The "king" fruit is at risk of breaking the planning, Tien Giang voters request the relevant authorities to monitor and manage it strictly.

On the morning of July 19, the 13th session of the People's Council of Tien Giang province, term X, held a question and answer session. At the meeting, delegates discussed many issues of concern to voters in recent times, including the issue of developing durian growing areas.

Currently, the development of durian growing area in the province is much higher than the planning (currently 22,000 ha/12,000 ha planned according to Decision 633 dated March 13, 2018 of the Provincial People's Committee), leading to the risk of breaking the rice growing planning, the "chorus" of supply exceeding demand, good harvest, low price.

In addition, the management and use of growing area codes are not strict, the quality of seedlings, fertilizers, and pesticides with residues of banned substances exceeding regulations, of unknown origin, and of poor quality... have affected the quality of fruit products, especially durian, affecting brand reputation, as well as affecting official exports and product consumption; people find it difficult to recover capital because the initial investment costs of people are very high... Delegates asked the Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to inform them of the current situation and solutions to effectively solve the above problems.

Durian area exceeds planning

Explaining the above content, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tien Giang Nguyen Van Man said that according to the planning of Tien Giang province for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050 approved by the Prime Minister , the orientation by 2030 is that the durian growing area of the province will reach about 20,000 hectares, with an output of 300,000 tons. However, up to now, the durian growing area of the province is about 22,000 hectares, exceeding the planning by 2030 by 2,000 hectares.

Loại trái cây — Phu An Agricultural Service Cooperative surveyed and established a code file for durian growing areas of households in Hamlet 1, Phu An Commune, Cai Lay District.

The reason is that in recent years, durian prices have always been high, durian growers have made a lot of profit. However, the massive increase in durian acreage, without following the direction and recommendations of professional agencies, may lead to unpredictable consequences, supply exceeding demand and more seriously, the risk of damage if the durian acreage is expanded in areas with unsuitable growing conditions such as: alum contamination, areas without proactive irrigation and drainage...

Faced with the situation of increasing durian acreage as above, the Department of Agriculture has been and is continuing to resolutely implement solutions to manage planning for this crop, specifically: Propagating and mobilizing localities to only convert to growing durian trees in accordance with the planning in the Project "Developing durian trees in Tien Giang province until 2025", the Project "Converting the structure of crops and livestock in the area north of National Highway 1, Tien Giang province" and the Plan to convert the structure of crops on rice-growing land of the Provincial People's Committee.

At the same time, organize a scientific workshop to evaluate the adaptability of durian trees in the Project area "Converting the structure of crops and livestock in the area north of National Highway 1, Tien Giang province" to recommend people to switch to growing durian trees safely and effectively, ensuring adaptability to land and irrigation conditions, in accordance with planning and according to the recommendations of scientists.

The functional sector has taken 500 soil samples to determine the alum layer and the suitable area for durian trees in the area north of National Highway 1, as a basis for recommending people to convert to bring high efficiency and sustainability; and has disseminated the map of the suitable area for durian trees in the Project area for localities to implement.

Although the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has implemented many solutions, focusing on propaganda and advising people not to develop durian massively, beyond the planning, especially in areas of land that are not suitable for the characteristics of durian trees; however, because the profits are too high, because the management of land use (converting rice land to fruit trees) at the local government is still loose, some places let farmers convert, leading to the situation where the durian area exceeds the planning by 2030 (22,000 ha/20,000 ha).

Tighter management

Up to now, the approved fruit growing area codes for export in Tien Giang province are 404 codes with an area of 24,995 hectares, of which there are 155 durian growing area codes with an area of over 6,927 hectares.

Regarding durian development, Tien Giang Department of Agriculture has identified the durian adaptation zone in the area north of National Highway 1; at the same time, organized a scientific workshop to assess the adaptability of durian to recommend people to switch to growing durian safely and effectively, ensuring adaptability to soil and irrigation conditions, in accordance with planning.

In addition, the Department of Agriculture has also established and implemented two projects, namely the Project "Developing durian trees in Tien Giang province until 2025" and the Project "Converting the structure of crops and livestock in the area north of National Highway 1, Tien Giang province". At the same time, every year, the Provincial People's Committee also issues a Plan to convert the structure of crops on rice-growing land.

Thus, the scientific basis and development orientation are available. The provincial Department of Agriculture recommends that people comply with the recommendations of scientists as well as state management agencies. At the same time, authorities at all levels need to enhance the role of state management of land, absolutely not allowing farmers to grow durian on rice fields or land with unsuitable soil conditions (with inspection, supervision, and strict handling of violations); at the same time, step up propaganda and mobilize farmers to comply with the province's policies and orientations on fruit tree development.

Regarding the management and use of growing area codes: Continue to strictly manage growing area codes according to decentralized assignment, effectively implement the Provincial People's Committee's Plan on the plan to issue and manage codes for growing durian for export in Tien Giang province for the period 2023 - 2025.

Continue to strengthen the implementation of inter-sectoral inspection on the use of growing area codes, the situation of linking purchasing and consuming agricultural products in the area; resolutely propose to suspend, revoke or cancel codes of growing areas that do not comply with the requirements and conditions for maintaining growing area codes, and cases of code fraud to maintain the reputation of the province's durian industry.

Source: https://danviet.vn/loai-trai-cay-vua-dang-co-nguy-co-vo-quy-hốach-cu-tri-tien-giang-de-nghi-nganh-chuc-nang-giam-sat-quan-ly-chat-20240721233000967.htm