Farmers have been warned not to massively expand cultivation areas for durian and dragon fruit after prices for the fruits surged, instead they...

Fruits are key export items of Vietnam's agriculture. A decade ago, export turnover of vegetables and fruit was only $460 million. However, in 2013, they brought yearly export revenue of at least $1 billion.

In the domestic market, a red-flesh pomelo is priced at VND23,000-45,000/kg. In the US, it is VND535,000 per kilogram.

Vietnam and Thailand are agricultural powerhouses in Southeast Asia, with many similar fruits for exports. However, Thailand's fruit exports have far outstripped Vietnam in recent years.

Mangoes, longans, lychees, dragon fruit, rambutans, star apples, and pomelos are the seven different kinds of Vietnamese fruit which have been granted the green light to enter the US market so far.

Dr Hoang Trung, head of the Plant Protection Department, said the department would work with the US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the US embassy 

China has reduced fruit imports, but Thailand has been buying more from Vietnam.

Japanese experts are set to arrive in Vietnam on June 3 to examine and supervise phytosanitary measures for the lychees destined for the Northeast Asian market, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

Even the Mekong Delta, the biggest fruit granary of the country, is having a tough time selling fruit in the midst of massive imports.

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 China spent US$2.17 billion importing vegetables and fruits from Vietnam in the first ten months of 2017, making up nearly 75.9% of Vietnam’s total export revenue from these products, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.