Dragon fruit 'bumper crop, low price'

At this time, Tay Ninh farmers are harvesting dragon fruit. Faced with the fact that dragon fruit has a fairly high yield but the selling price has dropped sharply, making consumption difficult, the authorities are looking for solutions to stabilize the market, improve product quality, and aim for sustainable development.

Difficult export leads to sharp drop in dragon fruit price

Planting area decreases, output is unstable

According to the Department of Agriculture and Environment (DARD), the province currently has 7,338 hectares of dragon fruit, equal to 95.6% over the same period; of which, the fruiting area is 6,860 hectares. Compared to previous years, the area has tended to decrease, and some farmers are no longer interested in and attached to this crop due to the unstable economic efficiency.

Although the planting area has decreased, the dragon fruit yield this year is quite good, with abundant output. Before they could be happy, farmers were disappointed by the low prices. Specifically, the price of white-fleshed dragon fruit ranges from only 4,000-7,000 VND/kg; grade 1 red-fleshed dragon fruit costs from 13,000-15,000 VND/kg, grade 2 from 7,000-9,000 VND/kg, and grade 3 is only 3,000-5,000 VND/kg. At this price, many gardeners find it difficult to recover their capital.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Sang, a dragon fruit farmer in Tam Vu commune, shared: “One hectare of dragon fruit requires an investment of 120-150 million VND/year. Meanwhile, the current price is too low. There are seasons when the sale is not enough to pay for fertilizer and pesticides, many households have had to cut down the fruit, switch to other crops or choose not to take care of the garden.”

In fact, the situation of “good harvest, low price” has happened many times with dragon fruit, when the export market, especially China, fluctuates, domestic prices immediately plummet. In that context, households not associated with cooperatives or enterprises will be forced to lower prices by traders.

Faced with the pressure of falling prices, many farmers have had to sell their products at low prices to traders to recover their capital. Some cooperatives have tried to maintain production links, but their scale is still small and they are not strong enough to regulate the market.

A representative of a cooperative in An Luc Long commune said that the cooperative has signed a contract with an enterprise to purchase and export, but the output only accounts for about 20-30% of the total output of its members. The rest still depends on traders, so prices are unstable. Farmers need stable output, while enterprises require consistent quality and production according to VietGAP or GlobalGAP standards. This is the "bottleneck" that the cooperative is trying to solve.

Many households have sought a new direction by converting part of their area to grow other fruit trees such as papaya, jackfruit, custard apple, etc. with the expectation of higher economic value. However, massive conversion has many potential risks.

Need to improve quality, strengthen links

Attracting investment and developing the processing industry is considered an inevitable direction for more sustainable dragon fruit development in the future.

To avoid farmers falling into the vicious cycle of “planting - cutting - planting”, the provincial Department of Agriculture determined that there needs to be a long-term, synchronous orientation. First of all, it is necessary to promote production in a safe direction, achieving VietGAP and GlobalGAP certification to meet the strict requirements of official import markets. At the same time, the relevant departments need to increase training and technical guidance for farmers to improve productivity, uniform quality, and reduce dependence on traders.

Another important solution is to reorganize production according to the chain. Through cooperatives and cooperative groups, farmers will have the opportunity to sign consumption contracts with enterprises, ensuring a more stable output. The initial implementation models have shown effectiveness, as the selling price of dragon fruit of cooperative members is always 10-15% higher than the free market.

In addition, the development of the processing industry is also considered an inevitable direction. Currently, most dragon fruit is consumed in fresh form, leading to great pressure on the harvest season. If there are more processing factories into diverse products such as juice, drying, freezing, etc., it will increase the shelf life and expand the consumption market.

An equally important factor is building a brand and expanding the official export market. Tay Ninh has the advantage of land and soil conditions suitable for dragon fruit growth, but whether the product can "fly far" or not depends largely on the issue of traceability, registration of geographical indications, and increased trade promotion.

Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment Dinh Thi Phuong Khanh said that dragon fruit is still the main crop of many localities. For this crop to develop sustainably, it is impossible to rely only on the Chinese market but must expand to other potential markets such as Korea, Japan, EU, etc. The provincial Department of Agriculture will support enterprises and cooperatives to connect and sign long-term contracts; encourage and guide farmers to produce according to the necessary agricultural standards to meet export requirements.

For dragon fruit to "survive" sustainably in Tay Ninh, it requires not only the efforts of farmers but also the support of the government, businesses and associated organizations. When the development of agricultural production - including dragon fruit - is properly planned, applying high technology associated with processing and expanding the market, the problem of "good harvest, low price" will gradually be solved, bringing a stable source of income to farmers and contributing positively to the sustainable development of the province./.

Thanh Tung

Source: https://baolongan.vn/thanh-long-duoc-mua-mat-gia-a201295.html