit Production Service Cooperative located in the plains of Ham Kiem commune in mid-July 2025 when it had just recruited a new member, Anh Lan Anchovy Purchasing and Processing Facility, Mui Ne ward.

In July 2025, every day, Son Hai High-Tech Agricultural Cooperative purchased about 10 tons of dragon fruit and avocado from associated farmers.

Ms. Dang Thi Lynh Trang - President of the Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Binh Thuan Province (formerly) commented that Ham Kiem Dragon Fruit Production Service Cooperative is producing, processing, and consuming a large amount of dragon fruit to high-end markets in the country and abroad. All dragon fruit meet food safety certification standards, 4-star OCOP, of which 2 hectares have been certified as organic standards. Dragon fruit products of the Cooperative have won many awards in the province, nationwide and regionally. Meanwhile, processed anchovy products of Ms. Tran Thi Anh Lan have maintained and developed the export market to China for decades now.

“Our desire as female entrepreneurs is to continue expanding the clean food supply chain to new domestic market areas. In the immediate future, we will focus on school kitchens, industrial park workers, tourist areas... So we really need a legal entity to represent and operate the long-term development chain...”, Ms. Trang said.

Mr. Tran Ngoc Toan, representative of Me Linh Eco-tourism Cooperative (Nam Ban Lam Ha commune) - the unit in charge of expanding the "gathering" centers for marine and forest agricultural products, said that through the assessment of operational capacity, Ham Kiem Dragon Fruit Production Service Cooperative was officially accepted as a member unit as a "destination" in the agricultural product linkage chain across the sea and forest of Lam Dong province.

Anh Lan anchovy purchasing and processing facility gathers products for export to China.

The advantage of this transit point is located on the National Highway 1A, Phan Thiet - Dau Giay Expressway passes through, in the geographical indication area of ​​Binh Thuan dragon fruit, with an annual output of over 3,000 tons. In particular, Ham Kiem Dragon Fruit Production Service Cooperative was established in September 2015, up to now, with 63 members associated in producing white-flesh and red-flesh dragon fruit meeting VietGAP standards on more than 100 hectares, GlobalGAP on 10 hectares and 2 hectares of organic standards. Ms. Ho Thi Bach Hoang - Director of Ham Kiem Dragon Fruit Production Service Cooperative shared: "With the domestic and export markets still having a lot of potential, our Cooperative aims to increase 10 hectares of dragon fruit and 10 hectares of organic vegetables, tubers and fruits next year...".

According to Ms. Tran Thi Anh Lan: “Our Anh Lan anchovy purchasing and processing facility has been operating for decades, the factory is located on a total area of ​​8,000 m2. The facility processes and exports anchovies to the Chinese market at least 5 tons at a time, and at most 20 tons. When the new chain links with Ham Kiem Dragon Fruit Production Service Cooperative, we are ready to double the processing capacity, corresponding to the output of fresh anchovies purchased from fishermen doubling compared to present...”.

Dragon fruit and avocado "gathered" for freezing

In Lam Dong province, if the agricultural product "gathering" chain of Ham Kiem Dragon Fruit Production Service Cooperative has additional processed anchovy products, Son Hai High-Tech Agricultural Cooperative receives all kinds of avocado products harvested in all four seasons.

Son Hai Cooperative's cold storage system helps prolong product preservation time.

Here, through the ups and downs of the agricultural product purchasing warehouse 15 years ago, it upgraded to establish Son Hai High-Tech Agricultural Cooperative in March 2025 with a scale of linking 90 households cultivating 200 hectares of dragon fruit and avocado of all kinds in the area, of which 50 hectares of dragon fruit have been granted export growing area codes.

Ms. Tran Thi Hai - Director of Son Hai High-Tech Agricultural Cooperative informed that after 4 months of establishment and operation, the Cooperative purchases 5 tons of dragon fruit and 5 tons of avocado every day, "gathers" for preliminary processing, processing and quickly transports to domestic consumption places, accounting for more than 80% of the harvest output of the associated farmers. Payment is made as soon as the purchase is made, without leaving long-term debt.

Dragon fruit growing area meets organic standards for high-end domestic and export markets of Ham Kiem Dragon Fruit Production Service Cooperative

Taking a tour around the factory of Son Hai High-Tech Agricultural Cooperative with a total area of ​​over 500 m2, we recorded dragon fruit and avocado products in the process of preliminary processing and packaging for fresh preservation. In particular, the freezing processing stages at 20 degrees below zero in the cooperative's cold storage allow for the time to ensure product quality remains unchanged for up to 24 months. However, according to observations, the cooperative's two cold storages have only frozen output meeting 50 - 60% of capacity. The remaining 40 - 50% of the warehouse needs to mobilize additional working capital to increase the purchasing output of "concentrated" dragon fruit and avocado products from associated farmers, ensuring long-term smooth product output...

Final article: Forming inter-regional trade axes

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/tap-ket-nong-san-bien-rung-chia-khoa-nang-cao-gia-tri-nong-san-lam-dong-bai-3-hop-nhat-thanh-long-tu-bien-xanh-len-dai-ngan-386126.html