Binh Thuan targets to expand dragonfruit VietGAP areas to 9,700 ha

With more than 27,600ha of dragonfruit and 262ha for GlobalGAP, Binh Thuan Province has the largest area allocated to the fruit in the country, with annual output topping more than 550,000 tonnes, Mai Kiều, director of the department, said in a local conference on January 15.

Đào Thị Kim Dung, director of Binh Thuan’s Dragon Fruit Research and Development Centre, said that farmers were not interested in dragonfruit grown under VietGap standards because they do not receive higher prices compared to normal dragonfruit and buyers do not care about the VietGap-grown fruit.  

The province’s People’s Committee has asked departments and agencies to link farmers and buyers and support new technology for farmers, said Phạm Văn Nam, vice chairman of the committee.

The province’s dragonfruit is exported to the US, the EU, the Republic of Korea and Japan, according to the Binh Thuan Dragon Fruit Association. — VNS