Y Thiên Êchăm and his wife, from Ako Đung village, Ea Nuôl commune (Buôn Đôn district), married in 1993 and established their own household in 1997 on land given by his parents. With just over one hectare, they initially planted coffee, corn, and beans—short-term crops to sustain them while the coffee matured. However, lacking capital and proper farming techniques, their coffee trees grew poorly.
Later, Y Thiên was able to access government loans and attend technical training courses organized by the local Farmers’ Association. Applying the new techniques improved the family’s coffee crop: yields increased and their finances stabilized. With the extra income, they expanded production, bought more land, and built a house. In 2004, Y Thiên began intercropping by planting more than 50 cashew trees in his coffee field, which not only provided extra income but also shade for the coffee during the dry season. Alongside coffee and cashews, the family also raises three cows and nearly 20 crossbred wild pigs. Today, with more than two hectares of land, they harvest 3–4 tons of coffee and 200–300 kg of cashews each year, plus income from pigs and cattle, earning over 120 million VND annually.
One day, after seeing a TV report on growing rubber trees alongside coffee—a new approach to intercropping perennial crops—Y Thiên boldly borrowed more money and traveled to Đạt Lý (Hòa Thuận commune, Buôn Ma Thuột City) to buy rubber seedlings. In 2011, he planted 500 rubber trees on five sào (about 0.5 hectare) of his coffee field. At first, some young trees died or were damaged by termites, so he used termite control products at the base. This year, he planted an additional 500 seedlings, which are growing well. In the near future, Y Thiên plans to expand rubber intercropping across more than two hectares of coffee land.
This is the first time rubber has been introduced to Ea Nuôl commune. After more than a year of care, the rubber trees on Y Thiên’s farm are thriving, with few pests and low maintenance requirements. He currently tends the rubber in the same way as coffee—weeding, fertilizing, and watering—because he has yet to learn specific rubber cultivation techniques or how to tap latex. Y Thiên hopes the local authorities will soon organize training sessions on rubber tree care and latex harvesting so his family can gain the knowledge needed to make the most of this promising new crop.