One of the reasons making it difficult for Mekong Delta durians to be exported to the Chinese market is cadmium contamination exceeding allowable thresholds.

Currently, the country's total durian cultivation area has surpassed the 150,000-hectare mark, doubling the plan toward 2030 set by the Government. In the Mekong Delta alone, the durian cultivation area has risen to 40,000 hectares.

Warnings in the third consecutive year

Durians are not only concentrated in the traditional growing areas of Dong Thap province, Vĩnh Long province, and Can Tho City, but are also expanding into many other localities such as Tay Ninh and An Giang. The majority of this newly planted area falls outside of planned boundaries and lacks a foundation of sustainable cultivation techniques.

Actual field surveys conducted by scientists from the College of Agriculture - Can Tho University show that many orchard owners do not understand the characteristics of durian cultivation soil, and have not even evaluated whether their existing cultivation soil is suitable or not. A series of warning indicators have been issued from soil analyses in the Mekong Delta region.

Research results on soil health indicators indicate visible degradation: low pH levels, ranging from 4 - 5; organic matter content at only 2% - 4%, and deficiencies in nitrogen (N), potassium (K), and micronutrients such as Boron, Molybdenum, Copper... In addition, microbial density and enzyme activity in the soil are very weak, causing a serious biological imbalance.

Besides, durian cultivation soil currently accumulates many toxic substances. This is the consequence of abusing chemical plant protection drugs, especially flower-stimulating chemicals.

Recently, durians in the Western region always suffer from price drops when entering the peak harvest season. Ms. Nguyen Hong Tram Tuyen, Deputy Director of Diem Phuc Fruit Import-Export Company Limited (Dong Thap), argued that the cause lies not only in the law of supply and demand, but importantly, that the durians do not meet the technical standards for export. Notably, durians are frequently contaminated with Auramine O and residues of the heavy metal cadmium originating from fertilizers; meanwhile, growing area codes and packing facilities remain limited in capacity.

"The number of durian samples from the Western region contaminated with cadmium is very high. This rate is very low in durians from the Eastern region, while the Central Highlands has virtually none. The quality of Mekong Delta durians is evaluated by the Chinese market as not inferior to Thai durians, yet the cadmium contamination has been warned about for the third consecutive year. If this issue is not thoroughly resolved, all efforts of the durian commodity sector will return to the starting point, threatening the survival of the specialized cultivation region," Ms. Tuyen worriedly shared.

According to Mr. Vo Tan Loi, Chairman of the Dong Thap Province Durian Association, one of the reasons making it difficult for Mekong Delta durians to be exported to the Chinese market is cadmium contamination exceeding allowable thresholds.

He assessed: "This is the consequence of using fertilizers, especially phosphate fertilizers, and pre-existing residual cadmium in the soil. Although research institutes and plant protection sub-departments have stepped in to deploy cadmium-elimination models, the results are still not clear-cut due to the complex nature of the soil environment."

Having cultivated durian for more than 10 years, Mr. Bui Van Nam (residing in Quoi Thien commune, Vinh Long province) requested that the agricultural sector and specialized agencies soon dispatch officials directly to orchards to conduct surveys and provide "hands-on" guidance. Orchard owners need to be clearly shown which lists of fertilizers and agricultural inputs currently on the market are safe and free of cadmium.

"What is more important is the need for specific regimens and technical processes to rehabilitate soil, flush out toxins, and eliminate residual cadmium in order to save the people's livelihoods," Mr. Nam expressed.

Standardizing production processes

Dr. Tran Huu Phuc, from the Department of Crop Science - Can Tho University, argued that orchard owners' habit of applying fertilizers based on intuition, abusing inorganic fertilizers, and lacking organic fertilizers has affected durians.

Dr. Phuc proposed an urgent solution: absolutely do not introduce additional cadmium-containing fertilizers into the soil, and use the correct dosages within allowable thresholds. State management agencies and related enterprises need to soon establish a project to control cadmium in soil, and organize continuous, large-scale technical training for orchard owners. In addition, there must be a list of safe inputs and fertilizers—especially phosphate fertilizers—specifically used so that people can make the right choices.

According to statistics, from the beginning of 2026 until now, Can Tho City has deployed 99 production-marketing linkage programs spanning an area of nearly 872 hectares, supplying over 19,300 tons of fruit to the market. Among these, durian and longan are the two fruit tree types recording many large-scale linkage models. The durian commodity alone has 24 linkage chains with an area of over 421 hectares and an output of nearly 9,300 tons.

Ms. Pham Thi Minh Hieu, Director of the Sub-Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection of Can Tho City, stated that the unit will tighten management through periodic and unscheduled inspections using random field-sampling methods for 657 growing area codes right before the durian harvest time. This aims to monitor the quality and responsibility of the actors participating in the value chain.

Meanwhile, in Dong Thap, nearly 50% of the durian area has been granted growing area codes. The province is accelerating the roadmap to standardize the entire production process toward cadmium-safe directions, while simultaneously digitizing growing area data for transparent traceability.

Many opinions have concurred that controlling cadmium is not just a temporary solution but requires an overall, consistent strategy from the soil rehabilitation stage and input material selection to post-harvest quality monitoring.

Producing toward safety directions

Mr. Tran Văn Chien, Director of Truong Khuong A Fruit Orchard Cooperative (Truong Long commune, Can Tho City), stated that in recent years, the cooperative has boldly applied production methods in safe and sustainable directions. The cooperative pays special attention to controlling inputs, restricting the use of fertilizers with high potassium content, and eliminating plant protection drugs with high toxicity and long degradation times, helping improve durian fruit quality clearly.

According to Mr. Chien, thanks to strictly implementing this process, over the past 3 years, the products of Truong Khuong A Cooperative have all met testing requirements, with no residual cadmium detected.

Source: Bao Nguoi Lao Dong