A mango orchard in Tiền Giang. The province is focusing on production of key local fruits such as mango, dragon fruit and durian. — VNA/VNS Photo

TIỀN GIANG — The Mekong Delta province of Tiền Giang, one of the country’s main fruit producers, is focusing on developing specialised fruit farms to serve exports.

Trần Hoàng Nhật Nam, deputy director of its Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the southern province has expanded its area under fruits to nearly 84,200ha, growing many speciality fruits such as durian, dragon fruit, green-skin pomelo, and Hòa Lộc mango, and seeks to grow agricultural produce fit for local consumption and exports.

It is developing fruit farming towards specialised zones based on locations’ soil and other conditions.

They include 9,000ha of dragon fruit, 20,000ha of durian and 15,400ha of pineapple, among others.

These crops provide good profit and are among the province’s key exports.

Dragon fruit farms spread out across the districts of Chợ Gạo, Gò Công Đông, Gò Công Tây, and Tân Phước.

To enhance their quality and output, Tiền Giang is focusing on technology transfer to foster intensive farming and automation and building supply chains.

Nearly 2,000ha have received VietGAP (Good Agriculture Practice) certificates and 110ha even meet GlobalGAP standards.

Tiền Giang is working towards getting GAP certification for 3,600ha by 2025.

Meanwhile, around half of durian orchards in Cai Lậy and Cái Bè districts are bearing fruit. Some 70 per cent of the fruit are for exports, mainly to China.

Geographical indication has been obtained for Chợ Gạo dragon fruit, Hòa Lộc mango and Ngũ Hiệp durian (in Cai Lậy), enabling their easy export and brand building.

Tiền Giang is speeding up the procedures for issuing farming area codes and packaging area codes from importing countries to sustainably develop specialised fruits farming and exports.

Nearly 25,200ha of orchards have the codes to export to China and other markets, including jackfruit, dragon fruit and mango.

Of packaging facilities, 307 have codes, 299 of them from China.

It targets that by 2025, all of its key fruit farms will have farming area codes.

In the first seven months of this year, Tiền Giang grew over 1 million tonnes of fruits, up 4.08 per cent year-on-year.

Fruit farming here has been very lucrative, with durian farmers making profits of up to VNĐ2 billion per hectare a year.

Other fruits fetch hundreds of millions.

This motivates farmers to invest in technology and intensive farming methods to produce high-quality produce for export. —VNS