Truong Quang An, director of Tam Vu Cooperative in Long An province, told VietNamnet that the price for white-flesh dragon fruit price has reached VND20,000/kilogram, and VND30,000 for red-flesh.

According to An, the demand is not only high in the domestic market but also from China, which reopened its borders on Jan 8.

This is quite different from late 2021 and early 2022, when dragon fruit was stuck at border gates. This forced the prices down to VND2,000-4,000 per kilogram. The prices moved up later, but stayed low, so many farmers chopped dragon fruit plants down to shift to other crops.

One hectare of white-flesh dragon fruit provides 26 tons of fruit. At current prices, farmers can earn VND250-300 million per hectare each crop. There are three crops a year.

Tran Van Binh, a farmer from Ham Thuan Bac district, Binh Thuan province, said many merchants had contacted him to buy dragon fruit.

In Binh Thuan, Vietnam’s dragon fruit center, merchants collect white-flesh dragon fruit at VND18,000-26,000 per kilogram and red-flesh at VND35,000-42,000. The prices are 3-4 times higher than one month ago, and tens times higher than the same period last year.

According to Tran Dinh Trung, director of Thuan Tien Cooperative, with the current prices, farmers will make profit if the prices are VND14,000-15,000 per kilogram and higher.

Vietnam produces millions of tons of dragon fruit each year. China is the major market for Vietnamese dragon fruit growers which consumes 90 percent of Vietnam’s total exports.

The Chinese customs agency has informed that all the requirements on acid nucleic testing at border gates applied to imports, including frozen ones, have been removed since Jan 8. The country has also reopened its border and removed all quarantine measures

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) said China’s reopening brings a great opportunity to Vietnamese farmers to boost exports. The exports are expected to see a boom in the time to come.

Dang Phuc Nguyen, secretary general of the Vietnam Veggie and Fruit Association, with positive signals from the Chinese market, the export of dragon fruit may regain the export turnover of billions of dollars.

Tam An