A milk apple orchard in Cần Thơ’s Long Điền District. Farmers growing milk apples for export earn profits of VNĐ200 million (US$8,000) per hectare per year. – VNA/VNS Photo Thu Hiền

CẦN THƠ – Cần Thơ plans to develop more fruit growing areas that are allotted production codes for exports.

The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta city has 117 areas with a total of nearly 1,300ha that have these codes, or 1 per cent of the total area under fruit.

Longan, milk apple, durian, mango, and some other fruits are grown in these areas.

To get the code, they must conform to Vietnamese good agricultural practices (VietGAP) or other equivalent standards.

The city has 478ha of fruit orchards meeting VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards, according to its Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Trần Thái Nghiêm, deputy director of the department, said getting codes was an imperative.

The Sub-department of Plant Cultivation and Protection should ensure this and improve their management to expand exports to South Korea, the US, China, the EU, and other markets, he said.

Phạm Thị Minh Hiếu, its head, said the sub-department together with other departments and agencies and international organisations would organise fruit cultivation in specialised growing areas and develop geographical indication, origin traceability and production codes for them.

That would help control plant diseases, align cultivation with market demand and ensure high quality to meet export requirements, she added.

The city plans to grow other crops this year on 716ha of unproductive rice fields, including mango, durian, lime, longan, and other fruits on 422ha.

The city has increased its area under fruits in recent years and had 25,072ha with an annual output of 223,255 tonnes last year.

It has designated 10,392ha of specialised growing areas for durian, longan, mango, and milk apple.

The initial production costs are higher for fruits than rice, and it takes farmers one to five years to recover them, but subsequently they offer farmers VNĐ100-200 million (US$4,000-8,000) higher profits per hectare per year.

Farmers grow various speciality fruits with great export potential and high value such as durian, longan, mango, and jackfruit.

Phạm Văn Lơ, director of the Nhơn Nghĩa Longan Co-operative in Phong Điền District, said: “The co-operative grows off-season longan and follows instructions given by specialised agencies to meet the requirements of export markets.”

The co-operative has 29 members who grow Ido longan on 22ha and have received production codes for exporting to Japan, South Korea and the US.

Last year they sold their fruit at a high price and earned profits of VNĐ300 million ($12,200) per hectare.

The department regularly provides farmers with market information, teaches them farming techniques and expands effective fruit growing models, according to Lơ.

It has encouraged them to develop linkages with stakeholders for growing and selling their produce and apply quality standards such as VietGAP and GlobalGAP.

Co-operatives, co-operative groups, farmers, and companies in the city have been granted production codes for 970ha of fruits grown for exports. – VNS