Price of dragon fruit falls dramatically

Dragon fruit prices in the central province of Binh Thuan, the country’s largest producer of the crop, are hitting rock bottom.

The price of dragon fruit has fallen significantly to VND 6,000 - VND7,000 a kilogram causing heavy loss for farmers, the Dragon Association in Binh Thuan said yesterday.

Prices of the fruit was at VND10,000 per kilogram one month ago but later it kept falling.

Chairman of the association Vo Huy Hoang explained prices of dragon fruit have fallen because of difficulties in exports into China. Less order from Chinese made the fruit price decrease significantly.

Farmer Nguyen Thi Tin in Ham Chinh Commune of Ham Thuan Bac District had no choice but sold the fruit which are ripen. Dealers demand an unreasonably low price or refuse to buy dragon fruit altogether.

She said she just collected VND15 million to sell 2 tons of dragon fruit while she had to pay VND20 million on production cost.

Binh Thuan Province has nearly 30,000 hectares of dragon fruit with a total output of over 600,000 tons per year. The fruit is mostly sold to China through border crossings. Additionally, the fruit is exported to Japan, Netherlands and the US.

Farmers expected the government to help them by promoting and marketting the fruit to other countries.