Pomelo growers in Tan Lac district, Hoa Binh province are busy preparing to harvest and supply high-quality products to the market on the occasion of the 2024 Lunar New Year (Tet) festival.

A pomelo farm at Tan Huong hamlet, Thanh Hoi commune, Tan
Lac district.
In Tan Lac district, there are 1,108 ha of pomelo, including 885 ha of
red-flesh pomelo, 67 ha of green-skinned pomelo, and 134 ha of Dien pomelo. The
district has 11 cooperatives and five cooperative groups operating in the field
of pomelo farming and trading.
Six local cooperatives have received planting area codes for
export to the EU market, with a total area of 153 ha while two facilities were
granted codes to export to the New Zealand market, with an area of 46.8 ha. The district sees an annual pomelo output of over 17,000 tonnes.
Each ha of pomelo generates about 190 million VND (7,760 USD) on average.
Currently, some pomelo growing areas in communes like Thanh Hoi,
Dong Lai, and Tu Ne can generate about 380 - 415 million VND per ha per year. This year, people in Thanh Hoi commune in particular and people
of Tan Lac district in general are happy to see 13.5 tonnes or 13,400 pomelos
exported to the UK market, a sharp increase from 5,400 fruits in 2022 and 8,000
fruits in 2023.
Bui Van Thao, Vice Chairman of the Thanh Hoi commune People's
Committee said that the pomelo growing area has been expanded in the locality.
Now, local farmers are paying much attention to nursing trees
and preserving fruits so that they can supply to market high-quality products
during the Tet celebration.
Duong Tat Tinh, one of the first and best pomelo growers in Thanh Hoi commune
said that he grows more than 200 trees in his 4,600-sq.m farm." This year, the weather is favourable so the fruit yield is
higher than previous year,” he said, adding that now, the price is lower. Wholesalers from neighbouring districts pay about 8,000 - 10,000
VND for a pomelo at the gardens.
Meanwhile, red-flesh pomelo farming has helped members of Binh Minh Services
and Rural Development Cooperative escape poverty and get a stable source of
income.
Nguyen Thi Oanh, director of the cooperative predicted that the
pomelo price during the Lunar New Year this year will not increase much.
However, pomelo growers are still happy as almost all their products have been
ordered already.
Besides Thanh Hoi commune, many localities in the Tan Lac
district are eyeing to expand pomelo growing areas. However, the district
authorities want to keep the growing areas unchanged and apply technical
advances to replace degraded pomelo areas with low-quality.
Once a mountainous province facing many challenges, Hoa Binh has, after more than a decade of implementing the national target programme on new-style rural area development, emerged as a bright spot in Vietnam’s northern midland and mountainous region. In the first quarter of 2025, the province recorded positive results, paving the way for Hoa Binh to enter a phase of accelerated growth with a proactive and confident mindset.
Hoa Binh province is steadily advancing its agricultural sector through the adoption of high-tech solutions, seen as a sustainable path for long-term development.
The steering committee for key projects of Hoa Binh province convened on May 14 to assess the progress of major ongoing developments
A delegation of Hoa Binh province has attended the "Meet Korea 2025" event, recently held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea (RoK) in Vietnam, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, and the People's Committee of Hung Yen province.
Hoa Binh province joined Vietnam’s national "One Commune, One Product” (OCOP) programme in 2019, not simply as a mountainous region following central policy, but with a clear vision to revive the cultural and agricultural values in its villages and crops.
From just 16 certified products in its inaugural year to 158 by early 2025, the One Commune One Product (OCOP) programme in Hoa Binh province has followed a steady and strategic path. But beyond the numbers, it has reawakened local heritage, turning oranges, bamboo shoots, brocade, and herbal remedies into branded, market-ready goods - and, more profoundly, transformed how local communities value and present their own cultural identity.