The largest banana growing area in Dong Nai

Packing bananas for export at Thanh Binh Cooperative, Bau Ham commune. Photo: HL

For many years, the banana growing “capital” of Dong Nai as well as the Southeast region has been famous for growing and exporting bananas. However, sustainable banana growing has always been a problem for local people and authorities, especially when the export market is increasingly tightening product quality.

Large banana growing area

According to the Economic Department of Bau Ham Commune, there are about 5.4 thousand hectares of land for banana cultivation in the commune. Bau Ham area is currently the "capital" of banana cultivation in Trang Bom district as well as Dong Nai in the past. Recently, the area of banana cultivation, especially tissue culture bananas in the area has been constantly increasing. The reason is that growing tissue culture bananas has many advantages over other crops, in which the time from planting to harvesting is fast, only about 8 months. In case this type of tree is not suitable or the price is too low, it is easy to switch to growing other crops. Bananas are mainly exported to China, ASEAN and some other markets, when the price is good, it will bring a large source of income for the people.

In Bau Ham commune, there have also been models and projects of large banana fields. Trang Bom district (old) and Bau Ham commune have actively participated in supporting farmers to convert crops; mobilizing farmers to specialize in agricultural production and comply with clean production processes; organizing training courses on planting techniques, care and disease control...

According to Le Huy Quang, Deputy Head of the Economic Department of Bau Ham Commune, to facilitate the planting and consumption of banana material areas, the locality will make efforts to invest in infrastructure, promote production and transportation of agricultural products; especially calling on businesses and cooperatives to join hands to invest in large banana fields.

In the area, there are also units and cooperatives that have linked up with farmers to create large banana material areas. For example, Thanh Binh Cooperative has built a material area of more than 320 hectares thanks to linking up with farmers in production. Every year, this cooperative exports more than 6,000 tons of fresh bananas to the Middle East and ASEAN markets...

Director of Thanh Binh Cooperative Ly Minh Hung shared: In addition to exporting fresh bananas, the Cooperative has invested in a processing plant, a banana harvesting line system, a dry agricultural product processing machine, a plastic processing machine for all kinds of agricultural products, a cold storage system to make processed products from bananas to increase the value of the products. Waste materials such as banana stems, fibers, and dried banana fibers are used as raw materials to produce consumer products, environmentally friendly handicraft products, which are consumed well in both domestic and export markets.

Want to develop must produce sustainably

In fact, agricultural production is always unstable and banana growing is no exception. Recently, in Bau Ham commune, there has been a situation where bananas are ripe but cannot be sold, the reason is that the purchase price is too low compared to the previous crop, so people cannot cover production costs. Farmers want businesses to support them in finding outlets and purchasing bananas; at the same time, develop a long-term purchasing plan to avoid being forced down by traders.

At the end of August 2025, Bau Ham commune coordinated with the Department of Agriculture and Environment to organize a meeting with banana farmers in the commune to discuss the construction of concentrated raw material areas, associated with the development of export banana product chains. To move towards closer cooperation, businesses expressed their hope that in the coming time, people should produce according to planning, ensuring technical standards, in order to improve product quality. Specifically, bananas need to meet requirements on appearance, be disease-free, free of pests and insects, and be harvested at the right age and size according to regulations. In particular, farmers need to sign contracts and commit to product responsibility to ensure stable purchase prices.

Bau Ham Commune organized field trips to hamlets in the area to survey and evaluate the production and consumption of banana products in banana growing areas that have been granted growing area codes and export packaging facility codes. This activity aims to help the locality have a comprehensive view to provide orientation in the coming time.

According to Mr. Ly Minh Hung, in order to develop sustainably, Thanh Binh Cooperative must always follow the market closely, from which it can set out its operating direction, promote production and export. Only then can it cope with unpredictable fluctuations. At the same time, to be proactive in meeting market demand, businesses and cooperatives will also learn about their partners and customers to build their brands.

Similarly, General Director of Mekong Production Service Trading Joint Stock Company (Ho Chi Minh City) Dang Quy Nhan commented: For agricultural products, preservation is very important. The company has been building connections and banana material areas in Dong Nai for export and has also tried to invest in the initial preservation stage. In addition, to develop sustainably, we must aim for green and safe production. However, this is a strategic, long-term issue, if only each individual enterprise is responsible, it will be very difficult to implement. Therefore, it is necessary to have the synchronous participation of both the people and the orientation from the locality.

King World

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/kinh-te/202509/vung-trong-chuoi-lon-nhat-dong-nai-fe31b3e/