BTO-This is one of the proposals at the forum "Finding solutions for sustainable development of Vietnam's dragon fruit industry" organized by the People's Committee of Binh Thuan province in coordination with the Gardening Association and the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association in Phan Thiet city on the afternoon of September 22.
The forum was chaired by Mr. Phan Van Tan - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Binh Thuan province, leaders of the Vietnam Gardening Association; Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, with the participation of representatives of a number of central agencies, departments, branches, relevant localities and a number of cooperatives, farms, enterprises producing, processing and exporting Binh Thuan dragon fruit.
Speaking at the forum, Mr. Phan Van Tan emphasized that Binh Thuan has many advantages in agricultural development. In particular, with favorable weather and soil conditions, the province has the largest area and output of dragon fruit in the country. Currently, the province has about 28,000 hectares with an output of over 550,000 tons/year. Dragon fruit trees have brought economic efficiency and high income to farmers in the province.
However, the dragon fruit industry is facing many difficulties and challenges, and farmers' income from dragon fruit is decreasing. In addition, competitiveness is still weak, mainly consumed in the Chinese market. Particularly for small-scale processing, processing and preservation technology is still simple... Therefore, this forum with the participation of experts, scientists, state management agencies, localities, businesses, farmers... will evaluate the limitations, shortcomings, challenges, and difficulties of the dragon fruit industry... At the same time, propose solutions and directions for dragon fruit development in the coming time.
At the forum, a representative of the Department of Crop Production said that although Binh Thuan dragon fruit has now formed a number of concentrated production areas, the difficulty is that most of the production is on a small scale and area, lacking connectivity.
Meanwhile, the requirements for food safety and traceability of importing countries are increasing... Therefore, one of the sustainable development solutions is that localities continue to support the construction and consolidation of organizations, cooperatives, and cooperative groups. Support the expansion of safe production areas, certified production; continue to train and transfer advanced technical advances such as dragon fruit spreading process, pest management...
According to Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen - Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, to maintain market share, we should not expand new planting areas, on the contrary, we can coordinate with specialized units to research and narrow down some ineffective planting areas to switch to growing other more effective crops. In addition, we can research the use of dragon fruit in cosmetics production...
On the cooperative side, most dragon fruit farmers in the province expressed their desire for a stable output for this product. Farmers need close links and coordination between cooperatives and dragon fruit producing enterprises in the province; large enterprises need to create conditions to support small-scale cooperatives and cooperative groups to develop more sustainably, so that dragon fruit farmers can feel secure in production.
According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the province currently has over 500 cooperative groups with nearly 10,000 households; 35 cooperatives and 1 Cooperative Union. Up to now, the province has about 200 enterprises, facilities for purchasing, processing and exporting dragon fruit... One of the proposed solutions for the sustainable development of the Vietnamese dragon fruit industry is that first of all, farmers and localities need to reorganize production, form large-scale dragon fruit specialized areas, apply high technology, organic... Along with that, strictly manage the growing areas and dragon fruit packaging facilities that have been granted export codes in the province. At the same time, strictly handle the use of growing area codes and packing house codes that are not in accordance with regulations...
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