Harvesting of dragon fruits in Bình Thuận Province. — VNA/VNS Photo Nguyễn Thanh

BÌNH THUẬN — The Bình Thuận Province People’s Committee has announced plans to promote consumption of dragon fruit and certain other agricultural products this year.

The country’s largest dragon fruit-producing province is expected to harvest around 431,000 tonnes of the fruit from now to year-end, export 280,000 tonnes, sell 80,000 tonnes to supermarkets, wet markets and shops and sell 75,000 tonnes to online consumers and to processors. 

To meet these targets, the People’s Committee has ordered relevant departments and agencies to strengthen exports via both official and unofficial channels and promote the sales of the fruit at local markets and online.

In August, the province Department of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s trade promotion department will organise online trade conferences with Indian and Pakistani importers to promote exports.

The south-central province has more than 33,700ha under the fruit and an annual output of 700,000 tonnes.

It will also promote other agricultural products like rubber and cashew and seafood. It is expected to harvest 60,330 tonnes of latex and 8,680 tonnes of cashew from now to year-end.

The People’s Committee has ordered relevant agencies to work with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to assign production unit codes for farming areas to better manage quality and traceability of agricultural products.

The province will strengthen support to enable agricultural co-operatives and farming households to apply good agricultural practices standards like VietGAP and Global GAP to improve quality and competitiveness.

The People’s Committee has also instructed relevant agencies to zone and develop concentrated farming areas that produce clean agricultural products. 

Each district and town should develop at least one or two establishments that buy fresh agricultural products and carry out semi-processing and preservation, it said.

It wants support and encouragement for companies to build refrigerated warehouses, stores and containers to preserve agricultural products.

It wants to establish sites for showcasing the province’s fresh and processed agricultural products and those certified under the country’s One Commune – One Product programme.  

Priority would be given to places that attract tourists and national highways, it said. – VNS