Many dragon fruit growing areas in Son La are brilliantly red with ripe fruit. On hillsides and fields, people are busy harvesting and packaging to bring products to the market in time.
This year, the weather is quite favorable, dragon fruit yields high yields, beautiful designs, and the selling price ranges from 15,000 - 25,000 VND/kg, so people have more motivation to stick with this crop.
According to statistics from the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Environment, the whole province currently has more than 300ha of dragon fruit, mainly red flesh dragon fruit, concentrated in Mai Son, Binh Thuan, Ta Hoc, Chieng Mung, Sop Cop communes, Chieng An and Moc Chau wards.
More than 240ha is produced according to VietGAP and organic standards, with an output of about 5,000 tons per year, meeting domestic consumption and export demand.
At An Phu Agricultural Cooperative, Chieng An ward, dragon fruit is identified as a key crop. Members apply VietGAP procedures, crop rotation techniques and organic farming to improve product quality.
Mr. Quang Van Chung - Director of An Phu Agricultural Cooperative - said: The cooperative regularly supports members in transferring techniques, helping to improve productivity and extend harvest time. Thanks to that, red-flesh dragon fruit products always maintain stable quality, bringing high economic efficiency to people.
As a member of the Cooperative, Mr. Cam Minh Thanh, Phua Con village, Chieng An ward, was instructed on techniques for care and production according to safe procedures. With nearly 1ha of red flesh dragon fruit, the family harvests more than 15 tons of fruit each year, achieving an income of 150 - 200 million VND.
In Binh Thuan commune, Quynh Thuan Agricultural Cooperative is linking with households to develop dragon fruit raw material areas according to the value chain.
To date, 13ha of dragon fruit of the Cooperative has been granted a planting area code for export. Each year, the Cooperative consumes over 200 tons of fruit, mainly exported to the Chinese and Russian markets and distributed to domestic supermarket systems.
According to Ms. Hoang Thi Thao, Director of Quynh Thuan Agricultural Cooperative, building brands and producing according to standards has helped improve product value and create stable output. Thanks to dragon fruit, many cooperative members have incomes from 150 - 300 million VND per year.
Mr. Le Van Hung - a dragon fruit trader in Binh Thuan commune - said: "This year, Son La dragon fruit has beautiful designs and uniform quality, so purchasing is quite favorable. Right from the beginning of the season, many orders have been pre-ordered by distributors and supermarkets, and purchasing output has increased compared to last year. We have to mobilize more workers to sort, pack and transport on schedule.
Not only bringing economic value, Son La dragon fruit also gradually affirms its brand thanks to safe production, traceability and meeting the requirements of many export markets.
Along with other key fruit trees, dragon fruit is contributing to diversifying agricultural products, enhancing industry value and bringing Son La to continue to affirm its position as one of the largest fruit tree regions in the North.
