Vietnamese farmers are replacing coffee crops with durian due to demand in China

Vietnam officially entered the durian market in China in 2022 after signing a trade protocol. Already last year, the country became the largest supplier of this fruit by volume, surpassing Thailand, which had held the lead for nearly two decades. According to data from Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture, the area of durian plantations in the country has increased more than fivefold over the last decade, reaching 200,000 hectares. At the same time, the Central Highlands remains a significant region, producing about one-sixth of the global volume of coffee.

Farmers note the economic appeal of the crop: the income from durian significantly exceeds the profit from traditional coffee. The expected export volume of durian from Vietnam this year is projected at 4 billion US dollars, with about 90 percent of shipments going to the Chinese market. To achieve these figures, farmers prefer the Ri6, Musang King, and Dona cultivars.

However, the industry faces a number of challenges. At the beginning of August, the Vietnamese government warned of the risks of overproduction and a decline in quality control amid the rapid expansion of planting areas. Agronomists emphasize that growing durian requires strict adherence to conditions of humidity, irrigation, and fertilizer application, which makes the production process complex. Some farmers who attempted to convert their farms to this crop subsequently returned to growing coffee due to difficulties in ensuring the necessary quality of the fruit.

An additional factor of uncertainty for Vietnamese producers remains their dependence on the China market and the risk of oversupply. Such concerns intensified after the drop in durian prices in Malaysia, which is attributed to an abnormally high harvest. At the same time, China, being the main consumer, is making attempts to develop its own production: more than 3,000 hectares of plantations have already been established on Hainan Island.