With its easy-to-grow and caring properties, areca nuts have become a popular choice for many households and farmers in Dak Lak.
Having just planted nearly 500 areca nuts, Mr. Le Truong Quan (Ea Kao commune, Buon Ma Thuot city, Dak Lak) is buying an additional 500 trees.
Mr. Quan said that he used to grow coffee and pepper, but the soil was not good, so the yield was not high. In addition, his garden area does not have a pond, and the irrigation water depends on the well.
However, in the past dry season, he noticed a serious decrease in the underground water flow, and had been out of water for 30 minutes. After researching the types of perennial crops, Mr. Quan decided to grow areca nuts.
"I researched and found the model of intercropping areca nuts with pepper quite good. Areca tree trunks are pillars for pepper trees to stick to. In addition, the shade from the areca tree helps the pepper to grow, avoiding the sunlight and wind, Mr. Quan shared.
This rainy season, Mr. Ho Van Ngoc (Ea Tieu commune, Cu Kuin district, Dak Lak) also planted nearly 600 areca trees in his coffee garden.
Mr. Ngoc said that areca nuts are not unfamiliar to the people here. He himself has also planted areca nuts around the edge of the field to block the wind and create shade for coffee trees.
At first, areca nuts were not very expensive, then gradually increased. There was a time when the price of fresh areca nuts reached nearly 100,000 VND/kg (in 2024). However, there are times when the price of fresh areca nuts drops to a few thousand dong.
Although the price of fresh areca nuts has fluctuated, Mr. Ngoc still chooses to grow areca nuts because this is not the main source of income. He mainly planted them to create shade and as pillars for pepper plants.
In addition, the cost of growing areca nuts is lower than other crops. According to Mr. Ngoc's experience, after planting, you just need to fertilize less and water more in the dry season. About 4-5 years, the tree has begun to bear fruit, earning more income.
Mr. Nguyen Ba Phuong, owner of a seedling facility in Hoa Thang commune (Buon Ma Thuot city, Dak Lak) said that the high price of fresh areca nuts has led to an increase in demand for seeds.
In 2024, his facility provided thousands of seedlings to the market. This year, demand is still increasing but he did not increase much due to expensive seeds and many risks.
According to statistics from the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection of Dak Lak province, the whole province has about 1,300 hectares of areca. In particular, areca nuts are mainly grown intercroppingly in coffee gardens, pepper...
