Dragon fruit farming in Chau Thanh district, Long An (Photo: VietGap.com)
Long
An (VNA) – The southern province of Long An aims to develop a dragon
fruit area of 2,000 ha in 2017-2020, using high-technologies.
Long
An’s dragon fruit export turnover hits about 40 million USD annually, helping
generate jobs for tens of thousands of locals.
The
province has defined dragon fruit as one of its key crops, only after rice.
Chau
Thanh district has been selected as a core area for dragon fruit cultivation,
with more than 7,500 ha, making up more than 80 percent of total dragon fruit
area in the province.
Le
Van Hoang, Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural
Development, said Long An is focusing on changing farmers’ methods to develop
high-tech agriculture in tandem with new-style rural area building.
Nguyen
Van Thinh, Chairman of the Chau Thanh district People’s Committee, said the
district has instructed communes to intensify their connectivity in production,
and encouraged big enterprises to invest in dragon fruit, especially exports to
markets like Japan, the US and Europe.
At
the same time, the locality has built dragon fruit production chains,
established preservation and processing facilities and diversified products.
Chau
Thanh district has also coordinated with the provincial Department of Industry
and Trade to promote its products in several countries, he added.
Vo
Thanh Hong, Vice Chairman of the Chau Thanh district People’s Committee, said
the high-tech dragon fruit production model will improve competitiveness and
climate change adaptation of products, helping meet requirements of
industrialisation and modernisation and raise income of locals.
He
said to develop 2,000ha of dragon fruit, Chau Thanh district will double its
spending on agriculture in 2017 to promote the use of science and technology in
dragon fruit production. -VNA