“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together” - the saying of billionaire Warren Buffett is considered the driving force in the journey of “reaching far” in the markets of Binh Thuan dragon fruit in general and the dragon fruit ecosystem cooperative in particular. With the desire to increase the value of Binh Thuan dragon fruit on a wider scale in the context of many difficulties, forcing people and businesses to adapt to the inevitable trend and increasingly strict demands of the market.
Accompanying the National Assembly Delegation of Binh Thuan
“Although the Ecosystem Cooperative is still new, in a short time it has received official orders to demanding markets and has been supported by many farmers in the province who want to participate” - Mr. Phan Dinh Khiem - Vice President of Binh Thuan Cooperative Union could not hide his joy, sharing. That “sweet fruit” cannot be mentioned without the companionship of the National Assembly Delegation of Binh Thuan throughout the past time.
That was in early 2022, with a lot of enthusiasm for Binh Thuan dragon fruit, National Assembly Deputy Pham Thi Hong Yen - Standing Member of the Economic Committee of the 15th National Assembly - National Assembly Deputy of Binh Thuan province, in her meetings with voters and people, recorded many opinions and "heartfelt voices" of people producing dragon fruit that were "stuck" in output, increasing input costs, causing many people to have to cut down trees or not reinvest in care, making economic life difficult. People wanted National Assembly Deputy and all levels and sectors to propose that the State have policies to support, guide, and help farmers develop the economy from agricultural production. In those meetings with voters, National Assembly Deputy Pham Thi Hong Yen asked the question: Why is there a surplus of dragon fruit in Binh Thuan at many times, unable to be consumed, while Hanoi people who want to eat dragon fruit do not know where to buy it?
In May 2022, after a field survey in the dragon fruit growing areas of Ham Thuan Nam, Ham Thuan Bac and Bac Binh, the Provincial National Assembly Delegation coordinated with the Provincial People's Committee to organize a workshop to find solutions to develop sustainable production and consumption of dragon fruit in the province. Here, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee - Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Binh Thuan Province - Duong Van An emphasized: We must focus on increasing the value of dragon fruit, not increasing output. We must transform the economic model from quantity to quality, increasing added value. The Provincial Party Secretary said that over the years, the Party and the State have always paid attention to and had policies on the development of agriculture, farmers and rural areas. Thereby, helping to develop the agricultural sector, becoming a pillar of the economy.
National Assembly Deputy Pham Thi Hong Yen also hopes that farmers and the provincial agricultural sector will maintain the production of clean dragon fruit for the market. First of all, propose solutions to link the chain of ordering clean dragon fruit in some domestic markets. Accordingly, the provincial agricultural sector needs to coordinate with relevant units to organize production supervision. There must be the participation of intermediary organizations, connecting farmers with businesses for consumption, because this is a very progressive trend. Immediately after the workshop, the provincial National Assembly Delegation and the Binh Thuan Cooperative Union made efforts, supported, mobilized, and acted as a bridge for the Sustainable Production and Consumption Ecosystem Cooperative of dragon fruit to be born. From there, realizing the dream of helping farmers change traditional production methods to clean and safe production.
Towards sustainable consumption
As one of the members participating in the ecosystem, Ms. Nguyen Hoang Thu Huong - Hoa Le Clean Dragon Fruit Cooperative (Ham Thuan Bac) shared: Farmers are committed to "going together" to produce and harvest according to the criteria of the Ecosystem Cooperative so that Binh Thuan dragon fruit can increase its value, have its own path and not be too dependent on one market as before.
The export shipments of the Ecological System Cooperative are not the first time that Binh Thuan dragon fruit has been exported to demanding markets. However, the official export output in recent years has been low, not ensuring sustainability for the dragon fruit market in the whole province. In addition, in February 2023, China announced that it had reached an output of 1.6 million tons of dragon fruit per year with an area of 67,000 hectares, 200,000 tons higher than Vietnam, rising to the world's leading position in output. The Indian Government alone decided to build a roadmap for cultivation from the current 3,000 hectares of dragon fruit to 55,000 hectares in the next 5 years. This is a huge challenge, creating huge competition for Vietnamese dragon fruit...
However, this is also a new opportunity for dragon fruit growers to turn to the very "fertile" domestic market that few people have paid attention to for a long time. Along with that is focusing on deep processing of dragon fruit products. According to the proposal of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, in addition to current processing methods, we can research and prepare dragon fruit in the production of cosmetics for beauty such as masks, skin creams, essential oils... for domestic consumption and export as some South American countries are doing. The core issue is to focus on reorganizing dragon fruit production in depth, not expanding new areas. When reorganizing production, there must be a methodical process, complying with market regulations such as registering growing area codes, packaging facility codes, traceability, applying high technology, moving towards clean, circular production, creating high-quality products. Another important factor is that Binh Thuan dragon fruit brand is being mixed up with many other types, and the packaging is not yet adapted to long-distance transportation conditions... Therefore, it is necessary to have a marketing strategy and brand identity for Binh Thuan dragon fruit to reposition the market.
According to the Binh Thuan Cooperative Alliance, the Ecological System Cooperative was established with the goal of linking all cooperatives in the province and farmers growing dragon fruit to change their production mindset, aiming to create clean, safe products, ensuring the brand, so that this cooperative not only supplies clean dragon fruit to the domestic market but also to the world. In the coming time, the Cooperative Alliance will choose the Ecological System Cooperative as a bridge to support and build a chain linkage model, with the common goal of enhancing the value of Binh Thuan dragon fruit.
Binh Thuan currently has the largest dragon fruit area in the country with about 28,000 hectares, with an output of nearly 600,000 tons/year. According to the plan, in the period from 2023 to 2024, the Ecosystem Cooperative will deploy a scale of 100 hectares with an output of 2,000 tons in Ham Thuan Bac district with organic farming methods, VietGAP and GlobalGAP. In the period from 2025 to 2027, the Ecosystem Cooperative will deploy an area of 1,000 hectares with an output of 20,000 tons. Up to now, 47 households have registered to participate in the ecosystem project with about 200 hectares, including 7 cooperatives and 2 cooperatives with nearly 185 hectares of dragon fruit production according to VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards.
According to the Cooperative Union of Binh Thuan province
Lesson 1: Potential market for clean dragon fruit
K.HANG - M. VAN
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