At Loc Mai Agricultural Cooperative, Xuan Hoa Commune (Can Tho City), Director Su Quoc Loc said - the cooperative currently has 23 member households with more than 42 hectares of purple star apples, of which over 80% of the area has applied VietGAP. In recent years, star apple exports to the US have been favorable, with stable coverage prices of about 30,000 VND/kg from the beginning to the end of the season. In addition to exports, the cooperative also supplies supermarkets and clean food stores, helping gardeners' profits reach 200 - 400 million VND/ha, 2-3 times higher than before.
According to Mr. Loc, from the 2022 - 2023 crop year, the cooperative will apply the technique of arranging fruit, extending the harvest season from the end of the 10th lunar month to the 5th - 6th of the following year, when many places have run out of supply. This method does not increase costs but maintains a stable yield of about 20 tons/ha, while helping the selling price to be 10,000 VND/kg higher, increasing the profit by 150 million VND/ha.
Not only Loc Mai, Xom Dong 2 Agricultural Cooperative (Thoi An Hoi commune) also made its mark with pink avocado star apple products that meet 4-star OCOP standards. Since 2021, the cooperative has been granted 2 growing area codes, connected to consumption with enterprises and has now entered the fifth year of exporting star apples to the US.
According to Cooperative Director Tran Van Phuong, with 38 members cultivating nearly 40 hectares, each year the cooperative supplies 180 - 200 tons of pink avocado star apple. The cooperative has invested in a preliminary processing and packaging warehouse for exports, and periodically inspected soil, water, fruits and pesticides to ensure quality.
Mr. Phuong emphasized that when products are exported abroad, members have changed their production thinking, towards environmentally friendly methods. The chain of linkages between farmers and exporting enterprises has helped limit the risk of a low price crop, while enhancing the position of Vietnamese fruits.
According to the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Can Tho City, the whole city has over 102,000 hectares of fruit trees, with an annual output of nearly 1.2 million tons. Many high-value fruits such as durian, longan, mango, star apple have been successfully exported to the markets of China, the US, the EU, Korea, and Japan, contributing to bringing stable income to farmers. The management of growing areas and packaging facilities has been implemented synchronously. To date, there are 194 Cooperatives, Cooperatives and Clubs with an area of over 2,300 hectares, along with 42 affiliated companies with a total affiliated area of over 6,000 hectares.
People's awareness has also changed significantly, as they increasingly comply with production processes according to market demand, especially VietGAP, GlobalGAP according to international standards. This helps improve the quality and value of agricultural products, especially when participating in exporting to demanding markets.
In the coming period, Can Tho is oriented to develop the fruit tree industry in the direction of improving export quality, organizing production on a reasonable scale, avoiding spontaneous development; promoting linkages between farmers - businesses - cooperatives in the value chain; effectively connecting the production, consumption and export of fruit trees according to market requirements; diversifying processing products and building a comprehensive traceability system. The city will also strengthen supervision of growing area codes and build Can Tho fruit brands in major markets such as the US, EU, China, South Korea, and Japan.
