Lessons from Thailand: Empowering cooperatives to ensure agricultural quality

Cooperatives: The first link in the export chain

In Thailand, agricultural cooperatives and large-scale farmer groups known as “Plang Yai,” similar to Viet Nam’s GAP groups, serve as crucial links among smallholder farmers, local packing houses known as “Lhong” in Teochew, government regulators, and China’s General Administration of Customs (GACC).

Rather than requiring thousands of small farmers to register individually with Thailand’s Department of Agriculture (DOA) and China’s GACC, cooperatives and Plang Yai groups consolidate small orchards into unified production blocks. The cooperative submits and maintains Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) certificates and production-area codes on behalf of its network of members.

Cooperatives and Plang Yai groups also aggregate production volumes to negotiate seasonal contracts directly with exporters or packing facilities. These contracts may guarantee minimum prices while establishing strict requirements for quality and maturity, such as a minimum dry matter content of 32% for Monthong durians.

In addition, cooperatives and Plang Yai groups provide the first level of quality control before durians reach the packing facility, or Lhong. They organize harvest schedules, ensure that pre-harvest tests are conducted for dry matter content and chemical residues, and verify that all incoming fruit can be traced to valid identification codes for member orchards.

Conditions for joining an export-oriented cooperative

To qualify for export-oriented production and obtain a production-area or GAP code through a cooperative or Plang Yai group, Thai durian growers must fulfil several specific requirements.

Farmers must provide proof of legal land ownership or recognized land-use documentation. Each plot must be geographically mapped, often using GPS or GIS coordinates, to prevent boundary overlaps and enable accurate area auditing.

Every member must comply with Thailand’s National GAP Standard, TAS 9001, which is enforced by the Department of Agriculture and covers eight key areas. Farmers must use safe water sources that have been tested for heavy metals and industrial runoff. They must also manage their soil appropriately, including conducting annual tests for heavy metals such as cadmium and lead. Only agrochemicals registered and approved by the Department of Agriculture may be used, and farmers must follow the dosages stated on product labels. They must also strictly observe the required pre-harvest intervals following pesticide application.

Farmers are required to maintain an up-to-date farm record book that documents every application of fertilizer, pesticide, or growth regulator, including the date, dosage, and the name of the operator. These records are subject to random audits by cooperative inspectors and officials from the Department of Agriculture.

Orchards must also meet tree-maintenance and canopy-management standards. Farmers must maintain appropriate spacing between trees, cultivate them on elevated soil mounds, and keep a 40-50 centimeter band around each trunk free of grass and organic debris. These measures help minimize the risk of soil-borne pathogens such as Phytophthora.

Quality control of durian exported from growing regions

Thailand applies a multi-tiered monitoring mechanism in which internal self-regulation is supported by official regulatory inspections.

Large durian cooperatives and Plang Yai groups employ dedicated agronomists and agricultural officers. These technical supervisors routinely visit farms, provide guidance on integrated pest management practices, and verify farmers’ production records.

Before harvest, internal inspectors visit orchards to check for common pests such as scale insects, mealybugs, and fruit borers. They also collect samples to test dry matter content and determine whether the fruit has reached the required maturity level. Selling immature durians is illegal in Thailand and punishable by law.

Cooperatives also collect fruit and leaf samples for laboratory testing before approving harvest dates. These tests screen for pesticide residues, heavy metals such as cadmium, and prohibited dyes such as Basic Yellow 2.

Since 2023-2024, Thailand has authorized licensed third-party quality inspection companies to complement inspections conducted by the Department of Agriculture. Before leaving the farm, durians receive physical traceability tags or QR codes that link each specific crate directly to the identification code of the registered orchard plot.

Consequences of violations

Thailand uses a targeted traceability system to ensure that non-compliant growers are penalized without disrupting the operations of compliant cooperative members.

When China’s GACC or Thai port inspectors detect pesticide residues, heavy metals, or quarantine pests such as mealybugs in a shipment, the full traceability mechanism is activated. Because individual boxes can be traced through orchard plot codes, only the household or plot responsible for the violation has its code suspended or revoked. Other cooperative members who remain compliant may continue exporting.

Cooperatives, Plang Yai groups, and packing houses are also held accountable. If a cooperative repeatedly submits contaminated fruit from multiple member plots, indicating a systemic failure of its internal controls, the Department of Agriculture may temporarily suspend the cooperative’s umbrella export code. It may also freeze all shipments under the collective identification code until a comprehensive audit has been completed.

The packing facility, or Lhong, that handled the fruit may also face administrative penalties. Its Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) code can be suspended or revoked if the facility is found to have been negligent in sorting and cleaning the fruit before export.

Lessons for Viet Nam

Based on expert insights and Thailand’s experience, Viet Nam can organize its durian supply chain to balance streamlined code issuance with rigorous post-registration inspections. The supply chain should establish clear linkages among GAP-compliant farms and plot identification codes; cooperatives or farmer groups responsible for internal quality audits; GMP-certified packing houses responsible for cleaning and QR coding; and exporters responsible for customs clearance.

First, Viet Nam should establish an integrated digital traceability platform. A centralized digital system should connect production-area codes, GAP certificates, and individual plot identification codes with the GMP codes of packing facilities. Every container prepared for export should be instantly traceable to a verified list of source orchards.

Second, Viet Nam should institutionalize internal control systems within cooperatives. The role of cooperatives should be elevated from that of passive administrative groups to active quality managers. Cooperatives should be required to employ qualified technical staff who can conduct pre-harvest inspections and certify farm records before fruit is delivered to packing houses.

Third, shared-responsibility contracts should be enforced across the value chain. Standard multiparty agreements should be established among farmers, packing facilities, and exporters. If a shipment is rejected due to raw material quality issues, such as chemical residues, liability should rest with the owner of the relevant farm code. If the rejection results from improper storage or the fraudulent use of production-area codes, liability should shift to the responsible packing house or exporter.

Fourth, Viet Nam should make greater use of third-party and private inspection services. To ease the administrative burden on government agencies during peak harvest periods, qualified private laboratories and inspection bodies could be authorized to issue pre-export certificates confirming compliance with quality and residue requirements.

Fifth, the country should develop deep processing to protect the value of its durian industry. As raw output increases, the country could follow Thailand’s model by expanding frozen durian processing and value-added manufacturing. This would help absorb excess supply during peak harvest periods, stabilize fresh-fruit prices, and ensure that durians failing to meet the visual standards of the fresh export market can still be used profitably.