Double joy from jackfruit coffee trees in Huong Hoa

Jackfruit coffee is purchased and processed by traders - Photo: LA

Good harvest, good price

Mrs. Ho Thi Hai’s family in Xa Ry village, Huong Phung commune has about 100 jackfruit coffee trees planted as windbreaks and shade belts around the tea coffee garden and in the home garden. At this time, although the harvest has not been completed, she has earned over 10 million VND.

According to Ms. Hai, the 2025 crop year is the year of the highest yield of jackfruit coffee ever. On average, a jackfruit coffee tree yields about 40 - 50 kg, with some trees yielding over 100 kg of fresh fruit.

In addition, the selling price this year is also much higher than previous years, reaching 18,000 - 20,000 VND/kg, so it is estimated that after harvesting, Ms. Hai will earn about 15 million VND. "There has never been a year with such high productivity and price of jackfruit coffee as this year. As soon as the harvest is finished, traders come to the garden to buy it at an unprecedentedly high price. We, the coffee growers, are very excited," Ms. Hai shared.

Unlike Ms. Hai, Mr. Tran Ngoc Dung in Doa Cu village, Huong Phung commune, planted pure jackfruit coffee trees on an area of ​​1 hectare with more than 700 trees. Of these, 47 trees have just been recognized as parent trees by the Department of Agriculture and Environment.

According to Mr. Dung, with more than 700 jackfruit coffee trees, in the 2025 crop year he expects to harvest over 20 tons of fresh fruit. With a stable selling price of 18,000 - 20,000 VND/kg as at present, after deducting expenses, he will earn about over 200 million VND.

According to Mr. Dung, jackfruit coffee trees have many advantages such as being easy to grow, easy to care for, low investment costs, drought-resistant and having few pests. Harvesting is not as labor-intensive as tea coffee trees. The harvest season begins around February - April every year, the dry weather is favorable for drying the fruit. "With this purchase price, I will continue to expand the area of ​​jackfruit coffee trees in the future," said Mr. Dung.

Currently, jackfruit coffee is being purchased by traders at the garden at a price of 17,000 - 18,000 VND/kg of fresh fruit for bulk coffee and 20,000 - 22,000 VND/kg for selected ripe coffee.

Director of Khe Sanh Agricultural Cooperative Nguyen Thi Hang said that in addition to purchasing green coffee to sell to partners, the cooperative is purchasing high-quality jackfruit coffee to process specialty coffee. The requirement for high-quality coffee is that it must be 100% red and ripe. The cooperative's purchase price is 17,000 VND/kg for green coffee and 23,000 VND/kg for high-quality coffee.

“This year, the quality of jackfruit coffee is very good. Up to this point, the cooperative has harvested 20 tons of fresh fruit, and by the end of the season, it is expected to purchase about 70 - 80 tons of high-quality coffee, nearly 3 times more than last year's crop,” Ms. Hang informed.

Explaining the reason for the high productivity and purchase price of jackfruit coffee, according to Vice Chairman of Huong Phung Commune People's Committee Ha Ngoc Duong, jackfruit coffee trees are not grown in a concentrated manner but are mainly planted as windbreaks and shade trees, so they are not invested in care.

However, after many years of being purchased by traders at only 5,000 - 6,000 VND/kg, in the 2024 crop year, the price of jackfruit coffee suddenly increased, fluctuating from 12,000 - 15,000 VND/kg, so coffee growers focused on intensive investment. This is the reason why the yield of jackfruit coffee trees increased from 12 - 13 tons to 15 - 18 tons of fresh fruit/ha like this year.

With a total area of ​​about 35 - 40 hectares, it is estimated that the whole Huong Phung commune will harvest about 600 - 700 tons, bringing in revenue of about 10 - 12 billion VND for the people. "As for the purchase price of traders, it is according to the law of supply and demand of the market. In addition, the fact that coffee processing facilities in Huong Hoa district have continuously won high prizes in specialty coffee competitions in recent times is also a factor contributing to the increase in the price of jackfruit coffee," Mr. Duong shared.

Need reasonable investment for jackfruit coffee tree

Mr. Ha Ngoc Duong said that it is not the Catimor coffee tree that is currently being grown on a large scale, but the jackfruit coffee tree that was first planted by the French in Huong Hoa district, nearly 100 years ago.

Although it has characteristics such as good drought resistance, high resistance to pests and diseases, and larger fruits and beans than Arabica coffee, due to a long period of low productivity and unstable prices, people have switched to growing Catimor Arabica coffee.

In recent years, people have begun to cultivate this crop again. In addition to some specialized planting areas, it is mainly planted in scattered areas in home gardens, intercropped as windbreak belts, and shade for tea and coffee gardens with a distance of 5 - 7 m per tree.

Mr. Duong admitted that with the fact that the productivity and price of jackfruit coffee have increased as in the past 2 years, the area of ​​jackfruit coffee in the commune will certainly increase in the coming time. Therefore, the locality is advising people not to convert massively but to only plant as windbreak belts, intercropping as shade trees for tea coffee gardens. Plant on slopes of 15 degrees or more with a distance of 15 - 20 m between each row.

Combined with focused investment in care and harvesting of ripe red fruits to improve productivity and quality. “In the past 2 years, with the support of programs and projects, the commune has converted about 600 hectares of coffee to agroforestry. On average, each hectare of Arabica coffee is intercropped with about 50-60 jackfruit coffee trees and some other forestry trees,” Mr. Duong added.

According to the Head of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Huong Hoa district, Hoang Dinh Binh, the whole district currently has about 3,700 hectares of coffee growing area. Of which, the area of ​​tea coffee is more than 2,900 hectares, the remaining area is about 770 hectares of jackfruit coffee (calculated by density).

At this time, jackfruit coffee is entering the main harvest season, with an estimated yield of 15 - 18 tons of fresh fruit/ha. With a selling price of 17,000 - 20,000 VND/kg of fresh fruit, the highest price ever, it is estimated that Huong Hoa farmers have a revenue of about 230 - 250 billion VND. The increased coffee supply has also helped processing facilities have raw materials for processing and operate continuously in recent times, creating more jobs for local workers.

However, Mr. Binh also advised coffee growers not to switch to growing jackfruit coffee because of high purchasing prices. This is a coffee variety with a longer harvest time, after 3-4 years it will start to be harvested.

People should only expand the area of ​​jackfruit coffee cultivation according to the agro-forestry model, intercropping in tea coffee and passion fruit gardens to create windbreak belts. Combine intensive investment to increase productivity and harvest output. Thereby creating a solid position for Huong Hoa coffee products in the market.

Le An

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/niem-vui-nhan-doi-tu-cay-ca-phe-mit-o-huong-hoa-192678.htm