Farmers sort dragon fruit for export and the domestic market. — Photo nongnghiep.vn

TIỀN GIANG — Dragon fruit prices in Tiền Giang Province remain high after the Lunar New Year holiday due to increased demand from China and domestic consumption.

Currently, farmers are harvesting dragon fruit in the off-season from about 4,000 hectares, with an estimated output of about 30,000 tonnes.

In Chợ Gạo District, the largest dragon fruit growing area in Tiền Giang, traders are currently purchasing dragon fruit at prices ranging from VNĐ23,000-35,000 (US$0.9-1.4) depending on quality.

Chợ Gạo has a total dragon fruit growing area of ​​about 6,600 hectares, with output of 180,000 tonnes per year. Of this total, dragon fruit is produced according to Viet GAP standards in about 2,200 hectares and according to Global GAP standards in over 300 hectares.

The locality currently has 101 export growing area codes for ​​5,923 hectares in markets such as China, South Korea, the US, Australia and New Zealand.

To ensure sustainable dragon fruit development, the People's Committee of Chợ Gạo District orients and creates favourable conditions for cooperatives and enterprises to coordinate with dragon fruit farmers to create valuable products to increase export turnover as well as overcome technical barriers of trade agreements to reach larger consumer markets through official export channels.

The district will organise training courses and transfer farming techniques according to VietGAP and Global GAP standards to produce safe and traceable products, and enhance product promotion and trade promotion for agricultural products.

According to Tiền Giang Province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the province has around 8,500 hectares dedicated to dragon fruit cultivation, predominantly featuring red-fleshed varieties. This area yields an annual harvest exceeding 255,000 tonnes, which is supplied to the export market.

The province currently has over 2,300 hectares of dragon fruit certified to meet VietGAP and Global GAP standards.

The province is setting a goal of having 3,600 hectares of dragon fruit meeting GAP criteria by this year. — VNS