Many dragonfruit farmers and exporters in the central province of Binh Thuan are in deep trouble because of a steep fall in prices triggered by reduced demand in southern China.

The fruit now fetches just VND3,000-4,000 per kilo against VND12,000-13,000 per kilo just last month.

Nguyen Van Dai, who owns one ha dragonfruit garden in Ham My - Ham Thuan Nam District, said "the current price is the lowest for the off season crop we have had in the last ten years," adding "the price drop has also lasted longer than earlier."

He said current selling prices are not enough to meet electricity and fertiliser costs.

A dragonfruit trader in Ham Thuan Nam District said investment costs for the off-season crop were three times of the seasonal crop, so only a minimum selling price of VND10,000 per kilo will enable farmers to break even.

Vo Ky Tap, head of the provincial People's Council's Economic and Budget Commission, said the southern region of China was the main market, accounting for 70 per cent of the dragonfruit output in the province.

However, the current weather there was so cold that the Chinese are not favouring the fruits at this time, he said.

There are long lines of small and large trucks carrying dragonfruit waiting at the Tan Thanh Border Gate in northern Lang Son Province unable to sell their goods.

Le Ngoc Hieu, an exporter from Ham Minh Commune, said several tonnes of the fruit had got stuck at the border gate and pushed him to the edge of bankruptcy. He had spent a lot of money on renting refrigerated trucks, and will also have to pay to destroy the fruits if they rot.

Hieu said he had suffered heavy losses already and was unable to repay loans taken from the bank. He said the prices, which were falling day by day, were being decided by the Chinese traders.

Local farmer Thai Duc Duy said heavy dependence on the Chinese market was responsible for the current situation and price fluctuations.

The US and Japanese markets had opened to Vietnamese dragonfruit last June and October respectively, but exporters were struggling to further penetrate other potential markets, he said.

Currently, Binh Thuan has more than 11,000ha of dragonfruit orchards with an average output of 200,000 tonnes per year.

Source: vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn