Mr. Dieu Voi's family in Phu Nghia commune owns more than 8 sao (approximately 0.8 hectares) of cashew trees, mostly planted on sloping hills and many years old. In the recent cashew harvest, due to weather conditions, the yield only reached about 3-4 quintals/hectare, compared to about 1 ton/hectare in previous years. Decreased yields have made income from cashew trees even more precarious. According to Mr. Voi, his family has had to borrow money to cover living expenses and continue investing in production. Cashew tree cultivation in Dong Nai province, Bu Dang commune, helps poor households increase their income from their cashew orchards. Due to the impact of the weather, the yield of Mr. Dieu Voi's cashew orchard in Phu Nghia commune only reached about 3-4 quintals/hectare during the recent cashew harvest season. Photo: Nguyen Vy His family's farmland is located in the buffer zone around the hydroelectric reservoir and has not yet been granted a land use certificate. "This makes it difficult to access capital to improve the garden," Mr. Dieu Voi shared. In Cay Da village, Phu Rieng commune, Mr. Le Quoc Doanh is cultivating about 7 hectares of cashew trees that are 20-30 years old. The orchard yields an average of 2-2.2 tons per hectare, with an annual harvest of about 14-15 tons. According to Mr. Doanh, this is almost the maximum yield of the local cashew variety. To increase productivity, farmers must switch to the new grafted cashew variety. In Dong Tam commune, the Dong Tien 3 production group, led by Ms. Vu Thi Mai, is also gradually replacing old cashew varieties. The 300 hectares of cashew orchards in the group were planted in the 1980s, mainly with local varieties. Most members primarily choose a staggered approach, renovating a portion of the land each year to continue generating income from the remaining garden. To date, approximately 20% of the land has been replaced with grafted varieties such as AB0508, BN1, and H9. Ms. Trinh Thi Suong, a member of the Dong Tien 3 Production Team, believes that cashew trees grown from seed have a long harvesting period and fairly stable yields. Cashew tree cultivation in Dong Nai province, Bu Dang commune, helps poor households increase their income from their cashew orchards. Ms. Trinh Thi Suong harvests cashews in her family's cashew orchard. Photo: Nguyen Vy Meanwhile, grafted varieties have the advantage of higher productivity but require several years of basic development before stable harvesting. "Therefore, replanting depends on the investment capacity of each household," Ms. Suong said. In Bu Dang commune, the Farmers' Association is implementing a new approach by providing support to near-poor households to renovate and care for aging cashew orchards, combined with cultivating coffee under the cashew trees, in order to increase productivity and income. The model was implemented at the home of Ms. Dieu Thi Bron, a farmer member in Duc Tho village. Her family owns 0.9 hectares of cashew trees, approximately 12 years old, which have entered a stage of aging and low productivity. The coffee intercropped under the cashew trees has also not been properly cared for. Officials from the commune's Farmers' Association and the Agricultural Technical Club directly guided the family in pruning, shaping, garden sanitation, and balanced fertilization. The Farmers' Association also provided guidance on the correct use of pesticides, including the right type, dosage, and timing. Cashew tree cultivation in Dong Nai province, Bu Dang commune, helps poor households increase their income from their cashew orchards. The Farmers' Association of Bu Dang commune is implementing a model to support near-poor households in renovating and caring for old cashew orchards. Photo: Dong Nai Farmers Her family also received support including a water tank, 200kg of organic microbial fertilizer, 100kg of NPK fertilizer, and pesticides for pest control and fruit development. Mr. Nguyen The Chung, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Bu Dang commune, said that in the coming time, the Association will continue to monitor, provide technical guidance, and evaluate the effectiveness to have a basis for replicating the model, contributing to helping disadvantaged households increase production value, increase income, and reduce poverty sustainably. Replanting cashew trees requires capital, seedlings, and raw material sources. After the merger, Dong Nai City has over 176,000 hectares of cashew trees, producing approximately 300,000 tons of raw cashews per year; making it one of the largest cashew growing regions in the country. The locality also has a large-scale cashew nut procurement, preliminary processing, and processing system. Several businesses have invested in modern technology and developed deeply processed products. However, the challenge is not just to maintain the cultivated area, but also to increase productivity, improve quality, and ensure a stable supply of raw materials for processing. Cashew tree cultivation in Dong Nai province, Bu Dang commune, helps poor households increase their income from their cashew orchards. After the merger, Dong Nai City has over 176,000 hectares of cashew trees, making it one of the largest cashew growing regions in the country. Photo: Nguyen Vy At a recent conference on promoting agricultural exports between the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment and industry associations, the Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas) proposed that the industry provide support policies for farmers in terms of capital, technology, and new varieties to replant and renovate aging cashew orchards. Simultaneously, it emphasized the need to build sustainable raw material areas, linking farmers with cooperatives and businesses. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has identified cashew as a key industrial crop. By the end of 2025, the country will have approximately 300,000 hectares of cashew trees and will have introduced five new varieties into production. The target for 2030 is to maintain an area of approximately 280,000-300,000 hectares, focusing on replanting and grafting to improve orchards over 30 years old with low productivity using higher-yielding and higher-quality varieties. Cashew tree cultivation in Dong Nai province, Bu Dang commune, helps poor households increase their income from their cashew orchards. Many cashew orchards in Dong Nai City are old and planted on steep hillsides, which is also a reason for low yields. Vinacas leaders survey cashew orchards in Dong Nai. Photo: Nguyen Vy. Notably, the Ministry is studying a proposal for the Government to provide a credit package to support cashew replanting, similar to the highly successful coffee replanting program. Along with this, they are promoting programs for improved varieties, intensive cultivation, and intercropping to increase income. The agricultural sector is also focused on developing planting area codes, traceability systems, cashew nut region databases, and promoting value chain linkages. Production models based on GAP, organic farming, circular systems, emission reduction, digital transformation, and electronic logbooks will be encouraged to meet the increasingly high demands of the export market. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment announced that it will coordinate with localities, the Vietnam Cashew Association, businesses, cooperatives, and credit institutions to research credit models along the value chain, green credit, agricultural insurance, and public-private partnerships, thereby mobilizing resources for sustainable cashew raw material areas.