Harvest season in Vietnam’s kingdom of litchi
Gardeners in the northern province of Bac Giang are now in the mid-harvest season of litchi, the province’s specialty.
According to a report from the Bac Giang Provincial People’s Committee, the total litchi area in the province is 30,000 ha this year, down by 1,000 ha compared to last year.
The total harvest is expected to be 130,000 tons, down 65,000 tons under the province's restructuring plan.
Early ripening litchi is estimated at 23,000 tons, accounting for 17.7% of the province’s total. The remaining 107,000 tons will ripen litchi. Prime growing areas in the province are Luc Ngan, Luc Nam, Tan Yen, and Lang Giang districts.
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Despite a smaller growing area the amount of high-quality litchi grown under VietGap and GlobalGap standards has increased, according to the people's committee.
The province expects domestic consumption to be 78,000 tons, or 60% of its total, with exports accounting for the remaining 52,000 tons, or 40%.
Under sponsorship from the Swiss Government and guidance from Vietrade at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Bac Giang is researching new technology to keep litchi fresh, using sulfur steam. The technology meets EU standards and, if applied successfully, will allow for litchi to be transported by ship instead of air, cutting transport costs.
In 2016, the output of establishments that were granted area codes to the US reached about 1,000 tons, ensuring eligibility for export to the US, Australia, EU, and others.
Duong Van Thai, Vice Chairman of Bac Giang province said that this year, Bac Giang granted 15 lychee plantation area codes for more than 200 households, concentrated in two adjacent communes of Hong Giang and Giap Son (Luc Ngan district) with an area of 158 ha (an increase of 97.66 hectares and 9 area codes compared with 2015).
All lychee production establishments granted American area codes must be in strict adherence with GlobalGap standards as well as be underthe strict supervision of the authorities.
Also according to Mr. Thai, to date, many businesses have subscribed to purchase litchi, some businesses came for survey and signing contract for qualified litchi eligible to be exported to the US, Australia, and the EU. Some localities are now on promotion, getting access to the Middle East market.
Along with continuing to keep stability of the traditional markets, Bac Giang continues to seek and expand new export markets, potential markets with higher quality requirements, to reduce dependence on traditional export markets, with the perception that all markets have a decisive role in the province's consumption of litchi.
Especially, this year, Hanoi Irradiation Center will go into operation which will create favorable conditions for export to meet the requirements of litchi export to difficult markets.
China is still the traditional market accounting for about 40% share of litchi consumption of Bac Giang province.
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