Prices of Binh Thuan's dragon fruits plunge sharply

First-class dragon fruits priced at VND 2,000 - VND 3,000 per kilogram

Nguyen Tanh, a dragon fruit grower in hamlet 5, Ham Liem commune, Ham Thuan Bac district said at the beginning of 2021, the off-season dragon fruits in Binh Thuan were sold at high prices varying from VND 10,000-20,000 per kilogram, 2 or 3 times higher than in the end of 2020.

However, by the beginning  of May 2021 when the harvest of season dragon fruits was about to finish  it was the time some growers started to harvest the early ripen fruits of the main crop, the price of dragon fruits continuously drop.

According to Tanh, the prices of off-season dragon fruits are now from VND 2,000 - VND3,000 per kilogram for the first-class fruits and the fruits of the main crop are priced at VND 500 to VND 1,000 per kilogram. Noticeably although production of dragon fruits at this time is not high purchasing power is weak. When the harvest time comes, many garden owners call traders to come and buy the fruits but the buying progress is slow.

"The harvest off-season dragon fruits is coming to an end, in  gardens the fruits are ripened or ready to ripen. However, the highest -quality fruits are just priced at VND 2,000 - VND 3,000 per kilogram. Meanwhile the prices varied from VND 10,000 to VND 11,000 per kilogram just one month ago. Even the prices was at VND 15,000 - VND 20,000 two or three months ago," Tanh shared.

He added with the above prices, farmers would bear a heavy loss after finish harvesting the off-season dragon fruits  in 2021.

Dragon fruits of the main crop are ready for harvest in the coming time. Though investment in the crop was not so much as for the off-season crop, the income of farmers will be affected.

Nguyen Van Thanh's family  in hamlet 1 , same commune with Tanh, currently has the last eight tons of off-season dragon fruits, they are ready for harvest in 10 days. His investment in the crop is estimated at VND 8,000 per kilogram.

The prices of dragon fruits are too cheap that farmer do not dare to make investments. Therefore, Thanh's 1,000 poles of dragon fruits are in the stage of stroking ears to look good. However he do not dare to hire workers to do. "If we can only sell dragon fruits at VND 2,000 - VND 3,000 per kilogram as present, the more we invest the more we suffer losses. Moreover, in recent days, many gardens surrounding harvest the fruits and they are struggling to find buyers. Traders made appointments but they keep on put off buying the fruits even though the output is not high at this time," Thanh said sadly.

Contacting a number of businesses purchasing dragon fruits to export to China in Binh Thuan, they confirmed that dragon fruits production is not high at this time but the price is as low as VND 2,000 - VND3,000 per kilogram on average.

Do Quoc Dung, Director of Be Dung Trade - Services - Import - Export Company limited in Ham Thuan Nam district, said exporting dragon fruits to China is taking place normally. However, the reason dragon fruits are purchased at low prices is that the Chinese market "consumes slowly" due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, it is now the harvest time of the fruits in many countries in the region and the fruits are exported to this market, resulting in abundant supplies. On the other hand, China is growing and harvesting a large quantity of dragon fruits during this time.

Encourage domestic consumption

According to Binh Thuan's  Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, from June to October 2021, Binh Thuan's main crop of dragon fruits will come into harvest. Specifically, from June to July, the province will harvest around 80,000 tons of dragon fruits.

Phan Van Tan, deputy director of  Binh Thuan's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said to cope with difficulties in dragon fruit consumption, the department has focused on advising farmers to arrange production in different seasons, especially in cultivation of dragon fruits. At the same time,  improving the quality of the products to meet the market demand, avoiding a local excess supply crisis.

Bien Tan Thai, deputy director of Binh Thuan's Department of Industry and Trade said in case that  the Covid-19 outbreaks delay the export of dragon fruits , the province will mobilize the local enterprises, cooperatives, processors to store the fruits in the cold warehouses to export by official channels, putting up for sale at the domestic market and preparing for exports later.

At the same time, the province will speed up trade promotions, expanding domestic consumer market and other traditional markets. Along with that, it will take suitable measures to help businesses sell their products domestically, boosting them to link to consume the products domestically as well as making plans to support the consumption of dragon fruits when unfavorable situations happen, impacting domestic consumption and exports.

Besides, the province will coordinate with the central ministries and departments to organize trade promotion conferences at home and abroad to introduce the products and look for customers and distribution channels to develop an online market for the products.

Bien Tan Tai, deputy director of Binh  Thuan's Department of Industry and Trade, said the province sent an official document to the Ministry of Industry and Trade to ask for assistance to organize an online conference to connect  trading between Binh Thuan's enterprises and Indian partners to promote consumption of dragon fruits.

However, at first it will work with Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency and stakeholders of e-commerce platforms such as Shopee, Tiki, Sendo, Lazada to open online stalls in order to support the enterprises promoting Binh Thuan's dragon fruits and step by step instruct them on developing self-control regarding e-commerce activities.