From “hot” growth to controlled development strategy of durian industry

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, durian is one of the agricultural products with the most impressive growth rate in the past decade. The cultivated area has increased nearly 6 times, reaching nearly 180,000 hectares. Lam Dong province alone has nearly 43,900 hectares, accounting for nearly 28% of the country's durian area, making durian a key crop in the national agricultural structure.

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The growth in durian acreage has brought many benefits to farmers in recent times. However, due to "hot" development, the durian industry is gradually revealing many concerns and consequences.

Excessive durian productivity

Dr. Cao Thi Lan, Head of the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, Dalat University, shared: Durian is a perennial fruit tree, with a growth cycle of 15-20 years, or even much longer.

However, the reality is that through current surveys, most durian gardens in the province have entered the aging stage, declining after only the 10th year. The reason for this situation is that when farmers see that durian prices are continuously high, they push durian productivity too much, leading to early tree exhaustion.

According to Dr. Cao Thi Lan, when durian prices are high, farmers tend to let the trees bear as many fruits as possible; at the same time, they use many preparations to prevent fruit drop. This helps the orchards have high yields, but the fruit quality is uneven. In particular, forcing durian productivity too much can lead to many consequences such as poor fruit quality, weakened trees, and even early death due to exhaustion.

When durian prices are high, farmers tend to let the trees bear as much fruit as possible.

Thus, instead of the garden growing and developing well for 20 years, many gardeners now have to replant after only 10 years. Meanwhile, durian trees need at least 4 years of planting and care before they can be harvested in the 5th year.

On the other hand, because durian is a crop with high economic value, people are currently developing the area "hotly". In fact, most of the durian cultivation areas are now created on lands with many favorable natural conditions. Meanwhile, many new areas are developed on hilly, sloping lands, which are not favorable for cultivation.

Organic farming, sustainable direction

With 7,000 durian trees, each year yielding 350 - 400 tons, Mr. Vu Van Bang's family in Di Linh commune has earned tens of billions of dong in revenue each year.

Old farmer Vu Van Bang (white shirt) in Di Linh commune with a long-standing durian garden that still produces high yields.

With 30 years of experience growing durian, Mr. Bang is known as one of the farmers with the largest durian growing area in Lam Dong province, cultivating more than 30 hectares. Notably, many of his family's long-term durian growing areas still produce very high yields and quality without the need for replacement planting.

According to Mr. Vu Van Bang, the future development direction is to combine sustainable durian cultivation with organic agriculture.

Mr. Bang shared: The future development direction is to combine sustainable durian cultivation with organic agriculture, ensuring consumer health and increasing the value of agricultural products. This is not only a requirement from the market but also a responsibility to the land, the environment and future generations.

Sustainable durian cultivation is a production method that focuses on the balance between crop yield, agricultural product quality and long-term environmental protection. This is not only a safe direction for growers but also a solution to adapt to climate change and increasingly demanding export markets.

To achieve a sustainable durian model, farmers need to ensure many synchronous factors such as the cultivated land needs to be loose, retain moisture well and be rich in organic humus.

To achieve a sustainable durian model, farmers need to ensure many synchronous factors such as: Cultivated land needs to be loose, retain moisture well and be rich in organic humus. Irrigation water must be clean and used economically. Plant varieties must be disease-free and suitable for the soil. Care techniques are based on organic measures, with few chemicals, taking advantage of natural biology to protect crops.

Controlled durian development

In recent years, the durian industry in Vietnam in general and Lam Dong in particular has developed rapidly, affirming its position on the export map. However, along with great opportunities are significant challenges in terms of food safety, chemical control, heavy metal residue, traceability, etc., which are increasingly strict from the international market.

Master Nguyen Duc Thiet, former Principal of Bao Loc College of Technology and Economics, commented: In reality, the 4.0 revolution is having a strong impact on agricultural production in our country, including durian. Currently, durian growers are following the 4.0 revolution to choose planting and care processes without following any standards.

Currently, the processes of planting and caring for durian are widespread on the Internet. With just a few simple steps on youtube, google, facebook, farmers can easily access technical processes. But the important thing is to know how to evaluate to have the most suitable choice, and cannot copy other people's processes as your own. That is very dangerous for durian trees. Because in addition to care techniques and fertilizers, natural factors (climate, soil) are very important.

In the Western provinces, the technical process of caring for durian trees is completely different from that in the Central Highlands. Even in Lam Dong province, the techniques of planting and caring for durian trees are different" - Mr. Nguyen Duc Thiet shared.

Durian farmers are currently using a large amount of pesticides.

According to Mr. Thiet, currently, in terms of State management of fertilizers, pesticides, and durian preservatives, there are still many loopholes that need to be tightened.

“In fact, currently, very few fertilizer and pesticide dealers focus on consulting farmers. Most of them do business in a “each person sells for himself” manner. In fact, dealers need to have a technical team to advise in order to meet the needs of farmers when using their fertilizers and pesticides. There should even be a binding, responsible for the success or failure of the garden. But this is a big question that needs to be answered by the authorities,” Mr. Thiet emphasized.

The current management of growing area codes still has many loopholes.

“Regarding the growing area code, this is a particularly important step forward in developing durian and serving sustainable export. However, there are still many loopholes in the management. The question here that needs to be resolved is whether we have estimated the durian output corresponding to the area of ​​the granted growing area codes? Have we controlled the surplus in durian output for each granted growing area code? If there is a surplus in output, what is the cause and how to handle it? If this question can be answered, the quality of durian will certainly be guaranteed,” Mr. Thiet wondered.

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Phuc, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Lam Dong province, said that in order for Lam Dong durian to truly reach the world and export sustainably, there is no other way than to join forces, unanimity, and comprehensive and transparent control from root to tip.

Raising awareness, tightening control of chemicals and heavy metals, and proactively saying no to banned substances in agriculture need farmers to pay attention to and implement.

To achieve that goal, it is necessary to focus on raising awareness, tightening control of chemicals and heavy metals, proactively saying no to banned substances in agriculture, and proactively and strictly controlling each garden before the goods leave the garden. In addition, the construction of laboratories right in Lam Dong province plays a very important role in early containment and is also the final step in the safety control chain.

On the other hand, strongly apply information technology, transparently trace the origin of each exported durian. Build and expand the "green channel" production, packaging and export chains to spread widely, for a smart, responsible and sustainable agriculture.

According to Mr. Nguyen Hoang Phuc, durian is a crop with high economic value but is also very "difficult". Heavy rain during the harvest period not only makes the rice hard and reduces the quality of the fruit but also affects the ability to consume, especially for export.

Units step up propaganda for farmers to comply with saying no to banned substances and preservatives in the durian production process.

Along with that, the Department of Agriculture of Lam Dong province also regularly directs units and localities to promote propaganda, training, and guidance for people to cultivate durian according to VietGAP, GlobalGAP, HACCP, ISO:22,000 standards...; actively build growing area codes, packaging facility codes, traceability, and control banned substance residues well.

Lam Dong province has also called for and supported businesses to enhance the capacity of durian processing and frozen storage facilities.

Lam Dong province has also called for and supported businesses to enhance the capacity of preliminary processing facilities, frozen storage, deep processing, brand building and trade promotion to ensure compliance with the regulations of importing countries; promote the construction of a close chain of links between farmers, businesses and exporting units to ensure the interests of all parties. At the same time, regularly inspect, supervise and guide people in growing areas and packaging facilities to properly implement the regulations in the Protocol on durian exported from Vietnam to China...

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/from-agricultural-growth-to-chien-luoc-phat-trien-co-kiem-soat-nganh-hang-sau-rieng-388816.html