Dragon fruit area in China’s Hainan and Guangxi provinces has reached 20,000 hectares so far and China plans to expand it to 30,000 hectares by 2020, he added. According to Mr. Cuong, Vietnam has grown dragon fruits according to advantages in natural conditions. Sunshine and sand in Binh Thuan province make dragon fruits sweeter than in other places. However he still asked farmers and businesses to change their production, management methods and increase processing. Binh Thuan province has 27,000 hectares of dragon fruits without any processing plant. Mr. Cuong emphasized the need of building a processing plant in the province to increase added value for the fruit. In addition, he urged trade promotion to expand market, promote official exports, gradually limit and abolish cross-border export. Yesterday, Mr. Cuong rejected press information that dragon fruit price has drastically dropped in the southern and central regions of Vietnam because China has stopped buying. Mr. Cuong affirmed that the ministry had required Plant Protection Department to verify the information at northern border gates. The department’s delegation arrived at the border gates and found trading and export activities progress normally. The minister said that dragon fruit is a high value fruit. Vietnam now has 52,000 hectares and exports VND1.5 million tons a year to yield US$1 billion. China is still the main market accounting for 80 percent of Vietnam’s export output. There are two harvest seasons of the fruit, one from April to September when the plants bear fruits naturally with high yield. Another… [Read full story]
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