Binh Thuan dragon fruit flourishes from "trend"?

1. In recent days, images of ripe, beautiful red dragon fruit have appeared a lot on social networking platforms and media.

After the MV “dragonfruit instant noodles”, along with the lyric effect “The first time dragonfruit is in instant noodles”, some people followed the “trend” of buying red-fleshed dragonfruit to make ingredients for many different dishes. Since then, the demand for red dragonfruit has also become more popular.

*Dragon fruit trend images on social networks in recent days.*

This is a trend when dragon fruit instant noodles once again make waves on social networks, making consumers more or less interested in dragon fruit in the country in general and Binh Thuan in particular. Many people follow this trend to experience making dumplings, bread, coin cakes, dragon fruit salad, dragon fruit juice, fried bananas with dragon fruit... to create a trend with beautiful red dragon fruit color, creating excitement. Following this trend, many dragon fruit growers as well as dragon fruit processing facilities in the province feel very happy and expect the dragon fruit "trend" to continue to spread in the community, creating the interest of domestic consumers as well as exports.

*Images of dragon fruit trend products.*

This is considered one of the ways to promote the image of dragon fruit more and more widely to consumers. It is expected to revive the dragon fruit industry after a long period of being heavily affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as open up a new direction for the dragon fruit deep processing industry in the future. According to the feelings of many people as well as the author of this article, when enjoying products processed according to the dragon fruit trend in recent days, almost all red dragon fruit products when processed into food, in addition to creating color, almost do not have the characteristic dragon fruit flavor in each dish. Moreover, many farmers also believe that processing many dishes from dragon fruit is opening up new expectations for this agricultural product. However, people said that most dragon fruit in the province has white flesh, so when processed according to the trend, it will not be possible to create color...

2. As usual, every year from the 10th lunar month onwards, Binh Thuan dragon fruit farmers keep their lights on in the off-season to serve the market demand during the Lunar New Year.

Although the weather is not favorable (unseasonal rain) for lighting, fruit output has decreased. However, in the last month of 2023, the dragon fruit market in the province has become more bustling, because with the above selling price, most gardeners have made a profit, so farmers have invested in careful care to serve the market before, during and after the Lunar New Year 2024. Currently, the price of white-fleshed dragon fruit sold in bulk at the garden is from 14,000 - 18,000 VND/kg depending on the type. Particularly, red-fleshed dragon fruit is purchased by export enterprises at a price ranging from 25,000 - 40,000 VND/kg depending on the type. For example, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh's family in Ham Liem commune, Ham Thuan Bac has more than 1,000 dragon fruit pillars, saying that in recent months, the selling price of dragon fruit has been relatively stable, still ensuring profit after deducting costs. With many years of experience in dragon fruit production, according to Ms. Thanh, her family produces in batches, divided into many phases of rolling lighting to limit market risks.

According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the province currently has more than 27,000 hectares of dragon fruit. To ensure the productivity and quality of dragon fruit to serve the export market in the last months of the year, the Binh Thuan agricultural sector has instructed farmers to focus on garden care, balanced fertilization, ensuring efficiency and enhancing pest control, using organic fertilizers to reduce input costs. At the same time, the agricultural sector recommends that farmers and businesses comply with food safety regulations. Especially at the end of the year, dragon fruit will boost exports, especially to the Chinese market. Therefore, to limit the situation of people massively producing, leading to a large amount of goods at the same time, causing oversupply and low prices, the provincial agricultural sector is coordinating with localities to strengthen linkages to share information on production, seasons, output, and harvest to cooperate in determining consumption markets. At the same time, strengthen guidance for farmers to produce dragon fruit according to GAP standards, meeting technical barriers of importing countries...

*Preliminary processing of dragon fruit after harvest.*

From the fluctuations in the agricultural export market at the end of the year, combined with recent domestic consumption trends, it can be seen that Binh Thuan dragon fruit is flourishing day by day, with the contribution and promotion of its image from "trends" on social networking platforms.

K. HANG

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