Dragon fruit needs more quality, diversity
Delegates at a conference on promoting dragon fruit consumption called on scientists and farmers to create new varieties and boost productivity while increasing measures to prevent dragon fruit diseases.
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The dragon fruit growers demanded stable electricity resources to produce quality fruits and urged the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to issue a master plan on dragon fruit growing zones and criteria for using pesticides.
Dragon trees are one of Vietnam’s twelve key fruit tree groups and one of Vietnam’s nine key trees with competitive advantages.
Vietnam’s dragon tree area is around 37,000 hectares with annual output of 630,000 tonnes. Binh Thuan has the largest area of 27,000 hectares, with the remaining area located in Tien Giang and Long An provinces.
Dragon fruit is exported to the European Union, the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea. Around 80% of dragon fruits in Binh Thuan are exported to China.
In 2015, dragon fruit exports reached 12,659 tonnes with revenue of US$8 million and in the first seven months of 2016, export volume was 4,400 tonnes with a value of US$3.4 million.
Ho Thi Kim Thoa, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, said dragon fruit production area has increased in past years because of the tree’s high economic value.
Thoa, however, advised growers to grow dragon fruit according to VietGap criteria and apply technological advances in processing, packaging and preservation.
