Vietnam dragon fruits exports surge

Export of thanh long, or dragon fruit, is rising, an agriculture official said.

The domestic price of the fruit is at VND21,000 a kilogram, a 20-year-high, because of a fall in output due to bad weather, Nguyen Huu Dat, director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Post-Import Phytosanitary Department No. 2, said.

Shipments to the US topped 500 tons in the first 10 months and are likely to exceed 800 tons this year, an eightfold increase over last year, he said.

Japan imported 330 tons in the first 10 months and this is likely to rise to 400 tons, he said.

South Korea and Chile have recently started to import the fruit subject to heat-treatment and necessary registration, giving a further impetus to the already rapidly-growing exports.

Vietnam is next eyeing Australia and New Zealand and negotiating to export the fruit to those markets.

The country sells most of its dragon fruit crop to neighboring China, but exports to other Asian nations, the US, and Europe have been picking up.

Tags: Vietnam dragon fruits