Long Khanh prioritizes urban agriculture development

The Long Khanh Fruit Festival 2026, organized by Long Khanh Ward, attracted large numbers of visitors who came to shop for and enjoy the locality's signature agricultural products. The event reaffirmed that, despite rapid urbanization, Long Khanh remains a region with strong potential for agriculture and eco-tourism.

A high-tech cantaloupe cultivation model in Long Khanh Ward delivers high economic returns.

Developing urban agriculture and high-tech farming in combination with trade, services, and experiential tourism has become one of the ward's key development orientations.

Expanding high-tech farming

Long Khanh's agricultural landscape is dominated by perennial crops, particularly high-value fruit trees such as pomelo, rambutan, jackfruit, and mango. Farmers are increasingly adopting advanced technologies and modern farming techniques to improve productivity.

Phuong Linh Mushroom Farm in Long Khanh Ward produces premium mushroom varieties, including cordyceps, lingzhi, and red reishi, on a large scale. The farm is investing in two mushroom cultivation facilities capable of producing tens of thousands of bottles of mushrooms per production cycle. The high-tech model is particularly suitable for urban areas because it requires relatively little land while generating significant economic value. With only about 1,000 square meters, the farm can cultivate more than 10,000 mushroom bottles per cycle. Each crop takes approximately two months, allowing for four to five harvests annually.

To date, Long Khanh Ward has 13 products certified under the One Commune One Product (OCOP) Program, including three additional products recognized in 2025. The ward actively supports OCOP producers by facilitating their participation in trade promotion and marketing programs to expand distribution channels for local specialties.

According to Tran Ngoc Dai, owner of Phuong Linh Mushroom Farm, cultivating cordyceps requires substantial investment in advanced technology, including breeding facilities, cultivation houses, and freeze-drying systems for processing and preservation. Producers must also master sophisticated cultivation techniques. His products are now supplied to supermarket chains and distributed nationwide, prompting the business to further expand its facilities and standardize production processes.

Dai noted that domestic mushroom producers face intense competition from inexpensive imported mushrooms, particularly from China. However, Vietnamese mushrooms retain an advantage through their certified quality and traceability, giving consumers confidence to pay premium prices. Long Khanh's long-standing reputation as one of Vietnam's traditional mushroom-producing centers further strengthens consumer trust.

A young entrepreneur who chose to build a career in agriculture, Dang Phi Hoang, owner of Nha Cua Bo Farm in Long Khanh Ward, has boldly adopted high-tech cultivation in net houses to grow vegetables and fruit. His farm grows high-value imported fruit varieties, including cantaloupes, muskmelons, and yellow watermelons. Operating in accordance with organic production standards, the farm produces delicious, safe specialty fruits that are supplied mainly to clean-food retailers at favorable prices.

In recent years, Hoang has combined fruit cultivation with eco-tourism by offering dining and recreational services. The steady flow of visitors allows tourists to enjoy fresh fruit in the orchard and purchase products as gifts, creating demand that consistently exceeds supply despite higher retail prices.

Building a trusted brand for safe agricultural products

Long Khanh Ward continues to promote safe and organic farming models. The Bau Sam Quarter Jackfruit Cooperative Group has obtained VietGAP certification for 38.7 hectares of orchards, producing nearly 3,800 tonnes of jackfruit annually. Meanwhile, eight farming households cultivating green-skin pomelo, vegetables, star apple, and rambutan on a combined eight hectares have also received VietGAP certification. Farmers are increasingly adopting locally produced microbial compost derived from organic waste to reduce production costs and improve soil quality.

A high-tech yellow watermelon cultivation model generates high economic value in Long Khanh Ward. Photo: Binh Nguyen

Farmer Tran Van Ban has become one of the pioneers of organic fruit production in Long Khanh. His nearly two-hectare green-skin pomelo orchard is now under contract with an export company at premium prices, serving as a local demonstration model for cost-effective organic farming.

Comparing conventional and organic farming practices, Tran Van Ban said that the overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides may make trees grow lush and produce large fruit, but the fruit is often of poor quality and does not taste good. Since switching to organic methods, he has stopped using herbicides. Instead, he has the grass in his orchard cut and composts fallen immature pomelos to make organic fertilizer.

He also uses locally available organic waste, including durian peels, banana stems, and rejected bananas, to produce organic fertilizer. According to Tran Van Ban, this homemade fertilizer has sharply reduced his investment costs compared with the past. More importantly, the soil has become increasingly fertile, the trees are growing healthily, and both yields and fruit quality have improved. Export companies have therefore agreed to purchase his entire crop, and he no longer faces the situation in which bumper harvests lead to low prices.

According to Dang Thanh Hieu, Vice Chairman of the Long Khanh Ward Farmers' Association, rapid urbanization has reduced the ward's agricultural land area, but agricultural output has continued to rise as farmers apply scientific and technical advances to production. He noted that farmers are increasingly shifting toward organic production, which helps improve the environment, restore soil fertility, and increase both agricultural productivity and product quality. Mushroom cultivation, in particular, has proved to be a highly economically effective model in the locality. The Farmers' Association will continue working alongside farmers to develop safe agricultural production, with a particular focus on organic farming.

By Binh Nguyen – Translated by Mai Nga, Minho