The province has 226 production-consumption linkage chains meeting standards, with more than 70,675 hectares certified under good agricultural practices and organic agriculture, according to the Sub-Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection under the Department of Agriculture and Environment.
The certified area includes 6,976 hectares under VietGAP, more than 6,084 hectares under GlobalGAP, 44,246 hectares under 4C, 194 hectares under organic standards and 13,175 hectares under Rainforest Alliance, among others.
Gia Lai is applying technology and production standards to major crops including coffee, rubber, pepper, cashew, sugarcane, cassava, durian, passion fruit and bananas.
Coffee and passion fruit lead expansion
The province has more than 110,000 hectares of coffee, producing about 365,340 tons of beans, with nearly 56,700 hectares grown according to production standards.
Tropico Tay Nguyen Coffee Co., Ltd. has established six high-quality coffee production linkage points and is developing an ecological coffee project through model farms.
The company works with farmers to use organic fertilizers and biological plant protection products while increasing the proportion of ripe cherries harvested.
During the 2025-2026 crop, it purchased about 15,000 tons of coffee from linked households for processing, supplying domestic roasting brands and export markets.
Passion fruit is also expanding as a commercial crop, with nearly 6,000 hectares under cultivation and annual output of about 226,720 tons. Some 1,544 hectares meet VietGAP standards.
Nafoods Gia Lai JSC is working with 37 cooperatives and households in the Central Highlands to maintain a 5,000-hectare passion fruit growing area for processing and export.
The company provides seedlings and supports sustainable cultivation, with yields reaching about 35 tons per hectare.
It exports fresh fruit and processed passion fruit products to more than 70 countries, including about 5,000 tons of concentrated passion fruit juice and 2,000 tons of passion fruit juice annually.
Standards improve production and farm incomes
In Hoai An commune, the Hoai An Youth Agricultural Cooperative works with farmers on more than 460 hectares of green-skinned pomelo.
Some 95 hectares are VietGAP certified and seven hectares have domestic planting area codes.
The cooperative’s pomelo is OCOP certified and sold through supermarkets and clean food stores inside and outside the province.
The cooperative buys pomelo from farmers for 15,000-30,000 VND/kg (about US$0.57-1.14/kg), helping growers earn annual profits of about 120-150 million VND per hectare (about US$4,560-5,700/ha).
It aims to add 100 hectares of VietGAP-certified pomelo and secure export planting area codes for 200 hectares by the end of 2026.
In Ia Phi commune, 14 hectares of cantaloupe are grown under VietGAP standards. The entire area is covered by greenhouses and uses smart water-saving irrigation and organic fertilizers.
Yields reach 3-4 tons per sao, with selling prices of 15,000-30,000 VND/kg (about US$0.57-1.14/kg) and profits of 50-70 million VND per sao per crop (about US$1,900-2,660).
In Ia Tor commune, Cao Nguyen Vietnam Development JSC is growing 300 hectares of bananas to GlobalGAP standards. Water-saving irrigation, organic fertilizers and biological products are used throughout the production process.
The farm produces about 60 tons per hectare and exports roughly 18,000 tons of bananas a year to China, South Korea and Japan.
The company is also applying organic standards to coffee and pineapple production for export.
Huong Dat An Phu One Member Co., Ltd. is cultivating and working with households on 11 hectares of VietGAP-certified vegetables and fruit. Production is controlled from seed selection through cultivation, harvesting and processing.
The company supplies 3-4 tons a day to supermarket chains including Co.opmart, VinMart and Aeon, as well as clean food stores nationwide.
Export infrastructure expands
Gia Lai has been granted 451 planting area codes covering more than 13,420 hectares, including 346 export codes covering more than 11,660 hectares.
The province also has 53 export packing facility codes, with a combined capacity of about 2,670-2,885 tons of fresh fruit per day.
Passion fruit, bananas, coffee, pepper and durian have entered markets including the European Union, the United States, Japan and South Korea.
Tran Xuan Khai, head of the Sub-Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, said production to recognized standards improves productivity and quality while helping producers respond to market demand.
Focus shifts to processing and value addition
By 2030, Gia Lai aims to have about 779,000 hectares of cultivated land and total agricultural output of more than 10 million tons.
The province also targets more than 50% of the export value of key agricultural products to come from preliminary processing, processing and deep processing.
To reach those goals, the crop sector plans to restructure production, strengthen links between raw material areas, processing facilities and markets, and expand large-scale specialized growing zones meeting VietGAP, GlobalGAP, Rainforest Alliance and organic standards.
It also plans to strengthen integrated pest management, plant health management and planting area codes.
Cooperatives and collaborative groups will play a larger role in organizing farmers, managing production contracts and raw material areas, and improving traceability as Gia Lai seeks to move its agricultural sector further up the value chain.