Hesaid the authorities in the district, the department and companieshad piloted an organic dragon fruit model in Thanh Phu Long, Phu NgaiTri and Duong Xuan Hoi communes that turned out to be highly efficient. NguyenNgoc Tai, who cultivates 520 organic dragon fruit plants in Duong XuanHoi commune, said the model does not use chemicals and pesticides, andproduces a high yield. Sale of organic dragon fruit is guaranteed for prices 10 percent higher thanthe market price, he said. Chau Thanh, which has the largest dragon fruit growing area in Long An, hasmore than 9,000ha of dragon fruit. Nguyen Quoc Trịnh, Chairman of the Long An Dragon Fruit Association, saidthat localities should encourage farmers to expand the pilot models, whichwill help increase both yield and quality, and open up possibilities forexporting to demanding markets. Long An, the country’s second-largest dragon fruit producer, after only thesouth-central province of Binh Thuan, has nearly 12,000ha of dragon fruit,including nearly 2,100ha planted with efficient irrigation facilities andother advanced techniques. Efficient irrigation helps farmers save 50 - 80 percent on irrigationwater compared to manual irrigation and 10 – 40 percent on fertiliser,reducing production costs by 2 – 4 million VND (86 – 172 USD) per hectare amonth, according to the department. Among other cooperatives that have received assistance, the Thanh Phu LongAgriculture Cooperative in Chau Thanh’s Thanh Phu Long commune last yearreceived instruction in growing techniques under Vietnamese GoodAgricultural Practices (VietGAP) from the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance. Thealliance also helped them build a brand name for theirdragon fruit and informed them of the importance of origin traceability. After this, the cooperative signed contracts to supply dragonfruit to various supermarkets in HCM City. Dragon fruit is one of Vietnam’s nine key crops that have competitiveadvantages in the world market. However, most dragon fruit farmers in thecountry have unstable incomes because they have not have securedoutlets. Dragon fruit is cultivated in 30 cities and provinces nationwide,with Binh Thuan, Long An and Tien Giang provinces, accounting for 93 percent ofthe country’s total dragon fruit growing areas. Binh Thuan has 29,000ha of dragon fruit and Tien Giang has 8,000ha./.