Developing high quality dragon fruit growing areas

Developing high-quality dragon fruit growing areas helps improve quality, competitiveness in domestic and foreign markets

Bringing economic efficiency

Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Long An province - Dinh Thi Phuong Khanh said: "Compared to before participating in the Program on Developing Agricultural Products Using High-Technology in association with restructuring the agricultural sector in the province in the period of 2021-2025, farmers have made positive changes in dragon fruit production. 100% of dragon fruit growing households no longer use fresh chicken manure to fertilize crops, focusing on using organic fertilizers, reasonable doses of fertilizers and pesticides help reduce the amount of chemical fertilizers by 10-15%, reduce production investment costs and increase profits by 15-20% compared to before".

Households participating in the model are regularly trained and transferred scientific and technical advances applied to production. Households are also equipped with knowledge and instructions on implementing technical measures in dragon fruit production according to VietGAP standards that are environmentally friendly and protect consumers' health. Thanks to that, investment costs are reduced by 10-20%, economic efficiency increases by 15-25% compared to outside the model.

"In the coming time, the provincial Department of Agriculture will continue to support farmers in applying technical advances, expanding the scale of standard growing areas to ensure output and quality. We believe that, with the consensus of the people and local authorities, the high-quality dragon fruit growing area will become a strong brand, contributing to increasing farmers' income and sustainable development of the province's agriculture" - Ms. Dinh Thi Phuong Khanh added.

Mr. Vo Van Be (An Luc Long commune, Chau Thanh district) and many other farmers produce dragon fruit using high technology effectively, contributing to the development of the family economy

Previously, Mr. Vo Van Be's family (An Luc Long commune, Chau Thanh district) raised livestock and grew rice but were not effective. Seeing that the locality had dragon fruit growing, which brought higher economic efficiency than other crops, he decided to convert the rice land area to grow red-fleshed dragon fruit.

To achieve high productivity, Mr. Be actively participated in training courses and worked hard to research and explore advanced technologies to apply in production to reduce costs and increase efficiency. His entire dragon fruit garden now applies digital technology to control the irrigation system and lighting.

Mr. Be said: "With nearly 1 hectare of dragon fruit, before, pulling the watering pipe took nearly a day. Since applying the automatic watering control system, it only takes about 2 hours to finish watering, saving 80% of labor. The same goes for the lighting. Previously, because the circuit breaker was in the middle of the dragon fruit garden, it was very inconvenient to turn it on, especially when it rained or stormed, which was very dangerous. Now, I use my phone to control the lighting, so it is safe." In addition, Mr. Be boldly switched from traditional production methods to production according to GlobalGAP standards under the guidance of technical staff from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Chau Thanh district. "Since participating in dragon fruit production according to GlobalGAP standards, instead of using fresh manure, I have switched to using safer pesticides in disease management, saving electricity and water usage, thereby significantly reducing production costs. On average, each year I have a profit of about 200 million VND" - Mr. Be added.

Towards sustainable development

According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Chau Thanh district, dragon fruit production is stable and is gradually recovering in area. Up to now, the dragon fruit growing area has reached 7,056.03 hectares. The average yield is 28 tons/ha, the average output is 197,569 tons.

The total investment cost for the lamp-lighting business phase is about 92 million VND/hectare. With an average selling price of 15,000 VND/kg of dragon fruit, the total revenue is 180 million VND/hectare (12 tons/hectare/lamp-lighting period), the profit is 88 million VND/hectare. However, there are times when the price of dragon fruit is low, the lamp-lighting does not achieve the yield, many dragon fruit gardens break even.

Recently, the price of off-season dragon fruit has fluctuated at a relatively good level, bringing profits to people. The situation of destroying dragon fruit gardens has therefore decreased significantly, the area of ​​new planting has increased. Thanks to the effective application of disease prevention measures, dragon fruit trees have grown well. The production of high-tech dragon fruit has been focused on, reaching 5,535.57 hectares to date.

The district's Department of Agriculture has continuously encouraged farmers to participate in cooperatives to access science and technology, and find stable output for dragon fruit, especially red-fleshed dragon fruit - one of the dragon fruit varieties with high economic value.

Director of Long Hoi Cooperative (An Luc Long commune, Chau Thanh district) - Truong Minh Chung said: "The entire cooperative has more than 50 hectares of dragon fruit with more than 60 members producing according to VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards, ensuring stable output. Growing dragon fruit requires reasonable production organization in the form of cooperatives, following the process and supervising each other to have output that meets requirements".

In addition, Long Hoi Cooperative also expands the dragon fruit consumption market by exporting to other countries and supplying to domestic food processing enterprises. This helps diversify products and increase income for members.

Van Thanh Cooperative (Hiep Thanh Commune, Chau Thanh District) regularly coordinates with enterprises to find stable output for dragon fruit, helping farmers feel secure in production

According to Director of Van Thanh Cooperative (Hiep Thanh Commune, Chau Thanh District) - Nguyen Van Thanh, to ensure export standards, he established a group of 30 members and linked 100 members of the cooperative to record specific planting diaries. Thereby, growers can clearly understand and adjust the appropriate amount of fertilizer, avoiding excess, summarize experience and evaluate the effectiveness of each type of fertilizer used.

“To increase income, the cooperative creates conditions for companies and businesses to sign contracts directly with farmers, allowing farmers to be autonomous in caring for, harvesting, packaging and transporting agricultural products, etc. This helps reduce intermediary costs, ensuring benefits for both farmers and companies and businesses,” said Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh.

In the coming time, the Department of Agriculture of Chau Thanh district will continue to coordinate with specialized departments to support farmers to convert farming methods according to VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards through organizing in-depth training sessions and building growing area codes. At the same time, the Department of Agriculture of the district will continue to connect farmers with businesses, creating favorable conditions for signing product consumption contracts, ensuring stable output./.

By Staffs - Translated by Q. Thien

Source: https://baolongan.vn/phat-trien-vung-trong-thanh-long-chat-luong-cao-a185322.html