After a successful durian season that helped many families earn billions of VND, farmers in Ea Toh commune, Krong Nang district, Dak Lak province are now excited about the bumper coffee harvest season. Ms. Tran Thi Thao in Tan Bac village, Ea Toh commune said that it has been a long time since her family truly realized the value of traditional coffee trees, as the selling price sometimes reached nearly 80 million VND per ton. The joy is multiplied by the fact that Thao’s family grows organic coffee with a guaranteed market, always fetching a price 10 million VND/ton higher than the market price.
“I am so excited. This year, we harvested 5 tons per hectare, 1 ton higher than last year. Moreover, our high-quality coffee plantation allows us to earn an extra 11 million VND,” said Mrs. Tran Thi Thao excitedly.
After a successful durian season, many families earned billions of VND
Also happy in a record-breaking coffee season, Mr. Dieu Xem in bon Dak Blao, Kien Duc town, Dak Rlấp district, Dak Nong province said that people in the area now have faith in coffee trees. Like last year, the price was over 40 million VND/ton, bringing profits of hundreds of millions VND/ha to well-established coffee growers. This year, profits have doubled compared to last year.
Dieu Xem said that people in bon Dak Blao now believe that if they ensure high productivity and good quality, coffee trees will help them develop a stable economy: “Seeing this year’s output, coffee prices have been very good, making people very happy. Many families in bon Dak Blao are very interested in finding new coffee varieties to overcome obstacles, to implement and develop the economy”.
In the midst of the common difficulties of the economy, Central Highlands agriculture emerges as a bright spot. According to statistics, in 2023, farmers in the Central Highlands provinces harvested 440,000 tons of durian worth about 30,000 billion VND, 90,000 tons of pepper worth nearly 6,500 billion VND. As for coffee, with an estimated output of 1.7 million tons, it is expected to bring in over 100,000 billion VND to Central Highlands farmers.
It is worth mentioning that along with the success of long-standing traditional industrial plants, the annual income from agricultural crops in the Central Highlands is also remarkable, as rice, sugarcane, cassava, and sweet potatoes have all had well-timed seasons and prices have sharply increased.
Mrs. Duong Thi Loi in Ia Sol commune, Phu Thien district, Gia Lai province said that since the implementation of the area code for export sweet potatoes, exports have been widespread and the economy of this difficult area has completely changed. In 2023, export-standard sweet potatoes sold for up to 25,000 VND/kg. Sweet potatoes sold in the domestic market also stabilized at a price of below 15,000 VND/kg. This price brought in an income of 200 to 300 million VND per hectare to sweet potato farmers. According to Mrs. Loi, growing sweet potatoes now can make farmers rich so they are very enthusiastic about it.
“Since people switched to growing sweet potatoes, the economy has developed stronger. This year is the same, many people have rented land to grow sweet potatoes,” said Mrs. Loi.
In 2024, the coffee season is prosperous for farmers, with prices continuously increasing and reaching nearly 80 million VND per ton before the Lunar New Year Ging The Monkey
According to information from the year-end meeting of the People’s Councils of the Central Highlands provinces, in 2023, many economic and social targets in the region did not meet the set plans. The clearest aspect of this is the decrease in state budget revenues, suspended public investment, and low investment attraction. However, thanks to the bright spot of agriculture, the average income of the people has still significantly increased. Specifically, in Dak Lak province, the average per capita income increased from 56 million VND in 2022 to nearly 62 million VND in 2023.
Mr. Vu Duc Con, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dak Lak province, said that to maintain the upward trend of agricultural products, the province attaches special importance to the issuance and management of area codes for cultivation and packaging facilities of agricultural exports, decentralizing this work to 15 districts, towns, and cities in the province to implement together.The province also clearly identifies the management loopholes and has a synchronized action plan, especially for the rapidly developing durian industry.
“About 2 years ago, the province saw this problem. The People’s Committee directed the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to develop a project to consider the entire production process, from variety selection to linkages, promote export processing, and fully utilize the role of associations and specialized agencies to form industry standards for more stringent management,” said Mr. Vu Duc Con.
On the path to success, authorities at all levels in the Central Highlands area are cautious in evaluating future difficulties and have corresponding action plans. In which, the provinces continue to improve the quality of agricultural products, transparency of origin of agricultural products, reorganize the industry and market organizations; considering these as top priority tasks to further enhance the value and competitiveness of Central Highlands agricultural products, so that the region can continue to have more bumper harvest and high-value seasons.
