After the 2023 Lunar New Year celebrations in the dragon fruit “capital” of Binh Thuan province, merchants continue to advertise the purchase of dragon fruit to serve domestic and overseas markets.

Mr. Nguyen Tanh, a veteran dragon fruit farmer in Hamlet 5, Ham Liem Municipality (Ham Thuan Bac), said that before Tet, the price of white-fleshed dragon fruit bought in buckets from the garden sometimes fluctuates between 22-23, thousand VND/kg . After that, the price dropped to an average of 17-18 thousand VND/kg near Tet.

At the beginning of the new year, the price of dragon fruit in Binh Thuan remains stable and fluctuates around 20,000 VND/kg on average, even many places buy buckets in the garden at a high level of 22,000-25,000 VND/kg kg for goods with a rate of 80% or more.

According to Mr. Tanh, the dragon fruit farmers in Binh Thuan did not expect the price of dragon fruit to remain at such a high and stable level after Tet. Because at this price, when the farmers harvest, they have a good income, because the investment cost for 1 kg of dragon fruit is about 10,000 VND / kg.

Such as Mr. Tran Van Binh’s family 350 pillar dragon fruit garden in Ham Minh commune (Ham Thuan Nam) who just harvested more than 3 tons of fruit on January 30th ie January 9th. Mr. Binh said that thanks to his diligent tending, his dragon fruit garden produces very good quality fruit. The vendors in the garden were happy, so they ordered before Tet. With an average selling price of VND 23,000/kg, he made a profit of about VND 50 million after expenses, very excited.

According to our survey, although the price of dragon fruit is high, there are not many farmers harvesting dragon fruit after Tet in Binh Thuan. Because at the same time 2 years ago, due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, the price of dragon fruit dropped sharply, only a few thousand VND / kg, no one even bought them, causing heavy losses for farmers. In addition, many dragon fruit orchards have been demolished and not tended, so production has fallen sharply.

As in the area of ​​Village 5, Ham Liem Parish at that time, there are few gardens with ripe fruit to harvest. Most of the new dragon fruit orchards are glowing and producing young fruit. New buds and young fruits are also available at the 450-pillar dragon fruit garden of Nguyen Van Hong’s home, Village 1, Ham Liem Parish, which is expected to be harvested in about a month.

“My family has almost 1,000 sticks of dragon fruit, divided into two opposite phases to avoid production piling up at the same time and not being sold at a low price. But suddenly the price of dragon fruit was bought at a high level during Tet. Recently a 350 column family harvested 3.8 tons after the cleat was removed to 3.5 tons. With an average selling price of about VND22,000/kg, the turnover is VND80 million minus the “forgotten” family expenses of about VND65 million, very excited,” Mr Hong shared, adding because the price was low before and after Tet will be bought at a stable and high level, so that many farmers in the area have taken care of their gardens again and focused on lighting dragon fruit.

In this regard, Mr. Huynh Canh, vice chairman of the Binh Thuan Dragon Fruit Association, also confirmed that the high price of purchased dragon fruit has prompted farmers to refocus on tending the dragon fruit and lighting lamps to harvest the fruit .

For dragon fruit in the first days of the new year, it sells well and the price is still high, about 20,000 VND/kg in garden on average, because exporting dragon fruit to the Chinese market is very convenient now.

“The price of dragon fruit is stable because exporting dragon fruit to the Chinese market is cheap. Border crossings cleared goods quickly and markets on the Chinese side traded normally and fruit consumption was stable as before the epidemic,” Canh said.

In addition to the above factors, currently the production of dragon fruit exported to the Chinese market is not much, according to Mr. Canh. In Binh Thuan, the production of dragon fruit harvested before and after Tet is estimated to decrease by about 50% compared to before. And it is expected that in the next 10 days, the production of ripe dragon fruit will also be low, and the price will continue to be stable, and it will be difficult to lower.

According to the Binh Thuan Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the dragon fruit acreage in the region is about 26,977 hectares by the end of December 2022, a decrease of 5,283 hectares from 2021. Production reached more than 600,000 tons, down more than 80,000 tons compared to 2021. In order to improve the quality of dragon fruit and meet the needs of domestic and foreign markets, the province has focused on promotion in recent years of standard dragon fruit production. As a result, as of December 2022, there are approximately 11,264 hectares of dragon fruit that meet VietGAP standards. In addition, the whole province has more than 660ha of dragon fruit which obtained GlobalGAP certificate, 3 companies producing dragon fruit towards organic including: Binh Anh Hi-tech Agriculture Company Limited (3 ha), Co.,Ltd . Queen Dragon Fruit (2ha) and Kim Hai Farm (1ha).