Lam Dong durian capital is bustling with harvest season

In mid-August, thousands of farming households in southern communes of Lam Dong province entered the 2025 durian harvest season.

Bustling durian harvest season in southern communes of Lam Dong province

This year's durian season, many gardeners have had success with their durian crop thanks to the stable price of durian, but many other gardeners have failed due to erratic weather, causing the fruit quality to be unsatisfactory, forcing them to accept selling at "dirt cheap" prices.

Going out to meet a durian billionaire

These days, on all roads in the South of Lam Dong province, it is easy to see people harvesting and transporting durian from their gardens to the purchasing warehouses, bustling from morning to night. The aroma of this specialty fruit also lingers, attracting tourists from near and far along the nearly 30km stretch of National Highway 20, from the foot of Bao Loc Pass to the end of Da Huoai Commune.

People of Da Huoai 3 commune harvest and transport durian from gardens to purchasing warehouses.

After more than 20 years of hard work, Da Huoai district (old) has become the leading durian growing area in the country in general and Lam Dong province in particular. This is also where the “Da Huoai durian” brand was formed. Many farmers have become famous for their excellent durian growing skills, with the highest yielding orchards in the country.

Busy harvesting durian in durian capital Lam Dong

The consecutive big durian crops are helping hundreds of farming households in the southern communes of Lam Dong province such as Da Huoai, Da Huoai 2, Da Huoai 3, Da Teh, Da Teh 2, Da Teh 3, Cat Tien to escape poverty, get rich, and in many localities, wherever you go, you can see durian billionaires.

Busy harvesting durian in durian capital Lam Dong

We visited the 3-hectare durian garden of Mr. Doan Cong Loi's family (village 1, Da Huoai 3 commune) right at the time he was harvesting. In his garden, durian pickers were working at full capacity, traders were bringing in trucks to transport and collect goods busily.

Mr. Doan Cong Loi's family (village 1, Da Huoai 3 commune) has an income of billions of dong from the durian crop in 2025.

Mr. Loi said: This is the third harvest since the beginning of the season, bringing the total durian output of Mr. Loi's garden to 50 tons, although there is one more harvest from now until the end of the season.

“My family sells everything we harvest. Luckily, both times we cut durian, the price was over 60,000 VND/kg of grade 1 fruit, and selling in bulk was 50,000 VND/kg. Thanks to that, this year's durian crop, my family earned more than 3 billion VND.”

Mr. Loi's garden durian sells for over 60,000 VND/kg, grade 1 fruit, sold in bulk for 50,000 VND/kg

If the communes named Da Huoai are considered the "capital" of durian in Lam Dong province, then after the merger, Da Huoai 2 commune is the "heart" of the durian capital.

After the merger, Da Huoai 2 commune is the "heart" of the durian capital of Da Huoai with an area of ​​3,419.1 hectares.

Secretary of the Party Committee of Da Huoai 2 Commune Nguyen Thi Thanh Thao said: “Currently, the whole commune has 3,419.1 hectares of durian. By 2025, the average production value per hectare of agricultural land is estimated to reach 291 million VND/ha, the average income per capita will reach 103.5 million VND/person/year, the highest among localities in Lam Dong province. In Da Huoai 2 Commune, it is not difficult to meet “barefoot tycoons” with annual revenue of billions of dong.”

By 2025, the average production value per hectare of agricultural land in Da Huoai 2 commune is estimated to reach 291 million VND/ha.

Thanks to growing durian, the average income per capita of Da Huoai 2 commune currently reaches 103.5 million VND/person/year.

Typically, at the Ha Lam Tourism Agricultural Cooperative, after 3 consecutive years of big wins thanks to good harvests and good prices, almost all of the 30 cooperative member households have an income of several hundred million to several billion VND/year from durian trees. The advantage of the cooperative is that it both develops farming and does experiential tourism .

Durian is considered by local farmers to be a super valuable agricultural product, bringing in billions of dong per hectare, enough to help many farmers become billionaires.

Durian is considered by local farmers to be a super valuable agricultural product, bringing in billions of dong per hectare, enough to help many farmers become billionaires.

Durian is considered by local farmers to be a super valuable agricultural product, bringing in billions of dong per hectare, enough to help many farmers become billionaires.

