Durian has emerged as a “star” of Dak Lak provincial agricultural sector, generating  approximately 1.1 billion US$ in export revenue in 2025. However, behind these impressive outcomes, there are still a number of urgent requirements that need to be addressed to maintain the export market in the new crop.

In less than two months, Dak Lak province will enter the 2026 durian harvest season. In the growing areas, farmers are focusing on proper care to ensure productivity coupled with output, as well as maintaining the conditions for official export.

According to the Department of Agriculture and Environment, Dak Lak province has had the largest durian area alongside production nationwide, covering more than 45,000 hectares, of which the area for harvest this year is about 30,000 hectares, with an expected output of over 500,000 tons. In 2025, durian exports reached approximately 1.1 billion US$, accounting for nearly 30% of Vietnam’s total durian export value. The whole province has currently had 277 registered planting area codes covering roughly 7,500 hectares and 42 packaging facilities that have been granted export codes.

Durian with traceability labels building customer trust.

According to the PPC Vice Chairman, comrade Nguyen Thien Van, even if the 151 registered planting zone codes as well as 47 packaging facilities awaiting approval from the General Administration of Customs China (GACC) receive approval, the area granted export codes will only reach about 10,200 hectares, equivalent to 40% of the area currently being harvested. Meanwhile, regulations on cadmium residue control, yellow O index, electronic traceability, and production data transparency are continuously being tightened.

Building a foundation for sustainable development

In the context of increasingly stringent quality combined with traceability requirements from import markets, removing bottlenecks in the production-export chain is becoming an urgent task for the durian industry in Dak Lak province.

One of the key solutions currently is to expedite the issuance of planting area codes and packaging facility codes; simultaneously, standardizing production processes, guiding farmers to apply safe farming standards, strictly controlling the use of fertilizers and pesticides, while maintaining production logs.

Durian products prepared for export.

Recently, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, in coordination with Dak Lak province, has launched a pilot project for durian traceability in Ea Drang commune, aiming to digitize all information from planting areas, cultivation processes, packaging, transportation to consumption.

According to Ms. Dang Thi Thuy, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, the initiative marks an important step in the digitalization of production, creating a data foundation to serve management, monitoring, together with market connectivity; on that basis, it will be gradually expanded province-wide. Along with that, Dak Lak province is also aiming to develop a specialized logistics system for the durian industry. Investment in cold storage, agricultural trading hubs and facilities for preliminary as well as deep processing is expected to reduce short-term consumption pressure, extend shelf life, and increase the added value of the product.

Mr. Le Anh Trung, Dak Lak Durian Association Chairman believes that traceability combined with control throughout the entire chain is a mandatory trend. Once the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment provides clear guidance, businesses along with cooperatives will have a precise legal framework for implementation. The application of digitally-based traceability labels now has legal validity, creating absolute trust for automated customs clearance (green channel). In essence, this is the “key” to transform the spontaneous efforts into a standardized process recognized internationally.

Translated by TRINH THUY