Illustrative image (Source: VNA) According to figures from theMinistry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), dragon fruit is grown on37,000ha and the annual output is some 630,000 tonnes.
This includes 26,500ha in Binh Thuan,which produces over 500,000 tonnes.
It is also grown in the provinces ofLong An, Tien Giang and Vinh Long, with the area under the fruit beingconstantly expanded.
MARD estimates that 15-20 percent ofthe fruit is consumed in the domestic market and 2-3 percent is exportedelsewhere with the remaining 80-85 percent traded over the border with Chinesecompanies.
Do Minh Kinh, Deputy Director of theBinh Thuan Department of Trade and Industry, said there was an overwhelmingdependence on the Chinese market, which makes exports of the fruit unstable andrisky.
The output in these southernprovinces is huge, and with much of their exports heading for China, theirtrucks are often forced to queue at the border which causes the fruits to spoiland farmers and exporters to suffer losses.
According to Ngo Van Tuan, Directorof the Tien Giang province Department of Trade and Industry, the local marketis ignored.
Many farmers grow the fruit toVietGAP and GlobalGAP standards for exporting to markets that demand suchquality, but these fruits do not fetch higher prices than normal ones, meaningfarmers prefer to invest in the latter.
To promote production and add value,provinces growing this fruit needed to launch trade promotion activities andpersuade local and foreign companies to join the processing and consumptionchains, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Ho Thi Kim Thoa said.
Processors were encouraged todiversify and make other products, she said.
Delegates from the provinces of BinhThuan, Long An and Tien Giang urged the Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment to make zoning plans for dragon fruit cultivation around thecountry, and to draft criteria for using agro-chemicals to improve the qualityof the fruit.-VNA
VNA