Mr. Le Quang Son, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director of the Cooperative, said: This harvest season, durian that meets export standards has an average price of over 60,000 VND/kg, lower than last year but still a super valuable agricultural product, bringing in billions of VND per hectare, enough to help many farmers become billionaires.

Much joy, but also many worries

Farmers in Lam Dong in general and the southern communes in particular are happy that the harvest season is coming, but they are also worried about many things. These include fruit falling, trees falling during storms and tornadoes, and especially the problem of durians being waterlogged.

However, many gardeners in Da Huoai suddenly became less happy because the durians were watery, causing the selling price to be very low.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Son, Director of Da M'Ri Agricultural Cooperative, Da Huoai 2 Commune, shared: As the export market is increasingly open, with thousands of hectares of durian being cultivated, this year's crop, farmers in Da Huoai 2 expect to have a great success when durian has a good harvest and good price.

Many durian gardens were severely flooded due to heavy rain.

However, when the durian season is about to end, some farmers are happy because the price is good, but many others are sad because the durian is watery and have to accept the "dirt cheap" price.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Son shared that he has grown durian for many years but has never seen the weather change as erratically as this year.

According to Mr. Nguyen Thanh Son, he has grown durian for many years but has never seen the weather change as erratically as this year. In mid-April 2025, the weather seemed dry, but it rained in the area. Since then, the rain has continued until now. When the sun meets the rain, it absorbs too much water, the durian pulp cannot develop in time, causing it to become hard. Along with that, prolonged heavy rain creates conditions for harmful fungi to develop.

The woodcutter must regularly test the durian flesh before cutting.

Traders test rice more during harvest.

In Da Huoai 2 commune, many gardeners have been paid deposits and purchased by traders at prices over 60,000 VND/kg. But when the rain continues, when the fruit is ready to be harvested, traders quickly test the sample and the result is that the fruit is hard, so the price is only half, or even more than 2/3. Some farmers regret their hard work and have to separate the segments, choosing the ripe and beautiful segments to sell retail or freeze. In many families' refrigerators, frozen ripe durian is also packed full, reserved for use gradually at the end of the year.

Heavy rain makes durian hard and not beautiful

Many traders close their gardens at high prices, but when they harvest, they make no profit, even incur losses.

Meanwhile, with dozens of hectares of durian under cultivation, this durian crop, farmer Nguyen Thai Son (Da Teh 2 commune) has 7 hectares of business and is expected to harvest about 70 tons of fruit.

This year's durian crop is bountiful, but many farmers cannot fully enjoy the joy.

According to Mr. Son, since the end of May, he has negotiated and signed a contract with a trader to buy the whole garden with a total value of 3 billion VND. The garden has also been handed over to the trader to continue taking care of, by the end of July they will finish harvesting and return the garden. However, this year's weather is too unfavorable, continuous rain makes taking care of durian very difficult, causing fungal diseases... Especially durian appears to be waterlogged.

Continuous rain makes it difficult for farmer Nguyen Thai Son to take care of durian, causing fungal diseases.

“In order for the traders to quickly harvest and return the garden for early care for the next crop, I had to reduce 500 million VND to the traders. But it was only after the traders had to transfer the garden to each other twice, accepting losses, and the price being much lower than the previous price, that my durian garden was harvested,” said Mr. Son.

Heavy rain makes durian hard and not beautiful

According to Mr. Son, to grow a durian, farmers have to go through many stages, spend a lot of effort and investment costs. However, in recent times, durian growers often encounter difficulties when after a long period of heavy rain, the durian will accumulate water, making it difficult for the flesh to color and causing pests and diseases, especially fungi...

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In 2024, Vietnam's durian exports will achieve impressive growth, becoming a key product in the fruit and vegetable industry. Output and export turnover are estimated at about 1.5 million tons, with a planting area of ​​nearly 180,000 hectares, 6 times higher than in 2015. Export turnover will reach a record of more than 3.3 billion USD, up 43.2% compared to 2023 and accounting for nearly 50% of the country's total fruit and vegetable export turnover.

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/thu-phu-sau-rieng-lam-dong-ron-rang-mua-thu-hoach-388547.html