Posted by b2btrade on August 19, 2008 at 14:06:17:
BINH THUAN — Viet Nam will begin exporting blue-dragon fruit (cactus fruit) from its southern provinces to the US starting at the end of September, now that fruit quality meets the necessary standards.
Despite Viet Nam’s broad variety of tropical fruit, the country has previously been unable to export directly to the US, one of the world’s largest markets.
During a visit to the US in late June, PM Nguyen Tan Dung said that if blue-dragon fruit could enter the US market this year, other Vietnamese fruit such as longans, rambutans, lychees and even durian would follow.
Dung later told a meeting with overseas Vietnamese in Texas that Vietnamese dragon fruit did in fact make it to the US, but only after being rebranded in Thailand or Singapore.
Binh Thuan Province, the biggest exporter of blue-dragon fruit, exports over 150,000 tonnes every year, mainly to China, and earns US$20 million, said Pham Huu Thu, the head of the agriculture unit of Binh Thuan Province’s Agriculture and Rural Development Department.
"Now, with the US market, we hope profits will be even higher," said Thu.
Dragon rising
John Thaw, previously of the US Department of Agriculture and the US Farm Produce Quarantine Commission, said that to sell on the US market, Vietnamese suppliers needed to be able to provide fruit of consistent quality which could meet the US’s strict quarantine procedures.
In the southern provinces of Tien Giang, Binh Thuan and Long An, which grow blue-dragon fruit, farmers have changed to meet GlobalGap standards of planting, preliminary processing and packaging, according to Nguyen Minh Chau, head of the Southern Fruit Research Institute.
Their efforts set the standard for blue-dragon fruit production by minimising the detrimental environmental impact of farming operations, reducing the use of chemicals and ensuring a responsible approach to worker health and safety, said Dam Quoc Tru, deputy head of the Plant Protection Department.
The US market has asked that Vietnamese blue-dragon fruit be marked with a code, said Tru. Accordingly, the three provinces’ agriculture and rural development departments have provided farmers with necessary technical access and support.
Binh Thuan Province, the country’s largest area for blue-dragon fruit production, has a 10,000ha institute devoted to blue-dragon fruit research and development to help farmers meet US market standards, said Pham Huu Thu.
However, persuading farmers to implement the technical standards was problematic as China still accepts fruit grown using traditional methods, he said.
Moreover, these farmers also need to co-operate with each other to form large-scale blue-dragon fruit farms so that their land and irrigation systems can meet requirements, said Thu.
Le Dinh Quang, in Binh Thuan Province’s Ham Thuan Nam District, with 1.2ha of blue-dragon fruit, earns VND180 million ($11,250) on average per year. So, at the beginning he wondered why he had to change his practices to export fruit to the US market.
"However, then I began to understand that only with proper technical methods like those required by big markets such as the EU or US, would my fruit gain access to such long-term and stable markets, said Quang.
"So I changed my planting methods according to the new technical standards," said Quang.
"Now, my friends and I are planning to set up a joint farm. In doing so, we will save a lot of time and money by investing in improving our land and irrigation systems, and our fruit can be coded more easily," said Quang.
"We need to take the initiative in testing samples of land and water from the farms," said Thu.
In Binh Thuan Province alone, there are now 1,000ha of blue-dragon fruit, mainly from large-scale farms like Ham Minh Blue-dragon Co-operative and Hoang Hau Blue-dragon Co-operative, which have won recognition for meeting the technical standards of American vegetation quarantine departments.
"However, we are only required to adjust some of the packaging technology," said Nguyen Thuan, head of Ham Minh Blue-dragon Co-operative.
"After meeting all the requirements of the US market, we still face difficulties in finding partners to improve market access, so we established the website www.thanhlonghamminh.com," said Thuan.
"Now Viet kieu partners in the US who are interested in our fruit can make long-term contracts with us. We are considering pricing and transport methods at present," said Thuan.
At the end of September, Viet Nam’s first blue-dragon fruit will be exported to the US market, said Thu. — VNS