Tuan Giao Commune has plateau terrain along with mountains, a cool climate, and large hillside land reserves, all of which are suitable elevation for macadamia development. 

In early years, the tree was only planted experimentally under a business model with linkages with enterprises. Yet, thanks to its suitability to the soil and climate, the trees grew well and macadamia areas quickly spread across the hillsides of the Pha Din region.

Now, traveling through many villages in Tuan Giao, it’s not hard to see lush green macadamia hills coming into fruiting season. From an unfamiliar crop, macadamia has become a new hope for many highland households.

Quang Van Cuong, chair of the Tuan Giao Commune People’s Committee, said in 2023–2025, the locality started 30 macadamia planting linkage projects, covering nearly 900 hectares and attracting more than 2,200 participating households. Total support and counterpart funding reached nearly VND90 billion, helping rapidly expand new planting areas.

Cuong said macadamia has been identified by the locality as a key crop in agricultural economic development.

Currently, the commune has more than 2,396 hectares of macadamia, of which 364 hectares are already harvesting with output over 2,468 tons. In coming years, most of the area will enter commercial production, forming a large-scale raw material zone for processing and export.

Significant income 

In Cha Village, Tuan Giao Commune, many households have begun to have stable income from macadamia. The tree is not too hard to care for, but requires clean weeding and periodic fertilization. With areas that have stable harvests, each hectare can bring considerable income to residents.

According to locals, orchards 3–5 years old can reach yields of about 2–3 tons per hectare. But for orchards 7–8 years old, yields can reach 7–8 tons per hectare, bringing income of about VND350 million per hectare.

Lo Van La’s household is one of the early planters, starting in 2014. After years of care, more than 1 hectare of macadamia now produces harvests. In 2025, his family harvested about 1.5 tons of nuts. With fresh nut prices ranging from 40,000–45,000 VND per kg, the family earned about VND70 million.

Cha Village Head Lo Van Mai’s family also has 3 hectares of macadamia, planted since 2017. According to Mai, QN1 and A38 varieties suit the land well, and trees bear more fruit than previous years thanks to proper care techniques.

“Last year, the family’s macadamia orchard began harvesting more than 1 ton of nuts. If weather is favorable and trees grow well, in about 2 more years yields could reach about 2–3 tons per hectare. With 3 hectares of macadamia, it promises to bring good income for the family,” Lo Van Mai expects.

A large raw-material zone

Many macadamia processing facilities in Tuan Giao are also developing strongly, contributing to raising the value of this crop.

At the Thoa Doan macadamia processing facility, harvest days are always busy with the sounds of dryers, shellers, and packaging. Each season, the facility purchases about 80–100 tons of fresh nuts from local people.

Doan Thi Thoa, owner of the facility, said the family initially had only a small dryer. But as market consumption improved, she borrowed capital to expand production. “At times orders reached 1.5 tons. Normally each month we also sell from several hundred to several thousand boxes of product,” Thoa said.

Seeing macadamia’s economic efficiency, many households have gradually converted low-efficiency crop areas to macadamia, helping improve land use efficiency. 

The formation of concentrated macadamia areas has created an important foundation to develop a large-scale raw material zone for processing and product consumption.

Chu Thi Thanh Xuan, deputy director of the Dien Bien Department of Agriculture and Environment, said that people’s production mindset is changing clearly.

“From small-scale, fragmented production, people have gradually joined linkage models, value chain production, focusing on traceability and improving product quality,” Xuan said.

Reports show that by early 2026, Dien Bien’s total macadamia planting area had surpassed 10,000 hectares. In April, Dien Bien launched a campaign with the goal of planting another 12,000 hectares to restructure agriculture toward green, smart, sustainable, and higher economic value.

Under agricultural development planning, by 2030, Dien Bien strives to have about 90,000 hectares of macadamia, making this crop a key agricultural product, contributing to sustainable poverty reduction for highland communities.

Thuy Hong