Within the framework of the durian festival on the morning of September 2, the Krong Pac District People's Committee, Dak Lak province held a workshop to promote investment and develop sustainable agricultural products in Krong Pac district in 2022.

Plenty of potential for agricultural development

At the workshop, Mr. Dinh Xuan Dieu, Chairman of Krong Pac District People's Committee said that the district has 28,898 hectares of perennial crops, and 34,449 hectares of annual crops.

The district boasts several key crops including coffee, durian, pepper, banana, wet rice among many others. Most notably, durian trees are grown on a large scale, intercropped with the coffee growing area. The area for durian was initially 800 hectares, it has then expanded to nearly 4,000 hectares with an output reaching over 45,000 tons annually.

Krong Pac district has called for investment in some projects that have been put into effective operation such as: Leather shoe, renewable electricity factory; banana production farms, livestock farms, purchasing, preliminarily processing and packaging facilities for agricultural products. Namely, the district has nearly 70 facilities that handle the purchasing, preliminarily processing and packaging of durians for export.

The district has ample strengths and potentials that have received little investment and attention such as: agricultural product processing industry, frozen product preservation, tourism services, crop production, husbandry, trade, investment in urban infrastructure,  and so on. The district welcomes and commits to accompany as well as create the most favorable conditions for businesses and investors inside and outside the province to study, survey, set up investment projects, purchase and export agricultural products to promote production and business along the value chain; invest in industries, fields and areas in which the district has competitive advantages and distinct potential.

Krong Pac district is reviewing and supplementing the planning of agricultural production areas, concentrated high-tech breeding areas, factories for preliminary processing and packaging of fruit exports, projects for different types of commercial aquatic products, build large fields, etc. on the basis of promoting the advantages of products as well as the advantages of each commune and town.

The district also actively supports people and businesses with registration documents, capital for product certification and traceability, and facilitates the arrangement of land funds for businesses to invest in the construction of agricultural product processing facilities according to the process and production line in accordance with the district's agricultural planning.

Mr. Y Giang Gry Nie Knong, Vice Chairman of Dak Lak Provincial People's Committee, said that Dak Lak province has determined to focus on developing high-quality agriculture from 2021 to 2025. The province has given priority to the development of organic agriculture, shifting from agricultural production to agricultural economy.

Krong Pac district has many advantages for economic development. In order to develop the local economy, Krong Pac district needs to plan and manage land planning to attract favorable investments; Focus on attracting industrial and handicraft factories; Attract more factories to purchase, preliminarily, and package agricultural products.

Opportunities for durian production

According to Krong Pac District People's Committee, durian brings in more than 2,000 billion VND in profit for the local economy every year. This is a local staple crop as well as a product to help farmers get rich.

Mr. Chen Shu Nan, Director of Wanbang Vietnam Joint Stock Company, said there is a constantly rising trend of agricultural product trade between Vietnam and China and most importantly, the governments of the two countries are standardizing and prioritizing official import and export of agricultural products.

Consequently, Wanbang Vietnam Joint Stock Company was established with the goal of forming a hub for trade in agricultural products between Vietnam and China, creating a modernized supply chain of cold storage for agricultural products, and building a center for special agricultural products.

According to Mr. Chen Shu Nan, the General Administration of Customs of China has recently issued an official dispatch, announcing the required criteria in the cultivation, processing, production and packaging of Vietnamese durian.

“I believe this is the result of the constant exchange and negotiation efforts of the two governments as well as the usinesses. Vietnamese durian currently occupies a sizable market share in the Chinese market. However, the majority of Vietnamese durians had to be labeled Thailand for export to China in the past. So when Vietnamese durians can be officially exported, I think it will be an excellent development trend, greatly contributing to promoting the brand and improving the value of Vietnamese durian in the Chinese marke", Mr. Chen Shu Nan remarked.

Mr. Chen Shu Nan added that Chinese consumers are currently unaware of the quality of Vietnamese durian because this product has never been officially exported into the Chinese market. With the official export of durian to China, the brand and quality of Vietnamese durian will have a chance to be better than that of Thai or Malaysian durian, because the Vietnam and China are geographically closer and similar in terms of climate.

According to Professor Nguyen Lan Hung, a biology expert, durian has been around for a long time, but becoming the icon that it is today is a big step forward.

Dak Lak is currently experiencing great changes, in addition to industrial trees, fruit trees are also thriving. Farmers must work together in an effort towards sustainable development, maintaining quality without relying on pesticides.

“Durian is a tree susceptible to various diseases, so limiting the harmful effects of diseases on durian trees is absolutely necessary. China is a great market and Vietnam must work to maintain exports to this market. There is no agricultural crop that can achieve high income like durian trees can. Local authorities and farmers aed to keep this momentum of development. To do this, the local government must always accompany the farmers", said Professor Nguyen Lan Hung.

Similarly, Dr. Tran Van Hau - an expert on durian said that durian tree is considered the king of fruit trees because its economic efficiency is very substantial.

According to Dr. Hau, there were only a few durian trees in Vietnam over 10 years ago; and durian was considered a specialty. However, Vietnam currently has more than 80,000 hectares of durian.

“The durian tree is the king of trees. Durian trees in Krong Pac district will have great potential and output in the next few years. The festival will be favorable to promptly develop durian in a sustainable manner”, said Dr. Hau.

 Dr. Hau added that the government may not be able to keep up with the current speed of development, so there are many issues in terms of value.

Namely, Dak Lak province mainly grows two types of durian, Ri6 and Dona. Therefore, the central government and Dak Lak province need to study and create a specialty durian variety similar to other countries.

In addition, the cultivation of durian in the Central Highlands does not have a proper process. As a result, local authorities need to develop detailed durian care procedures to help farmers produce quality durian.

“Farmers need to be concerned about technical issues. As such, the government needs to pay extra attention to investment. Dak Lak will be the largest durian production province in Vietnam in the near future. Therefore, Dak Lak needs to diversify its products because relying solely on fresh fruit exports can be extremely risky", assessed Dr. Hau.

Translated by Nguyen Hai Long