Tra Vinh Province’s Dai Duc Cooperative has already exported around 2.7 tonnes of red flesh dragon fruit to the US since the beginning of October.

 

Tra Vinh exports red dragon fruit to the US

The expanded markets and value surges enjoyed by dragon fruit exporters are partly due to the VietGap cultivation standards Dai Duc Cooperative was instructed in by the Tra Vinh Gardening Association (GA) and the provincial Department of Science and Technology (DST).

The DST encouraged farmers to replace older sweet potato, pumpkin, and bamboo crops with the more lucrative fruit.

GA President Le Van Be said the province’s 74ha devoted to dragon fruit are spread over Cang Long, Chau Thanh, Tieu Can, and Cau Ke districts. Annual average yields exceed 300 tonnes, 60% of which meet export standards.

Tra Vinh started trademarking its dragon fruit varieties in 2012. The work has paid off, with domestic prices reaching as high as VND20,000–25,000 per kilo and earning farmers annual average incomes of around VND300 million per hectare.

(VOV)