Cabbages are packed after being harvested at a farm. (Illustrative photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) - Vietnam’s fruit andvegetable exports are expected to top 4.5 billion USD by 2020, with fruitsaccounting for 3.6 billion USD, according to the Crop Production Department.
Vietnam’s varied geographic and climaticconditions have allowed it to diversify its fruit and vegetable production, givingit great export potential, Nguyen Hong Son, director of the department, told a recentseminar on the potential and development orientation of horticulture andfloriculture in Vietnam.
The fruit-tree-growing area, productivity and output have gone up significantlyin the past 15 years. Banana is grown on the largest area followed by mango,longan, litchi, grapefruit, dragon fruit, pineapple, durian, lemon, rambutan,jackfruit, custard apple, tangerine, and guava.
According to Son, 80 percent of the outputis sold in the domestic market as fresh fruits mainly through traditionalchannels.
Fruit and vegetable exports increased from 151.5million USD in 2003 to 1.07 billion USD in 2013 and 3.52 billion USD last year,with fruit export accounting for 80 percent of total export.
China is Vietnam’s biggest importer (accountingfor more than 70 percent of the latter’s exports), followed by the US, theRepublic of Korea, Japan, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand,Singapore, and Australia.
There are now “concentrated productionareas” for mango, dragon fruit, litchi, grape, grapefruit and others as well asfor flowers, many of which adopt good agricultural practices like VietGap andGlobalGap and advanced technologies to improve productivity and quality.
But fruit and vegetable farming still facesmany problems like small scale and scattered cultivation, inconsistent quality,impacts of climate change, poor harvest and post-harvest technologies,increasing competition in the global market and lack of linkages betweenbusinesses and farmers.
“A lack of diversity in fruit exports (dragonfruit accounts for 60 percent of fruit exports) and a reliance on the Chinesemarket is another problem,” he said.
Nguyen Huu Dat, general secretary of the VietnamFruits and Vegetables Association, said: “Demand for fresh fruits will continueto increase both in the domestic and overseas markets.”
Challenges and difficulties would “force Vietnam’sfruit and vegetable production sector to improve quality, meaning they mustensure consistent quality and year-round supply and meet hygiene and foodsafety standards.”
Businesses must work to increase exports tofastidious markets and join hands for trade promotion in foreign markets togradually penetrate distribution systems there, he said.
He also said businesses needed to developclose links with farmers so that the latter grew products that met the demandin global markets.
Fruit processing
Son said the country had more than 145industrial-scale vegetable and fruit processing plants with a total capacity of800,000 tonnes a year besides thousands of smaller ones.
The plants ran at just 50 percent ofcapacity due to a shortage of raw materials, he said.
Matthias Ehrtmann, division manager - foodand pharma machinery at Rieckermann, Ho Chi Minh City, said last year exportsof fruits and vegetables exceeded even that of rice.
“The potential is tremendous.
“However, only about 10 percent of fruitsand vegetables is actually processed into higher-value products,” he said.
Son said the country would continue toexpand areas under key fruits like banana, mango, orange, pineapple, and longanto serve both exports and domestic consumption.
It would focus on improving productivityand quality, reducing production costs, increasing the ratio of GAP-certifiedand organic products, and harvesting fruits around the year, he said.
Increasing fruit processing to add valueand building brands, geographic indication and exclusive rights for specialityfruits’ brands were among the sector’s other plans, he said.
The country’s fruit and vegetable exportsaccounted for less than 1 percent of the global trade in them, meaning therewas great potential to increase their exports, he said.
The seminar was held on the sidelines ofthe first International Exhibition & Conference on Horticultural andFloricultural Production and Processing Technology at the Saigon Exhibition andConvention Centre from March 14-16. - VNA
Vietnam’s varied geographic and climaticconditions have allowed it to diversify its fruit and vegetable production, givingit great export potential, Nguyen Hong Son, director of the department, told a recentseminar on the potential and development orientation of horticulture andfloriculture in Vietnam.
The fruit-tree-growing area, productivity and output have gone up significantlyin the past 15 years. Banana is grown on the largest area followed by mango,longan, litchi, grapefruit, dragon fruit, pineapple, durian, lemon, rambutan,jackfruit, custard apple, tangerine, and guava.
According to Son, 80 percent of the outputis sold in the domestic market as fresh fruits mainly through traditionalchannels.
Fruit and vegetable exports increased from 151.5million USD in 2003 to 1.07 billion USD in 2013 and 3.52 billion USD last year,with fruit export accounting for 80 percent of total export.
China is Vietnam’s biggest importer (accountingfor more than 70 percent of the latter’s exports), followed by the US, theRepublic of Korea, Japan, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand,Singapore, and Australia.
There are now “concentrated productionareas” for mango, dragon fruit, litchi, grape, grapefruit and others as well asfor flowers, many of which adopt good agricultural practices like VietGap andGlobalGap and advanced technologies to improve productivity and quality.
But fruit and vegetable farming still facesmany problems like small scale and scattered cultivation, inconsistent quality,impacts of climate change, poor harvest and post-harvest technologies,increasing competition in the global market and lack of linkages betweenbusinesses and farmers.
“A lack of diversity in fruit exports (dragonfruit accounts for 60 percent of fruit exports) and a reliance on the Chinesemarket is another problem,” he said.
Nguyen Huu Dat, general secretary of the VietnamFruits and Vegetables Association, said: “Demand for fresh fruits will continueto increase both in the domestic and overseas markets.”
Challenges and difficulties would “force Vietnam’sfruit and vegetable production sector to improve quality, meaning they mustensure consistent quality and year-round supply and meet hygiene and foodsafety standards.”
Businesses must work to increase exports tofastidious markets and join hands for trade promotion in foreign markets togradually penetrate distribution systems there, he said.
He also said businesses needed to developclose links with farmers so that the latter grew products that met the demandin global markets.
Fruit processing
Son said the country had more than 145industrial-scale vegetable and fruit processing plants with a total capacity of800,000 tonnes a year besides thousands of smaller ones.
The plants ran at just 50 percent ofcapacity due to a shortage of raw materials, he said.
Matthias Ehrtmann, division manager - foodand pharma machinery at Rieckermann, Ho Chi Minh City, said last year exportsof fruits and vegetables exceeded even that of rice.
“The potential is tremendous.
“However, only about 10 percent of fruitsand vegetables is actually processed into higher-value products,” he said.
Son said the country would continue toexpand areas under key fruits like banana, mango, orange, pineapple, and longanto serve both exports and domestic consumption.
It would focus on improving productivityand quality, reducing production costs, increasing the ratio of GAP-certifiedand organic products, and harvesting fruits around the year, he said.
Increasing fruit processing to add valueand building brands, geographic indication and exclusive rights for specialityfruits’ brands were among the sector’s other plans, he said.
The country’s fruit and vegetable exportsaccounted for less than 1 percent of the global trade in them, meaning therewas great potential to increase their exports, he said.
The seminar was held on the sidelines ofthe first International Exhibition & Conference on Horticultural andFloricultural Production and Processing Technology at the Saigon Exhibition andConvention Centre from March 14-16. - VNA
VNA
