In recent years, the cultivation area and export output of dragon fruit in our country have shown a downward trend. Considered the dragon fruit "capital" of the whole country, faced with market fluctuations, Lam Dong farmers continue to focus on elevating quality, while simultaneously stepping up the planting of new varieties to open up breakthrough opportunities for the dragon fruit commodity sector.

The entire Lam Dong province currently possesses 18 cooperative and linkage chains with an output of approximately 90,900 tons/year, accounting for around 15% of the total output. The dragon fruit area produced under VietGAP standards reaches about 35%, under GlobalGAP standards about 2%, and under organic standards 0.48%. This demonstrates that the participation of farmers in linked chain models remains low, not yet guaranteeing stability and sustainable development.

Raising value and market recognition capacity

According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Lam Dong province, previously the province's dragon fruit export turnover relied about 80% on the Chinese market, but currently this proportion has decreased to 50%. Concurrently, according to the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, in 2022, China possessed 65,000 hectares of red-flesh dragon fruit area, with an output of 1.5 million tons/year. During the harvest season from June to November, China's domestic dragon fruit output rises sharply, leading to a decrease in import demand, which pushes the price of Vietnamese dragon fruit down low. Conversely, from December to May of the following year, import demand increases, so the selling price of dragon fruit surges high.

General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association Dang Phuc Nguyen argued that, although Vietnam primarily exports white-flesh dragon fruit, Chinese consumers increasingly prioritize domestically produced goods. Besides, dragon fruit exported to the EU and US markets remains restricted in volume, primarily serving the Asian community. Meanwhile, products from a number of countries such as India, Spain, Ecuador… possess advantages in price and preservation time. Therefore, Vietnam needs to orient dragon fruit exports to be off-season with China to elevate export value. From June to November, orchards need to proactively reduce output to concentrate on caring for trees, yielding fruit in the remaining months of the year.

Within the Cultivation Development Strategy to 2030, with a vision to 2050, Lam Dong province orients developing dragon fruit into concentrated raw material zones to reach an area of 25,000 hectares with an output of 750,000 tons by 2030; concurrently, creating synchronous linkages among production, purchasing, and processing tied to brand building and product consumption.

For exported dragon fruit, Lam Dong has been granted 571 growing area codes with an area of 25,200 hectares and 282 packing facility codes. “Binh Thuan” dragon fruit has also been protected under a geographical indication and exported to 13 countries, contributing to raising value and market recognition capacity.

One of the competitive advantages of Lam Dong dragon fruit is the successful construction of a geographical indication for the product, aiming to affirm origin, raise commercial value, and protect the brand. Chairman of the Binh Thuan Dragon Fruit Association Huynh Canh assessed that a geographical indication is not only a legal tool but also a “passport” helping products access demanding international markets. This serves as a very crucial foundation to shape and develop the dragon fruit commodity sector in a sustainable direction. Along with that, global consumption trends are prioritizing organic, environmentally friendly, and low-emission products. Therefore, production establishments need to elevate product quality, step up traceability capacities, and organize production according to the standards demanded by the market.

Faced with increasingly large competitive pressure, enterprises desire to receive resource support from the State to elevate product promotion capacities, accelerate the process of digital transformation and green transition, while strengthening connections with supermarket systems and e-commerce platforms.

Currently, dragon fruit exported to the EU and the US usually takes many days of transportation; therefore, functional authorities need to possess solutions to cut administrative procedures and shorten customs clearance times, while it is crucial to form sustainable linked chains among enterprises, cooperatives, and farmers tied to granted-code growing zones soon to attract investments in pre-processing, packing, and deep processing to extend preservation times, reducing risks when entering the peak harvest season.

Shaping a new direction

Recently, many units have planted new dragon fruit varieties with the expectation of satisfying market demand better. In early June, Thuan Tien Dragon Fruit Cooperative (Ham Liem commune) has just harvested the “first batch” of a new dragon fruit variety provided by the Southern Horticultural Research Institute for trial planting.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Cooperative Tran Dinh Trung evaluated that, although it is also white-flesh dragon fruit, the new variety possesses multiple outstanding advantages from sweetness, thick skin, to beautiful bracts; concurrently possessing high disease resistance capacities, helping to reduce the utilization of plant protection drugs, heading toward emission-reduced cultivation and environmental protection. The cooperative has transferred products to import partners for quality evaluation. If received well by the market, this new variety is expected to contribute to raising the competitive edge of dragon fruit products.

One of the new products of Lam Dong is yellow-skin white-flesh dragon fruit. Mr. Ngo Văn Binh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Trung Binh Organic Dragon Fruit Cooperative (Ham Thuan commune), stated that the unit plants 370 hectares of yellow-skin white-flesh dragon fruit, within which 100 hectares achieve GlobalGAP certification. Partners primarily export to the Chinese, Russian, and Thai markets. Besides, the unit maintains the cultivation of 1,000 pillars of dragon fruit to supply the domestic market, at a price of around 80,000 VND/kg.

Meanwhile, Hoang Hau Dragon Fruit Farm (Ham Kiem commune) selects a distinct direction by combining export and tourism development to approach the domestic market. For more than a year now, the unit has organized tours to visit pink-purple flesh dragon fruit orchards.

According to the farm owner, pink-purple flesh dragon fruit is currently being planted with an area of more than 300 hectares, primarily serving export. However, after the tours, many domestic customers have contacted to place orders for products from the orchards. This serves as a positive signal for the unit to continue multiplying the cultivation area of this variety and linking with farmers to elevate the quality of experience for citizens at the orchards.

Faced with market changes, alongside continuing to research and develop new dragon fruit varieties possessing high quality, combining orchard tours, the agricultural sector needs to focus on elevating product quality, organizing production according to linked chains, stepping up traceability, and promoting the value of geographical indications to elevate the competitive edge for dragon fruit. This serves as the foundation helping Vietnamese dragon fruit expand consumption markets, raise product value, and develop sustainably in the coming period.

Source: Bao Nhan Dan