On a single tree, flowers and fruit awaiting harvest hang at the same time. In an islet of Vietnam's Mekong Delta, such a new variety of longan has begun to bear fruit. Its name is "Long Phung Chau." It fruits about two years after planting, can be harvested almost year-round, and sells at over 100,000 dong (about 600 yen) per kilogram. It is an entity that could shake the sourcing calendar of import buyers, which has been built on the premise of "a tropical fruit with a short season." We compare two local news reports and read it from the angle of Japanese fruit procurement (converted at roughly 60 yen per 10,000 dong, the same below).
A "tree where flowers and fruit coexist" bearing fruit on a Can Tho islet — the gist of the starting news
What Vietnam's agricultural trade paper Nong nghiep va Moi truong (Agriculture and Environment) reported on July 3, 2026 is the new longan variety "Long Phung Chau" (Long Phung Chau) under trial cultivation on the islet "Con My Phuoc" in Nhon My commune, Can Tho City. The grower is orchard owner Tran Phu Tan (48). He introduced a line found in former Ben Tre province about three years ago, and now raises about 60 mature trees in an orchard of about 1 hectare.
The biggest feature is that flowers, just-set young fruit, growing fruit, and ripened fruit exist simultaneously on the same tree. The harvest does not concentrate in one period, and fruit can be picked almost year-round. The fruit sells at over 100,000 dong per kilogram, well above the general longan on the market, and the seedlings are also sold at 150,000 dong (about 900 yen) each, with inquiries reportedly increasing.
The major local paper Thanh Nien also covered the same orchard on June 25. According to that paper, Tan began cultivation by receiving about 20 seedlings from an acquaintance in former Ben Tre province, with the technical side handled by Pham Quoc Minh (42). Propagation has now progressed, and it has entered a stage of supplying seedlings on the order of several thousand a year to farmers in various places.
"Sweet while still green" and "year-round fruiting" — what is new about this variety
Longan is originally a fruit with a strong seasonality, its harvest period concentrated in summer. Production regions have honed flowering-control techniques to break this bias, but the basis is to "shift the flowering timing" through chemicals and cultivation management, and examples of fruiting year-round as an inherent property of the variety itself are hardly known. Because Long Phung Chau has flowers and fruit coexisting on the tree, the harvest is unlikely to break off even without relying on special treatments. This is the decisively new point.
Another feature that Thanh Nien conveys is that it "can be eaten while still green." Whereas general varieties are astringent and thin in flavor if picked while unripe, this variety is sweet even at the stage when the skin is green, with a crisp bite and no astringency, it is said. At the green stage the seed is hardly noticeable, and if fully ripened the flesh thickens and the sweetness and aroma grow richer. A fruit with a wide window of harvest suitability allows leeway in the harvesting and shipping schedule.
Furthermore, whereas existing major varieties take 3 to 4 years to enter stable production, Long Phung Chau begins to fruit about two years after planting. There are also local assessments that it grows vigorously, has few pests and diseases, suits the Mekong Delta climate, and is easy to control the flowering of. Seen from the production-region side, it is a variety that "fruits early, sells year-round, and sells high."
Long Phung Chau by the numbers — the difference from existing varieties
| Item | Long Phung Chau | Existing varieties that local reporting compares it with |
|---|---|---|
| Start of fruiting | About two years after planting | 3 to 4 years until stable production |
| Harvest season | Flowers and fruit coexist on the same tree, almost year-round | Harvest period concentrated in a season |
| Unripe fruit | Sweet while still green, no astringency | Early-picked fruit is astringent and thin in flavor |
| Fruit price | Over 100,000 dong/kg (about 600 yen) | Reported to be well above general varieties |
| Seedling price | 150,000 dong/tree (about 900 yen) | — |
| Scale of the covered orchard | About 1 hectare, about 60 mature trees | — |
What to note is that these figures are "the results of a single leading orchard." The cultivation area is only about 1 hectare and about 60 trees, and there is not yet the volume to ride a commercial export. No statement on variety registration or certification was found in the local reporting referenced this time either.
The local response — astonished visitors, gathering seedling demand, and a cool-headed warning
According to Thanh Nien, visitors to the orchard are urged to "have a green fruit," and are uniformly astonished, then astonished a second time by the sweetness on tasting it. Con My Phuoc was originally known for orchard tourism, and "going to see an unusual tree" is itself a draw for visitors.
The response on the producer side is faster still, with both papers reporting that requests to buy seedlings are coming in one after another from farmers across the Mekong Delta. The figure of several thousand seedlings supplied per year suggests this variety may, within a few years, turn from "a single unusual tree" into "a production region as an area."
The technical lead, Minh, says, "A new variety like this becomes an entry point to the shift toward high-value-added agriculture, lifts farmers' incomes, and has the power to put My Phuoc on the ecotourism map of the southwest." On the other hand, the Agriculture and Environment paper's reporter drove home a caution at the close of the article: "Unplanned expansion could invite oversupply. To make it last requires the agricultural authorities' technical guidance and a market strategy." Vietnam's fruit-tree production regions have experienced many times a development in which simultaneous conversion to a high-priced item occurs and the going rate collapses a few years later, and the local media itself is on guard against the boom overheating.
