Promoting fruit quality in eastern provinces

Thailand is endowed with a wealth of fruit. Eastern provinces are known as major sources of tropical fruit in the country. The tropical fruit season usually runs from April to July, when many people visit various eastern provinces for delicious fruit.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives has been promoting fruit quality in eastern provinces, with an emphasis on safety, along with adding higher value to Thai fruit.

Spokesman of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives Sorawit Thanito said that the ministry focuses on achieving the standard of "Good Agricultural Practices” (GAP), which is a guideline for any production system at farm level to obtain agricultural products of good quality. Another standard involves organic agriculture.

He said that orchard growers have been encouraged to form groups to carry out large-scale fruit production. The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives has provided farmers with training and technology transfer, as well.

Fruit management plans have also been worked out to prevent and solve the problem of fruit oversupply and falling prices.

A recent survey conducted in the eastern provinces of Rayong, Chanthaburi, and Trat show that, because of variable climatic condition, the production of four varieties of fruit in the East has dropped from 792,113 tons in 2017 to 647,522 tons in 2018, or 18.25%.

These kinds of fruit include mangosteen, longkong, rambutan, and durian. Mangosteen production has declined by 64.8%, longkong by 32%, rambutan 9.8%, and durian 4.4%.

Meanwhile, Chanthaburi province is holding a lychee fair from April 15 to 25 in Pong Nam Ron district. The event aims to make lychee in Chanthaburi better known, after mangosteen, longkong, rambutan, durian, and longan in this province have become popular fruit varieties.

Pong Nam Ron and Soi Dao districts in Chanthaburi have promoted the growing of lychee for more than 20 years on an area of about 1,500 rai, or about 600 acres.

The output is about 1,000 tons a year. Some of the lychee produced here has been exported to Vietnam.

The Government is implementing a comprehensive fruit trade strategy to move Thailand toward becoming a fruit capital of the world.

Chanthaburi, in particular, is being developed into a fruit hub of Asia, because the province is rich in many tropical fruit varieties of high quality.