Long An's geographical location in the Mekong Delta blesses it with abundant alluvial soil and a warm, humid tropical climate. These factors create an ideal environment for lemon cultivation, allowing the province to produce high-quality, flavorful lemons. The availability of water from the Mekong River and a well-established irrigation system further supports the growth of citrus crops.
Thriving Lemon Orchards and Export Volumes in Long An province.
Prosperous lemon groves:
Long An province in Vietnam has emerged as a significant player in lemon cultivation, boasting extensive lemon orchards covering more than 11,720 hectares. Among these, over 10,000 hectares are dedicated to fruiting, ensuring a bountiful yield. The districts of Ben Luc, Duc Hoa, Thu Thua, and Thanh Hoa are the primary locations where lemon cultivation is concentrated. These areas have contributed to an impressive annual output of over 97,700 tons of lemons.
The province's dedication to lemon production has resulted in Long An accounting for more than 85% of the national lemon output.
Export volumes:
According to the Long An Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ben Luc district is now becoming the largest raw material lemon area. The whole district has 7,000 hectares of lemons, including 6,500 hectares of seedless lemons, concentrated in Thanh Hoa, Thanh Loi, Luong Hoa and Luong Binh communes. In which, there are over 5,700 ha of fruit, yielding from 35 to 40 tons/ha/year.
Most of the lemon area is supported by enterprises to encourage farmers to follow the correct technical process, ensuring export requirements. Nearly 90% of lemon production in Ben Luc is exported to the Middle East, the EU, the USA, Japan, and some neighboring countries.
Mr. Nguyen Van Hien, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Lemon Viet Trading and Investment Joint Stock Company (CHAVI), said that freshly harvested lemons will be preliminarily processed and packaged for fresh export. The rest is processed into about 50 other products, such as talcum powder, honey-soaked lemon, lemon tea, etc., and then exported.
On average, the company exports about 10 tons of fresh lemons every month to some very strict markets such as the US, Japan, etc. Currently, each week, the cooperative exports to the Middle East market 1-2 containers of seedless lemons. In agricultural development applying high technology, production meeting GlobalGAP standards, and following the current GAP direction, Long An identifies lemon tree as a key crop, bringing high economic efficiency and stability compared to other crops. Long An's lemon trees and lemon products are now capable enough to compete and access new and demanding markets.
According to the Long An province Department of Industry and Trade, in addition to assisting businesses in putting lemon products on Vietnam's six major e-commerce platforms, lemon products have been supported in the development of an online trademark suite and traceability software. At the moment, the Department is aggressively growing the fresh lemon market, pushing enterprises to deeply process lemons in order to blend lemons with a variety of other products, thereby providing distinctive values for local agricultural exports.
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