After more than a year of durian being officially exported to the Chinese market, farmers are very excited when the 2023 crop has a good harvest, good price, and brings high economic efficiency. However, the “heat” of the “king” fruit has led to many consequences, leading to the risk that the durian industry will find it difficult to develop sustainably.
Increased “heat” in area
In recent years, durian consumption has been favorable, prices are always high, and growers have great profits, making durian the crop with the fastest growing area.
Currently, the whole province has 32,785 hectares of durian (accounting for more than 50% of the fruit tree area); Output is estimated at 281,350 tons; an increase of more than 10,326 hectares in area and an increase of 93,364 tons in output compared to 2022. Dak Lak durian area is leading the country and output is only second in the country after Tien Giang province. The average profit earned from the durian crop in 2023 is about 700 million VND/ha.
Durian exports from Dak Lak province to the Chinese market in 2023 will be about 40,000 – 45,000 tons, worth about 150 – 160 million USD. However, according to the assessment of the province’s agricultural sector, Dak Lak’s durian export value is actually much larger because most of the province’s growing area codes are currently signed with businesses outside the province.
Mr. Nguyen Hac Hien, Director of the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection (Department of Agriculture and Rural Development), said that durian has been exported officially, with a high increase in value compared to before. This is a good sign for durian growers. However, the current massive increase in durian area not following the direction and recommendations of management agencies and professional agencies is leading to certain difficulties for the industry such as: supply exceeding demand, surplus Overproduction, some unsuitable planting areas, lack of proactive irrigation water sources… will cause damage to the province’s durian productivity and quality, and may disrupt the planning of some other crops.
The development of the durian industry must be planned, not massively, spontaneously or converting other valuable crops to grow new durians; Increase the application of high technology and increase added value. At the same time, it is necessary to comply with product quality standards to meet quality requirements such as: flavor, color, sweetness, fatness and safety for consumers’ health.
Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Thien Van
There are still many barriers to quality
According to the assessment of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD), in reality, the scale of durian production in Dak Lak is still small, without a large raw material area or technical level of farmers. There is still a lack and weakness in thinking about professional goods production according to the regulations of the importing country.
Meanwhile, the connection between representatives of growing areas or export units with people is not really open, transparent, clear, and not sustainable; The management and use of codes is still limited and does not clearly demonstrate the responsibilities, rights and obligations of the parties participating in the chain; not properly aware of the value and importance of the issued codes…
This leads to a situation where many establishments, after being granted growing area codes and packaging codes, lack quality maintenance, do not fully comply with the plant quarantine regulations of the importing country, and do not fully implement them. Technical measures to clean harmful organisms on goods before export.
In fact, in recent times, a number of exported durian shipments have received warnings from importing countries, leading to the temporary suspension of the use of codes for units with shipments contaminated with mealybugs (objects of plant quarantine). of China). Not to mention the situation of fraud and theft of planting area codes; buying and selling pictures; In a situation where prices are locked early, farmers are ready to “break the stakes” of contracts.
Meanwhile, Vietnam does not have specific regulations on the issuance and management of planting area codes; There are no sanctions to handle violations; The application of information technology has not been smooth throughout the process from production, to harvesting, preliminary processing, packaging and export… leading to difficulty in developing a sustainable commodity industry.
Mr. Nguyen Hoai Duong, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that to overcome the recurring situation of competition in buying and selling in the previous crop, there must be efforts and a change in awareness from the government, producers and businesses. .
“Recently, durian prices have doubled or tripled compared to before and durian growers have made high profits. However, the fact that farmers keep “demanding” to sell at the highest possible price without paying attention to product quality has caused difficulties for export purchasing businesses. Therefore, producers need to change their buying and selling thinking to harmonize the interests of both parties. The most important thing is to invest in improving product quality to sell at a reasonable price and maintain reputation in the market. link chain. In addition, businesses need to make information public and transparent, and accompany farmers with the viewpoint of “sharing profits, sharing risks”. Hopefully, in the 2024 crop year, the “going together” mindset will be promoted, creating sustainable development for the industry,” Mr. Duong said.
According to Mr. Ho Quang Hieu, Head of the International Cooperation Department (Department of Plant Protection, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), to prevent durian from falling into the “trail” of other agricultural products, an industry development strategy is required. long-term durian products, along with timely solutions to bring the durian industry to sustainable development.
In particular, it is necessary to focus on building a system of legal documents (circulars, decrees) regulating growing area codes, packaging facilities and regulations on handling violations of growing area codes, packaging facilities. package; Develop mechanisms and policies to support and encourage businesses to invest in infrastructure, preliminary processing, processing, preservation areas, and large-scale cold storage; Complete management system…
On the other hand, it is necessary to further promote propaganda, training and guidance on regulations related to plant quarantine requirements, food safety and codes of growing areas and packaging facilities to improve understanding. , awareness of managers, producers and exporters, especially awareness of the benefits of complying with regulations and building reputation for the industry.
>> Is Vietnam floating, lacking quality standards before exporting durian?
According to Minh Thuan (Dak Lak newspaper)
