Dong Nai promotes banana exports to many markets

According to Dong Nai Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dong Nai's banana growing area has been increasing rapidly in recent years. In 2016, this province had more than 7,300 ha of bananas. By 2021, it nearly doubled to almost 14,000 ha, accounting for approximately 10% of the total banana area of Vietnam.

The reason for the rapid increase of banana growing area in Dong Nai is due to favorable export output. In recent years, Vietnam's banana exports have been on an upward trend. In 2022, the export value of Vietnam's fresh bananas reached US$ 310.6 million, up 34.5% compared to 2021. Banana becomes the third export fruit in terms of turnover after dragon fruit and durian.

Every year, Dong Nai produces approximately 450,000 tons of fresh bananas, of which 80-85% is for export. Vietnam's banana exports have therefore grown enormously in recent years and significantly impacted the banana industry in Dong Nai. In 2022, 400,000 tons of bananas from Dong Nai were exported, mostly to the Chinese market.

Bananas in Dong Nai are mainly tissue-transplanted bananas with advantage such as higher profits than many other crops. As an annual plant, it is easy for farmers to adjust the harvest season. For a long time banana farmers in Dong Nai have boldly invested in seedlings, installed economic irrigation systems, applied for scientific and technical advances, and promoted mechanization in production. Now 95% of the banana area in Dong Nai has been installed with an economic watering system, 100% of the export banana area is covered.

In particular, this is one of the few fruit trees in Dong Nai capable of developing into concentrated production areas with a scale of 400-500 ha. The rate of banana areas granted growing area codes is thus relatively high at present.

According to Ms. Tran Thi Tu Oanh, Deputy Head of the Dong Nai Sub-Department of Crop Production, Plant Protection and Irrigation, the province currently has 30 banana orchards with a total area of 5,669 ha that have been granted growing area codes and 39 banana packing facilities granted packing facility code. Dong Nai is the province that takes the leads in the country in terms of granting growing area codes for banana.

Several areas specializing in banana cultivation have been established in Dong Nai, concentrated in Trang Bom and Thong Nhat. These districts have a lot of hilly lands and rocky soil, making it challenging to cultivate many other crops but very suitable for banana trees. These specialized farming areas are starting to form value chains from production to consumption, with the participation of many enterprises operating in the field of fruit export.

Mr. Tran Lam Sinh, Deputy Director of Dong Nai Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that in order to promote banana exports in the near future, Dong Nai will continue to establish concentrated banana production areas, develop sustainably in the direction of not increasing the production scale but instead further investing in product quality and brand name.

The province will develop banana production areas associated with infrastructure planning to reduce logistics costs; invest in high-yielding, good-quality banana varieties which have hìgh resistant to diseases; transfer to farmers special banana varieties suitable for the expansion of export markets; improve the quality of fresh bananas through promoting the synchronous application of advanced production processes and expanding mechanization.

Dong Nai also prepares appropriate measures to standardize and upgrade banana processing, packaging, and preservation zones; ensure traceability as well as food safety and hygiene by operating the quality management system; apply good agricultural practice (GAP) and phytosanitary solutions.

The province will promote the processing industry, diversify deep-processed products and add value from banana by-products, organize chain production and promote linkages, aiming to perfect the image of Dong Nai banana in the international market.

Mr. Ly Minh Hung, Director of Thanh Binh Cooperative (Trang Bom, Dong Nai), said that deep processing would significantly increase the value of Dong Nai bananas because many markets are in high demand for products as bananas, soft dried bananas, and crispy dried bananas.