Expanding export opportunities from standardized pomelo growing areas
Pomelo is becoming one of the key crops, bringing significant economic value to Vinh Long province's agriculture sector.
According to statistics as of mid-2026, total pomelo growing area in the province reached over 16,000 hectares, ranking second among key fruit crops. The area currently bearing fruit reached 12,200 hectares, with an average yield of 14.7 tonnes/ha and a total estimated harvest of 180,500 tonnes/year.
The large scale of raw material area is creating a significant advantage for Vinh Long in race to expand its market. However, for pomelos to enter export market, large production volume alone is not enough. Requirements regarding growing areas, traceability, cultivation processes and residue control are increasingly becoming mandatory.
To date, Vinh Long province has been granted 233 codes for pomelo growing areas for export, covering a total area of 1,200 hectares, meeting standards of demanding markets such as EU, New Zealand, the United States, South Korea and Australia.
In domestic market, Vinh Long province has added 15 codes for growing areas with a scale of 175 hectares. Although number of codes for growing areas has expanded, area of standardized pomelo cultivation only accounts for 8.6% of total area currently bearing fruit. This shows that majority of area still produces using traditional methods and has not yet deeply participated in supply chains with high requirements for quality, safety and traceability.
Gap between existing raw material areas and those meeting standards therefore remains quite large. This is both a challenge and an opportunity for Vinh Long to improve quality of its pomelo industry in the future.
In Tien Thuy commune, change is taking place right in grapefruit orchards. Farmers are gradually shifting from traditional farming methods to using organic fertilizers, biological pesticides and more strictly controlling use of agricultural supplies.
Mr. Nguyen Tan Si, an elderly farmer in Tien Tay Thuong hamlet, Tien Thuy commune, said that producing grapefruit for export requires farmers to change their production methods. According to him, grapefruit trees must be well cared for but without excessive pesticide use.
Notably, this shift is not only aimed at meeting export requirements but also brings significant economic benefits. Mr. Si said that most farmers now prioritize using organic fertilizers instead of chemical fertilizers. “Organic fertilizers help improve soil and produce more beautiful grapefruit. Although a small amount of NPK is still needed to stimulate flowering and fruit development, the profit is very stable, about 50% after deducting costs”, Mr. Si shared.
Removing logistics bottlenecks to help pomelos reach further
If farmers are main producers, then cooperatives are the link that helps standardize processes and maintain linkages in the value chain. This is also a particularly important step in maintaining quality of growing area after it has been granted a growing area code.
Mr. Nguyen Dinh Toan - Director of Tien Thuy Agricultural and Service Cooperative, said that the biggest difficulty before was that people did not have habit of keeping cultivation diaries. To overcome this, cooperative organized workshops, classes and guided people to properly implement the cultivation process in growing area.
"If diaries are not kept correctly and fertilizers and pesticides are not used within the prescribed quarantine period, value chain will be broken," Mr. Nguyen Dinh Toan emphasized.
Thanks to persistent changes in approach, number of cooperative members has increased from 20 to 53, and income has improved significantly. This signals that when farmers participate in supply chain, adhere to procedures and produce according to market demands, value of pomelos is also increased.
On output side, enterprises are seeing huge potential. Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tung - Chairman of Board of Directors and General Director of Vina T&T Group, highly appreciates potential of Vinh Long pomelos, especially in Australian market.
According to Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tung, Australian market has received Vietnamese green pomelos very well. Currently, the company exports 4-5 containers to Australia every week, with fairly stable selling prices. “I believe pomelos will be among the billion-dollar agricultural products in the next 1-2 years, especially when the Chinese market is fully opened,” Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tung stated.
Opportunity is clear, but to turn potential into real value, logistics problem needs to be solved. According to Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tung, rural transportation infrastructure remains a “bottleneck” that increases costs.
To support farmers and businesses, local authorities are focusing on building, managing and expanding planting area codes. Mr. Nguyen Van Nghia, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Tien Thuy commune, said that from July 2025 to present, the commune has collaborated with businesses to establish 11 planting area codes for pomelo trees.
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Nghia, building planting area codes not only helps increase value of pomelos and stabilize output but also encourages people to change their production practices towards safer and more sustainable methods.
Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Tien Thuy commune informed that, in near future, authority to issue and renew planting area codes will belong to the People's Committee of the commune. The locality will direct economic department to coordinate with the community agricultural extension team to support people in registering new planting areas and maintaining the conditions after being granted planting area codes, ensuring that no applications are left pending.
Along with expanding planting area codes, locality will strengthen inspection and supervision to prevent fraud and misuse of planting area codes, thereby protecting the reputation of the region's pomelo brand.
Vinh Long green-skinned pomelo has significant potential for value enhancement with over 16,000 hectares of planting areas and 233 planting area codes for export. To achieve goal of becoming a "billion-dollar agricultural product", locality needs to continue expanding the certified areas, improving quality of raw materials, increasing linkages between farmers - cooperatives - enterprises and investing in synchronized transportation and logistics infrastructure, thereby reducing costs, stabilizing output and enhancing competitiveness.

Source: Vitic/ congthuong.vn