A large number of households now grow the fruit, and the high quality of their produce has already made the Bao Loc mangosteen well known.

Mangosteen grown in the Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) province of Lam Dong is sweet, has a delicious flavour and aroma and a shiny violet skin. It’s harvested here in July, while it is harvested in more lowland areas in May or June.

That timing allows Bao Loc mangosteen to avoid tough competition from a more voluminous supply of lowland fruit, and it allows Bao Loc mangosteen to command a higher price.

Huynh Thi Minh, who owns half-a-dozen mangosteen trees that are more than 40 years old, earns tens of millions of dong each year from his orchard. Hundreds of kilograms of mangosteen can be harvested each year, at a price of VND22,000-25,000 per kilogram.

The area has favourable conditions for mangosteen, and, if well tended, mangosteen trees will bear fruit within six years of being planted, according to Tran Cong Dat, the owner of two 24-year-old mangosteen trees and an orchard of thirty six-year-old trees.

Many farmers in Bao Loc District are already expanding the area they dedicate to growing mangosteen. In Dam Bri and Dai Lao communes, thousands of seedlings have been planted.

Due to the spontaneity of mangosteen cultivation in the district, whereby farmers buy seedlings and cultivate without any appropriate planting and tending techniques, productivity is difficult to determine and diseases are still widespread.

While mangosteen growers did not worry a lot about outlets for their produce, they were concerned about tending techniques and measures to prevent diseases, said Dat.