Orientation to make far-reaching for Dong Nai specialties

​Tan Trieu pomelo – a famous specialty in spring (Vinh Cuu district)

Reputation of specialties

Tan Trieu islet (Tan Binh commune, Vinh Cuu district), which is fully ‘embraced’ and deposited by the Dong Nai river, has favored the soil, which is especially suitable for citrus fruits. Compared to other localities, Tan Trieu pomelo is rich in variety, but whether it is sour or sweet, it also has a rich taste, beautiful shape, thin skin, and succulent cloves. In particular, pomelo guava with the characteristic aroma of guava, can be stored for months, and more dried the pods, the more delicious it is. This pomelo has a special meaning for the people of Tan Trieu so they are willing to pay a high price for their fruit-tray decoration on Tet and holidays.

Through screening time, the common pomelos grown by Tan Trieu farmers are duong la cam pomelo and green skin pomelo (buoi da xanh). In particular, duong la cam pomelo is the special specialty that only Tan Trieu has. According to “old farmers” in this area, when the Tan Trieu church was built in the middle of the XVIII century (this is one of the oldest cathedrals in the South), a pastor brought two pomelo seedlings from Brazil to plant in the church yard - duong la cam pomelo (with small leaves like orange leaves) and duong cao nom pomelo. See the duong la cam pomelo is a tree-laden type with delicious quality, farmers in the region asked for propagation and gradually spread to the whole region because this pomelo is perfectly suited to the alluvial soil of Tan Trieu islet and produces sweet, delicious fruits that no other region has. It is because the duong la cam pomelo grown on alluvial soil along the river has turned Tan Trieu into a famous pomelo village of the South.

According to the Dong Nai river alluvial stream, there is also a fruit tree area downstream, which is the durian of Long Thanh. Long Thanh durian is a pure durian seed with large seeds, golden yellow fruit arils, typical aroma, sweet and greasy when eaten. According to the elders in Long Thanh land, in the past, each house only needs a dozen durian root or more to be able to buy a motorbike. This shows the culinary and economic value of this tree known as the “king of fruits”.

In the harvest season, from June to June of the Solar calendar, durian is displayed at markets in the province, along Highway 51. In addition, a large amount is sent for consumption in Ho Chi Minh City, Ba Ria - Vung Tau and neighboring provinces. Later, there were many new varieties of durian, but durian seed, also known as pure durian, was still favored by many users.

Equally famous is the Long Khanh rambutan, with the local original name of nhan rambutan and java rambutan. Long Khanh nhan rambutan has green, orange, and red yellow skin, fragrant, crispy and sweet taste; java rambutan has red and dark red skin, long & thick spines and green spotted tail and sweet taste. Due to technical care, plus climatic and soil characteristics, Long Khanh rambutan usually ripens early, tastes sweeter than rambutan in other regions.

Emergence of many new sweet fruit areas

Long Khanh rambutan (Java rambutan)

In addition to the well-known specialties, many localities of the province are forming new specialized areas with special economic varieties for high economic efficiency, becoming new specialty areas of Dong Nai.

The most typical is the An Phuoc burmese grape specialty area (Long Thanh District). Mr. Chin Hai (Hamlet 2, An Phuoc commune) said that burmese grape trees are a ‘savior’ for people when perennial crops such as rambutan and durian die one by one. Burmese grape solves all problems, from productivity, quality, economic efficiency to output. Also according to the share of this “old farmer”, at first people in the area only knew it was dau da, dau xiem (burmese grape) but later agreed to call it An Phuoc burmese grape. Up to now, the brand of An Phuoc burmese grape has been well-known to many people inside and outside the province. Because of the suitability of the soil in here, An Phuoc burmese grape is evenly big, golden flesh, has a sour taste and sweet, not sour like burmese grape in Western region.

Currently, An Phuoc has developed over 20ha of burmese grape. With high yield, good price, favorable output, the local government has a policy of developing this crop area by intercropping burmese grape trees with other crops to increase income, converting old ineffective fruit trees to burmese grape growing. An Phuoc Burmese Grape Cooperative Group is carrying out procedures to upgrade to the cooperative and its long-future for new local strong agricultural products.

Another famous durian specialty area in recent years is Phu An durian (Tan Phu District) with an area of over 300ha. Phu An durian fruit is large and tastes good, so traders pay a much higher price than other places. Tan Phu District is lobbying gardeners to establish durian cooperatives; convert into VietGAP process to build a brand for this safe and delicious fruit region. In addition, many localities of Dong Nai are forming more specialized areas specializing in delicious fruit specialties such as: Long Khanh guava; Cam My avocado; Hieu Liem orange and tangerine region (Vinh Cuu District), and so on.

Making far-reaching for specialties

Recently, the province has implemented many programs to support trademark and collective trademark registration, especially OCOP (One Commune, One Product) program. Up to now, hundreds of brands of goods and agricultural products have been registered for protection with the goal of bringing local agricultural and specialty products to not only gain a foothold in the domestic market but also participate in export.

Mr. Phung Thanh Tam, Director of Binh Loc Agricultural, Service and Trading Co-operative (Long Khanh City) said that Long Khanh is famous for many delicious fruit specialties such as rambutan, durian, mangosteen, etc. In particular, nhan rambutan and java rambutan are long-standing specialties of this land. The Long Khanh Rambutan certificate of registration of geographical indications is of great significance in promoting the brand of this specialty. Java rambutans have also been exported to France, and some businesses have questioned product underwriting to export to France in large quantities. But this specialized farming area has not met the production requirements. Currently, the cooperative is working on a project of 'Large rambutan field' with the aspiration for the local fruit specialties as far-reaching, beyond the name of “countryside products”.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Mai (Dinh Quan District) is known as a good farm owner with many specialty varieties for high economic efficiency such as: avocado, Hoa Loc mango,… But the main specialty she wants to replicate is custard apple (dormant seeds type). This specialty has many advantages such as thick and chewy flesh, rich sweetness, large fruits weighing between 0.5-1.2kg per one... From the original seedlings, Ms. Mai has now expanded dozens of hectares of custard apple and is producing more seedlings to provide farmers in the region as well as many nearby localities. Ms. Mai has established Loc Mai Safe Fruit Cooperative Group with the goal of connecting with many large-scale, safe-quality farmers - to not only have a foothold in the domestic market but also meet the export market well.

By Nam Vu