In the past few years, the durian growing area has "bloomed", exceeding the general orientation and planning, increasing risks for both growers and business and export businesses...

In the first 4 months of 2024, durian still holds the "throne" with a turnover of more than 500 million USD, an increase of about 30% over the same period last year.

Data from the Department of Crop Production (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) shows that if in 2020, the total durian area in the country was just over 71,000 hectares, by the end of April 2024 it had reached about 151,000 hectares; of which about 76,000 hectares are being harvested. Durian trees are most concentrated in the Central Highlands, Mekong Delta, Southeast and a few in the South Central Coast provinces.

THE PLANTING AREA EXCEEDS PLANNING, MANY PROBLEMS ARISING

At the recent conference on sustainable durian production and export organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Manh, Deputy Director of the Department of Crop Production; said that durian fruit output harvested in 2023 will reach nearly 1.2 million tons, and is expected to increase to 1.5 million tons in 2024.

In the next few years, as the area for harvesting increases, Vietnamese durian output will likely double. Therefore, the policy of the Department of Crop Production is not to expand the area, especially in areas with unsuitable soil.

From a local perspective, Mr. Vu Duc Con, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dak Lak province; said that Dak Lak is the locality with the largest durian area in the country with over 32,000 hectares and is still increasing, while the local orientation is only about 22,000 - 25,000 hectares.

“In recent years, durian prices have been high, so people and families are rushing to grow durian, and durian purchasing and trading activities locally are very vibrant. However, the supply chain of durian production, purchasing, and export in Dak Lak also has all the problems from purchasing competition; selling, breaking contracts, leaving stakes, violating the planting area code..." Mr. Con stated the reality.

Mr. Tran Hoang Nhat Nam, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tien Giang province, said that the durian growing area in Tien Giang has reached 20,000 hectares; Of which 15,000 hectares are being harvested. Currently, the province's durian area has exceeded the plan by 2025 and shows no signs of stopping.

It is worth mentioning that along with the rapid increase in area, violations of codes for growing areas and packaging facilities also occur continuously. Recently, Tien Giang has had 39 growing area codes and 38 packaging establishments with warnings for violations, which are in the process of being corrected.

Regarding the export situation, the Department of Processing Quality and Agricultural Market Development (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development); said that since the Protocol on durian import and export activities with China was signed (July 2022), Vietnamese durian has great opportunities for export.

Specifically, in 2023, durian exports bring in 2.2 billion USD; Of which the Chinese market alone consumed 493,000 tons, with a turnover of 2.1 billion USD, an increase of 1,036% in value and an increase of 1,107% in volume compared to 2022. Vietnam's durian market share in China's total imports increases sharply from 5% in 2022 to 34.6% in 2023.

Data from the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association (Vinafruit) also shows that fruit and vegetable exports in the first 4 months of 2024 reached 1.804 billion USD, up 32.1% over the same period last year; In which durian still holds the "throne" with a turnover of more than 500 million USD, an increase of about 30%.

According to Mr. Nguyen Quoc Manh, the strength of Vietnamese durian is that it has a year-round production season. However, durian trees also face many challenges because the main consumer market is still China. Meanwhile, Vietnamese durian developed later, having to compete directly with Thailand, Malaysia and some other neighboring countries.

Mr. Huynh Tan Dat, Director of the Plant Protection Department (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development); Note that there are currently 708 growing area codes and 168 fresh durian packing facility codes issued for export. However, through the process of monitoring and tracking export activities, growing area codes, packaging facilities... many problems arise.

Recently, through a review by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, out of 17 durian producing and exporting provinces, 5 provinces were repeatedly warned by China. Provinces with a low rate of monitoring growing area codes are: Dak Nong (0%), Binh Phuoc (1.6%), Vinh Long (5%), Binh Thuan (12%), Hau Giang (27%) , Tien Giang (31%) and Dong Thap (37%). In the process of monitoring packaging facility codes, in Long An with 33% and Dong Nai with 50% are also quite low.

The review shows that there are still many cases where the registration information for growing area codes and packaging facilities' scale, area, output... does not match reality. Most packaging facilities do not have technical staff according to regulations, the system to access each growing area code does not meet the requirements of the Protocol...

OVERCOMING LIMITATIONS AND IMPROVE COMPETITIVENESS

According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Trung, in recent years, durian has played an important role in the total export turnover of agriculture, forestry and fishery products; helps increase income for growers, contributing to the socio-economic development of many localities.

“In 2023, Vietnam will export more than 600,000 tons of durian, with a turnover of 2.2 billion USD. However, the effect of increased exports is creating a fever to expand the area, disrupting planning on a large scale," the Deputy Minister warned.

Regarding the issue of many durian shipments being warned by the Chinese side of violating the growing area code; Deputy Minister Hoang Trung said that the subjective reasons stem from the actors involved in the management, production, and purchasing of the durian industry. This not only affects the warned shipments, but also risks putting Vietnam's entire durian industry under consideration by the importing country for applying stricter control measures; even temporarily suspending imports, especially to the Chinese market.

Therefore, Deputy Minister Hoang Trung requested localities to coordinate with the Ministry's authorities to find the cause and quickly take remedial measures.

In the context of increasing durian export value, the requirement is to maintain sustainable development of the durian industry and improve competitiveness. Therefore, Deputy Minister Hoang Trung requested the Department of Crop Production to quickly direct and guide localities to review the current durian area to have a reasonable plan to organize production; Develop and promulgate a set of technical regulations for fresh durian fruit to serve as a basis for assessing quality in accordance with the standards required by customers...

According to: Chu Khoi - Vneconomy Newspaper