How should Japanese imported-fruit buyers handle this variety?
To confirm the premise, imports of fresh Vietnamese longan into Japan were lifted in November 2022. In other words, the quarantine barrier is already gone. The challenge is on the commercial-flow and volume side, and occasions to spot fresh Vietnamese longan on Japanese store shelves are still limited.
In that situation, what makes Long Phung Chau interesting is that it could fill the import side's biggest headache — the "seasonal valley" — with the property of the variety. Importing a fruit whose season concentrates tends to become a gamble of concentrating shipping space, warehousing, and promotion into a short period, with a one-year wait if you miss. If a variety with flowers and fruit coexisting spreads through the production region, a "program-type" procurement that ships every month even in small volumes can be designed, and the way deals are put together to aim for mass retailers' standing shelves changes. The fact that there is no off-season is also material that softens, at the negotiating table, the production-region side's assertiveness of "if you don't buy now, this year is over."
That said, it is too early to move on orders now. The volume is one orchard and about 60 trees, and it is at a stage where even domestic distribution expansion, let alone export to Japan, is still ahead. As a buyer, the realistic move is probably to put this variety on the variety ledger not as an "order target" but as a "watch target." Reverse-engineering from the reports that seedlings are selling by the thousands a year across regions, and from the property of fruiting about two years after planting, the calculation is that around 2028 substantial fruit will begin to come out from multiple production regions. What quality variability, transport durability, and price level look like at that point is the real evaluation point.
Another thing to watch is the use of the "sweet while still green" property. If the harvest-suitability window is wider than a fruit that can only be shipped fully ripe, the shipping design premised on sea transport may become easier. There is no transport or shelf-life data in the local reporting, so no firm conclusion can be drawn, but it is a theme worth a trading firm's local resident staff visiting to taste and confirm shelf life. The orchard is used to receiving tourists, so the hurdle for an inspection visit is not high.
Also worth pinning down is the flow in which the origin management of Vietnamese fruit is being institutionalized rapidly. In Dong Thap province, origin codes have been subdivided down to the individual farmer、and a nationwide QR traceability system has also gotten underway, starting from durian. Even as new varieties spread, a framework that can trace "which tree in which orchard" is being put in place, and the environment in which the Japanese side can present quality conditions is improving year by year.
The Mekong Delta's variety innovation begins in the "individual's garden"
That the protagonist this time is not a research institute but a 48-year-old orchard owner expresses well the character of the Mekong Delta fruit-tree industry. In the same Can Tho, a "billionaire farmers' club" in which durian farmers share cultivation techniques without hoarding them is growing. An individual who finds a promising line sells seedlings, surrounding farmers follow, and in a few years the lineup of a production region changes. This speed of turnover is a different world seen from Japan's fruit-tree industry, which spends long years on variety renewal.
The buds of ripple effects are on both the export and the processing sides. Longan that can secure raw material year-round not only lifts the bargaining power of fresh exports but also works to level the operation of processing lines such as dried longan and syrup-preserved products. On the other hand, the risks are as written: a development in which a seedling boom runs ahead and fruit quality control fails to keep up, and the confusion in which a popular variety name alone takes on a life of its own and a different line circulates under the same name, are structures that easily occur in the diffusion phase of a new variety. Buyers cannot do without a stance of looking by "which orchard's tree" rather than "variety name."
Practical information — where Long Phung Chau stands now
| Variety name | Long Phung Chau (Nhan Long Phung Chau) |
|---|---|
| Covered production region | Con My Phuoc, Nhon My commune, Can Tho City (an islet in the Hau River) |
| Origin | A line found in former Ben Tre province, introduced about three years ago |
| Production scale | About 1 hectare and about 60 mature trees at the covered orchard. Seedlings supplied to various regions on the order of several thousand a year |
| Price | Fruit over 100,000 dong/kg (about 600 yen), seedlings 150,000 dong/tree (about 900 yen) |
| Exports to Japan | No track record for this variety. Fresh Vietnamese longan itself had its import lifted in November 2022 |
To sum up. Long Phung Chau is not a variety that changes today's sourcing, but a variety that could change the procurement map two to three years from now. As next actions: first, import trading firms handling Vietnamese fruit should register it on the variety ledger and check local reporting and the spread of seedlings every six months. If a Mekong Delta inspection trip is planned, add a visit to the orchard in Nhon My commune, Can Tho City to the itinerary. And rather than fixating on fresh produce, consider it in parallel with the processing side as a candidate raw material for dried and frozen processing that makes use of its year-round harvest property. When a tree with no off-season comes to hold area, it pays to be the buyer who is first to reach out.
Sources
- Nong nghiep va Moi truong, "New longan variety fruiting year-round, selling at over 100,000 dong/kg" (July 3, 2026)
- Thanh Nien, "The west's unusual longan variety — sweet even as a green fruit, astonishing tasting visitors" (June 25, 2026)
- Plant Protection Department, "Vietnam list of quarantine conditions by item"
