Jackfruit coffee in Huong Hoa has a good harvest and good price.

At this time, coffee growers in Huong Hoa district are urgently harvesting jackfruit coffee with great excitement. This year's jackfruit coffee crop is considered a bumper crop, with both good harvest and good price.

Harvesting jackfruit coffee in Huong Phung commune, Huong Hoa district - Photo: LA

Mr. Van Viet Long's family in Huong Phu village, Huong Phung commune has nearly 500 jackfruit coffee trees from 5 to 15 years old intercropped with Arabica coffee trees on an area of 3 hectares. He said that the purchase price of jackfruit coffee has never been as high as this year.

Specifically, if last year his family only sold coffee for 5,000 - 6,000 VND/kg of fresh fruit, this year at the beginning of the season traders came to buy at a price of 12,000 - 13,000 VND/kg, the price of dried fruit was up to more than 35,000 VND/kg. More happily, this year his family's coffee garden had a good harvest, expected to yield more than 6 tons of fresh fruit. With the current selling price, he expected to earn about 60 million VND in profit after deducting expenses.

According to Mr. Long, jackfruit coffee trees are mainly planted by people to create windbreak embankments and shade trees for tea and coffee gardens, and the cost of care and fertilization is negligible. Another advantage is that jackfruit coffee fruits ripen in a concentrated manner, making them easy to harvest. Just spread a tarp under the tree and set up a ladder to harvest them all at once.

The jackfruit coffee variety he got from Dak Lak province is a hybrid variety that produces larger fruits and is easier to harvest than the traditional jackfruit coffee variety in the area. On average, a jackfruit coffee tree yields 30 - 70 kg of fresh fruit depending on its age; especially jackfruit coffee trees over 15 years old can yield up to 100 kg of fresh fruit.

According to Mr. Long, the entire Huong Phu village has over 100 households growing jackfruit coffee trees, including some households specializing in growing with an area of 1 - 1.5 hectares, with an average yield of 3 - 3.5 tons of fresh fruit per household.

“The jackfruit coffee tree is easy to grow, easy to care for, low cost, drought-resistant, and harvesting is not as labor-intensive as the Arabica coffee tree. The harvest season is also the time when the weather is hot and sunny, so it is convenient for drying the fruit. If the selling price is stable as it is now, I will continue to plant more jackfruit coffee trees in my garden to provide shade and wind protection for the Arabica coffee trees, and to have a stable income,” said Mr. Long.

This year, Mr. Ho Doanh's family in But Viet village has nearly 1 hectare of jackfruit coffee planted in a concentrated manner and is now ready for harvest. These days, the coffee is ripening all at once and the price is increasing, so his family has temporarily put aside all work to focus on harvesting. The trees are in full bloom, so he is expected to harvest over 20 tons of fresh fruit this year.

Currently, the price of jackfruit coffee purchased at the garden by traders is from 11,500 - 13,500 VND/kg depending on the quality of the fruit. After deducting expenses, his family earns over 150 million VND from this coffee crop. According to Mr. Doanh, jackfruit coffee is a traditional local crop, has good drought resistance, is easy to care for, and is suitable for soil and climate conditions.

However, for a long time, due to low productivity and unstable selling prices, people switched to growing Arabica coffee and other crops. “This year, jackfruit coffee has a good harvest, almost every garden around here has a high yield. The purchase price has increased to a record high, and consumption is very easy, as many traders buy as much as there are,” Mr. Doanh said happily.

Ms. Ho Thi Ly, owner of Arafarm Hoang Luan garden, Xa Ry village, Huong Phung commune, said that since the beginning of the season, her facility has purchased over 20 tons of jackfruit coffee with the requirement of 100% ripe red coffee beans. The purchase price is also 2,000 VND/kg higher than the market price. After purchasing, the coffee beans are washed, impurities are removed and incubated for about 1-2 days, depending on the pH of the beans.

Then it is put on a drying rack or a milling machine depending on the customer's request for Natural or Honey processing. The price of green coffee beans that the facility is providing to the market is about 200,000 VND/kg. According to Ms. Ly, jackfruit coffee has very special characteristics and flavors. The coffee beans are golden, shiny and beautiful, with the sweetness of licorice, a faint aroma similar to jackfruit, and a slightly astringent taste. Depending on the roasting technique, jackfruit coffee beans will give off different aromas.

This is a coffee line that suits European tastes. So in addition to supplying the domestic market, there have been some customers from the Netherlands and Korea coming to enjoy and place orders. "It is expected that from now until the end of the season, the facility will purchase about 15 - 20 tons more of jackfruit coffee," said Ms. Ly.

According to Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Huong Hoa District, Ho Quoc Trung, jackfruit coffee is the first tree planted by the French in Huong Hoa. Although it has characteristics such as good drought resistance, high resistance to pests and diseases, and larger coffee fruits and beans than Arabica coffee, due to a long period of low productivity and unstable selling prices, people switched to growing Catimor Arabica coffee.

In recent years, people in some communes such as Huong Phung, Huong Son, Huc... have started to cultivate this crop again. In addition to some specialized planting areas, it is mainly scattered in home gardens, intercropped between coffee plots to provide shade and wind protection at a distance of 5 - 7 m per tree. The estimated total area is about 400 - 500 hectares.

Mr. Trung said that at this time, jackfruit coffee trees are in the main harvest season, selling price is from 12,500 - 13,500 VND/kg of fresh fruit, estimated yield is 17 tons of fresh fruit/ha. This is a sudden high price compared to before.

To improve coffee quality and ensure effective coffee harvesting, processing and consumption, Huong Hoa district has directed localities to strengthen propaganda and mobilize people not to harvest green coffee, ensuring the rate of ripe coffee when picked is over 90%.

At the same time, people are advised not to switch to growing jackfruit coffee due to high purchasing prices. Choose coffee varieties suitable for the soil and weather, with clear origin to ensure the quality of the crop.

“The district’s viewpoint is to continue maintaining the area of jackfruit coffee in the area. Combined with focused care to increase productivity and harvest output. Finding sustainable output and stable prices for this crop to ensure income for the people.

At the same time, there should be policies to encourage and support people to expand the area according to the agro-forestry model, intercropping in tea coffee and passion fruit gardens to act as windbreaks. Carefully research the market and consumption of green coffee beans. Do not plant them when the price is high, then cut them down when the price drops," Mr. Trung noted.

Le An

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