Thanh, a coffee farmer in the Central Highlands’ Kon Tum Province, said farm gate prices topped VND30,000 per kilogram last year, nearly three times the 2023 rates.
His family earned over VND800 million profits from a single harvest, he added.
Coffee farmers in other Central Highlands provinces such as Gia Lai and Dak Lak also had bumper harvests and earned billions of dong in many cases.
Some even decided to retain their harvests and not sell them out, waiting for prices to rise further.
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Coffee being harvest on Thanh’s farm in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum in December 2024. Photo provided by Thanh |
Hung, who has a two-hectare durian orchard in Can Tho City in the Mekong Delta, said his family earned billions of dong in profits on high yields.
Modern techniques such as periodic fertilization, biological pest control, and automated drip irrigation have helped boost fruit production and maintain quality, he said.
Thanh Tam of the delta’s Dong Thap Province also reported similar results using such techniques on his 1.2-hectare durian orchard.
Nguyen Van Man, director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Tien Giang Province, which produces 355,000 tons of durian annually, said a hectare of the fruit generates an income of VND1.7 billion annually, prompting many people to switch to durian farming.
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Thanh Tam’s durian orchard in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Tai |
Vu Duc Con, president of the Dak Lak Durian Association, said the fruit provides large incomes for many households in the province, with some earning VND300-500 million annually from orchards.
He expected the fruit to generate revenues of nearly VND2.5 trillion for the province this year.
Dak Lak is one of the largest durian-growing provinces with about 33,000 hectares under the fruit and an annual output of 350,000 tons.
“The shift to durian farming on suitable soil has significantly improved the livelihoods of the locals, with many families now able to buy cars and build new houses,” Con said.
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Off-season durians in an orchard in Cai Be District in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang. Photo by VnExpress/Hoang Nam |
Agricultural, forestry and fishery exports amounted to $62.4 billion last year, up 18.5% from 2023, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Fruits and vegetables led with shipments of $7.2 billion, up 27.6% from the previous year, with durian fetching a record $3.3 billion. Coffee raked in $5.5 billion, a nearly 32% increase from 2023.
Dang Phuc Nguyen, general secretary of the Vietnam Fruits and Vegetables Association, attributed the growth in exports to the increased use of technology in growing and preserving crops.
He said close cooperation between cooperatives, export businesses and local authorities has been crucial in boosting value and expanding markets.
Vietnam’s numerous free trade agreements have also helped its products thrive in the international market, with the U.S., China and Japan remaining key export destinations.
Experts foresee agricultural exports of $64-65 billion this year. Businesses and farmers are actively investing in cold storage systems, international partnerships and high-tech applications to meet rising import quality standards.
