Farmers in Remote Areas Confidently Shift Crops and Livestock

Golden Star Apple Generates Hundreds of Millions of Dong

In late 2025 and early 2026, the central area of Dam Rong 2 Commune has emerged as a diversified fruit-growing zone, spanning four hectares of hilly terrain. Among the crops, 0.6 hectares of Golden Star Apple (Vu sua Hoang Kim) are now in peak harvest, yielding hundreds of kilograms of fruit daily.

Garden owner Nguyen Thi Thuong said that around 600 Golden Star Apple trees, intercropped with durian, were planted in 2022. Initially, she tested 50 trees alongside coffee and durian. After 18 months of care, each tree produced 20–30 kilograms of fruit. Traders from both within and outside the locality came directly to the orchard, competing to purchase fruit at prices ranging from VND 50,000 to 60,000 per kilogram. Encouraged by strong returns, she removed poorly performing coffee trees and expanded Golden Star Apple cultivation to 600 trees.

“By focusing on intensive farming, the orchard now maintains an intercropping density of 1,000 Golden Star Apple trees per hectare of durian. Organic microbial fertilizer is applied three to four times per year, combined with drip irrigation at the roots and overhead misting on the canopy. During seasonal transitions between the rainy and dry periods, biological products are sprayed on branches and leaves to repel mites and mosquitoes and to control thrips and other sap-sucking pests that damage flowers and young fruit,” Ms. Thuong explained.

Although farm-gate prices this year are lower than the same period last year, with an average yield of 50 kilograms per tree, Ms. Thuong still achieved total revenue of several hundred million dong.

Agricultural Extension Promotes Expansion of Eel Farming Ponds

While Ms. Thuong focuses on diversified farming in upland areas, Nguyen Thi Choan has expanded aquaculture activities, raising sturgeon and eel using flowing water from Bang Lang Stream, also within Dam Rong 2 Commune.

On average, Ms. Choan now harvests more than 20 kilograms of eel per week from cement ponds, selling at VND 450,000 per kilogram. The eel fingerlings and farming techniques were supplied and transferred by an aquaculture enterprise from Khanh Hoa Province. After one year of cultivation, over 90 percent of the eels reached commercial quality, prompting her to construct two additional cement ponds, increasing the total stock to 6,000 eels.

“With clean and abundant water from Bang Lang Reservoir available year-round, our family has diverted water via pipelines to supply fish ponds for more than two years. In addition to eel farming, we raise 5,000 sturgeon annually in 10 ponds, covering a total area of 1,000 square meters. Each sturgeon farming cycle lasts 18 months, with over 80 percent reaching commercial grade. Over the past 18 months alone, sturgeon ponds have generated approximately VND 100 million in profit,” Ms. Choan added.

Surrounding the eel and sturgeon ponds, Ms. Choan has also developed 1.7 hectares of fruit trees, mainly hundreds of durian trees expected to bear fruit for the first time this year. Going forward, she plans to expand eel farming to 10,000 fish, while maintaining a stable sturgeon stock of 5,000 fish.

Local Authorities Encourage Diversified, Market-Linked Production

According to Nguyen Van Chinh, Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Dam Rong 2 Commune, local authorities consistently encourage the development of diversified crops and livestock aligned with soil conditions, comparative advantages, and farmers’ investment capacity.

“Special emphasis is placed on scaling up value-chain models linked to market consumption, ensuring supply–demand balance and enhancing the overall value of agricultural products harvested annually,” Mr. Chinh said. In the immediate term, the commune will implement an agricultural extension program in 2026 to support the expansion of cement pond eel farming across the locality.