This year's off-season durian crop, gardener Pham Van Trieu (Chau Thanh A district, Hau Giang province) was only able to harvest 5/8 hectares of durian due to low fruit set rate.
According to this gardener, the weather has made it difficult for the plants to flower, or the flowers have fallen off due to rain. Although the price is high, sometimes exceeding 200,000 VND/kg, traders have placed orders continuously but have no goods to sell, making Mr. Trieu regretful.
"Off-season durian is very difficult to handle. Compared to last year, the fruit set rate this year is about 30% lower. If 10 households grow off-season durian, only 3-4 households will have fruit set. This crop only harvested about 4 tons of fruit. After deducting expenses, I have a profit of about 350 million VND," said Mr. Trieu.
The decrease in off-season supply has caused durian prices to continuously hit new highs. Retailers are short of supplies, and customers who want to buy must order in advance.
At the fruit stall of Ms. Tran Thi Ho (Xuan Khanh market, Ninh Kieu district, Can Tho city), the price of durian has increased from 25,000 - 40,000 VND/kg compared to more than half a month ago.
"I can only import grade 2 and grade 3 products, while grade 1 products are sold to export companies by people (garden owners). There are fewer products than last year. It's already harvest season, but I can only import 9 fruits. I see that the price is high, the capital to import is heavy, so customers who want to buy have to order in advance, so I contact the garden owner to resell," said Ms. Ho.
Recorded at traditional markets in Can Tho City such as Ba Bo, Xuan Khanh... durian prices are currently high. Ri6 durian is from 85,000 - 145,000 VND/kg; Monthong durian is from 170,000 - 205,000 VND/kg, depending on size.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), by the end of September this year, Vietnam's durian output reached nearly 985,000 tons, a sharp increase of nearly 17% over the same period last year.
According to statistics, the durian area nationwide has increased dramatically from 32,000 hectares in 2015 to more than 150,000 hectares in 2023. This area has doubled the durian development orientation (about 65,000 - 75,000 hectares, output 830,000 - 950,000 tons) in the Project on Developing Key Fruit Trees to 2025 and 2030.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development recommends that localities need to develop plans to develop durian production in concentrated areas, not expanding the area, especially in areas with unsuitable soil, no conditions for intensive investment, areas without closed dykes, and dykes that are not guaranteed to cause flooding during the rainy season and saltwater intrusion during the dry season in the Mekong Delta region.
