In Thai Binh commune, Tuyen Quang province in northern Vietnam, a move has begun to graft-renew aged longan trees to the native variety "Anh Vang" and remake them into a high-quality growing-region brand. On June 22, 2026, the province's Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection surveyed the site and agreed to set up a model for field renewal by grafting and to support the development of traceability, a brand name, and packaging. This method of switching varieties by making use of the existing rootstock rather than replanting is one answer to the challenge common to growing regions that want to advance the generational turnover of fruit trees at low cost. For Japanese produce buyers and those involved in native-variety branding, it is worth reading as a concrete example of northern Vietnam steering from "quantity" to "brand."
What was decided in Thai Binh
The survey covered Thai Binh commune, Tuyen Quang province. According to the local paper, this is one of the province's largest growing regions, holding 172.5 hectares of longan cultivation, of which 155 hectares have entered the harvest stage. The current mainstays are the local native variety, the Khoai Chau variety, and the Hung Yen variety, with an average yield of about 15 tonnes per hectare and farmer income of roughly 225 million dong per hectare per year (about 1.32 million yen, roughly estimated at 1 yen ≈ 170 dong).
The province's Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection stated that it would support, in addition to training in grafting technique, field management, flowering adjustment, and pest and disease control, the creation of a brand name, traceability labels, packaging, and sales promotion for expanding channels. That the stance is to lift everything from production to distribution in one continuous sweep, not mere variety renewal, is the heart of this effort.
Why "graft renewal" to a native variety, and why now
What is both Thai Binh's strength and weakness is the spread of tree ages. The field's age composition shown in the article is: 5 hectares over 30 years old, 7 hectares aged 20–30, 15 hectares aged 10–20, 105 hectares aged 3–10, and 40 hectares under 3 years. There is a certain amount of old trees, and replanting this part wholesale would create a yearslong harvest-free period. With graft renewal, the scion can be switched while leaving the existing roots and tree body, so the new variety's fruit can be brought to harvest sooner than with new planting. It is a realistic growing-region management choice that holds down both the cost of renewing old trees and the income gap at the same time.
"Anh Vang," chosen as the switch target, is positioned as a relatively new branded line of longan whose introduction is advancing in the north. The administration judged that Thai Binh, with its diverse age composition and many old trees, is precisely suited to phased variety renewal and quality improvement. The aim lies not so much in increased yield as in producing fruit that sells as high-quality fruit with a clear name.
The strength of northern longan in data
Even if Thai Binh alone looks small, the full picture of northern Vietnamese longan is large. In the neighboring famed longan region of Hung Yen, 2025 production reached over 50,000 tonnes, a big rise from the previous year. Furthermore, over 60% of the shipment volume meets VietGAP or organic standards, keeping in view both high-unit-price markets such as the United States, the EU, and Japan, and China, the largest export destination.
| Item | Thai Binh commune (Tuyen Quang province) | Hung Yen (reference / famed region) |
|---|---|---|
| Cultivated area | 172.5 hectares (155 hectares in harvest stage) | — |
| Approximate production | Average yield about 15 tonnes/hectare | 2025 crop, over 50,000 tonnes |
| Income per hectare | about 225 million dong per year | — |
| Quality certification | To be developed (in parallel with graft renewal) | Over 60% of shipments are VietGAP or organic |
What this contrast shows is the north's direction of going after unit price with certification and brand, not a contest of area or volume. Thai Binh's effort can be read as a move by a growing region standing at that entrance to re-evaluate the resource of its native variety. The export trend in the same north, the lychee export peak—overlaps with this case too, sharing the point of how to get seasonal fruit onto the high-price window.
The local and industry reception
From those involved in the growing region, one hears the view that, for farmers who carry the worry of income breaking off for several years with replanting, graft renewal is a realistic means to swap varieties while keeping income. The administration has shown a policy of wanting to raise quality and added value and cultivate a "high-quality commercial longan brand." From the distribution field, there peeks out the expectation that bundling it as a named brand creates a basis for pricing fruit that has so far been handled lumped together as a native variety. All of these show that the center of gravity is shifting toward "how to name it" rather than increasing volume.
Lessons for Japanese produce buyers and growing-region stakeholders
There are three points the Japanese side can draw from this case. First, the perspective that a native variety can be material for differentiation. Thai Binh, rather than importing a new variety en masse from outside, aligns its branded native resource—gaining recognition in the north—by grafting. It connects to the idea of a Japanese growing region polishing its local variety as a "brand with a story." Second, the practical point that variety renewal is not the single option of replanting. For a growing region that dislikes the income gap of renewing old trees, graft renewal becomes a realistic option the procurement side can propose to the growing region. Third, the design of building traceability and brand development in parallel with production. The order of launching brand and history management as one from the early stage of renewal, rather than applying labels after the fruit is grown, makes it easier to establish origin proof at import and a view of volume planning.
On the sourcing ground, a phase continues in which the supply volume and price of Vietnamese fruit swing year by year. How to grasp the waves of supply and the good chances to buy, fruit oversupply and the sourcing opportunity—as organized in it, a growing region whose brand is fixed and whose history can be traced finds it easier to secure a footing for negotiation even in such a volatile phase.
Ripple effects on the market and industry
Longan is a fruit with thick demand for drying and flesh processing besides fresh fruit. If the native variety is branded and its history developed, the breadth of response widens not only for fresh-fruit exports but for inquiries as dried or processing raw material. Tuyen Quang province also advocates support for obtaining a growing-area code (cultivation-area code), and once this is in place, the door to markets that impose stricter quality standards—not just China—becomes easier to open. Looking at the north as a whole, a picture emerges of mid-tier growing regions like Thai Binh following, with a native-variety brand, the certification and export track record built by leading regions like Hung Yen. Achieving its first shipment to South Korea, Son La's mango—as with this, the flow of new markets opening from items that fixed their growing-area code and quality design first could be reproduced in longan too.
Practical information and confirmation points
If the Japanese side considers sourcing or brand collaboration for northern Vietnamese longan, the points to confirm are as follows: Anh Vang's harvest timing and shipping window (northern longan is generally concentrated from summer to early autumn), the status of growing-area code acquisition, the presence or absence of certifications such as VietGAP and organic, and when the graft-renewed fields enter full harvest. Because Thai Binh is at the stage of having just begun renewal, you also want to factor in that it will take several crops before a stable quantity can be read.
Summary: the next move to take
Thai Binh's graft renewal is a template of the growing-region strategy of "polish a native variety, name it, develop its history, and sell it." For a Japanese produce buyer, it is worth first making a list of northern longan's shipping timing by brand and by certification and following when a renewed brand like Anh Vang gets onto the market. For those engaged in growing-region branding, it is worth once setting aside the premise of replanting and considering a design that runs graft renewal and brand development at the same time, applied to one's own growing region. Growing regions that compete on name rather than volume are steadily increasing from the north.
