Building and developing a sustainable durian ecosystem

The workshop was attended by more than 600 delegates from central ministries, branches, foreign embassies, managers, experts, scientists, and domestic and foreign durian purchasing and exporting enterprises.

Dak Lak province currently has about 33,000 hectares of durian, of which Krong Pac district is considered the durian capital of this locality. Although the province has the fastest durian growth rate in the country, Dak Lak's durian industry is facing many challenges, such as: Raw material areas are not concentrated, mainly intercropped with coffee; production scale is still small; growing areas with codes are few; application of post-harvest processing and preservation technology is not yet developed much, quality is not consistent; value chain linkage is still loose, production infrastructure is not synchronized...

Dak Lak province currently has about 33,000 hectares of durian.

Delegates at the workshop said that to remove these bottlenecks, it is necessary to have the participation of all parties, from farmers, the state, scientists and businesses.

According to Professor, Dr. Tran Van Hau, durian quality should be considered the most important factor, so it is necessary to pay attention to perfecting cultivation techniques for each region.

“We must develop technical farming processes in each place, along with the capacity and knowledge of farmers, to be able to produce quality durian. The quality of durian must be important.

Therefore, all participants in the value chain, from farmers to the state and businesses, must be aware of building the durian brand of their locality and Vietnam's durian so that it can develop sustainably" - Professor, Dr. Tran Van Hau said.

Professor, Dr. Tran Van Hau said that it is necessary to improve cultivation techniques to ensure durian quality.

According to agricultural expert Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuc, Vietnam has not yet issued a specific decree guiding the development of growing area codes, which is causing difficulties, confusion, dependence, and even losses in negotiating cooperation with partners when exporting.

Ms. Thuc also added: “We hope and request the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Departments to provide guidance on Vietnam's growing area codes. When we confirm and have scientific evidence of such growing area codes, we will promote them to the world and request international recognition. We must be the masters, not subject to imposition or copy and paste from other countries.”

From the reality of durian production in the locality, Mr. Tran Van Thang, representative of the Green Agricultural Service Cooperative, Krong Pac district, Dak Lak province, hopes that the government will have a long-term strategy for developing the durian industry along with timely solutions.

Businesses want the government to have a long-term strategy for developing the durian industry.

“Resources are very limited in terms of finance, technical skills, human resources... that's why we really hope that the authorities and departments can support us. If we can support financially, that would be great, or if we can support science and technology, and provide guidance on how to best ensure the lowest cost and improve product quality for long-term stability, then we can meet the market of the importing country,” Mr. Thang expressed.

At the workshop, the application of science and technology in building a sustainable durian ecosystem also received much attention, especially the application of artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) to increase the efficiency of durian cultivation.

Source: https://vov.vn/kinh-te/xay-dung-va-phat-trien-he-sinh-thai-sau-rieng-ben-vung-post1118250.vov