Cultivating purple-pink fleshed dragon fruit to export to Europe

With the characteristic of crispy, firm flesh, sweet taste mixing with mild sourness, and full of aroma, purple-pink fleshed dragon fruit is currently exported to Europe by a company in Binh Thuan.

Purple-pink fleshed dragon fruit products. Photo: MH.

Developing in hundreds of hectares

The purple-pink fleshed dragon fruit variety was successfully researched by the Fruit Research Institute of the South from the cross-breeding between red-fleshed dragon variety LD1 (the mother) and Cho Gao white-fleshed dragon fruit variety (the father). This variety was copyrighted on September 12th, 2013 with the full name of “purple-pink fleshed dragon fruit LD5”.

Hoang Hau Dragon Fruit Co., Ltd in Phu Sum village, Ham My commune, Ham Thuan Nam district (Binh Thuan) has purchased the copyright of purple-pink fleshed dragon fruit for VND 2 billion.

According to Binh Thuan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, up until now, the area of purple-pink fleshed dragon fruit in the province has grown to more than 645 ha / 33,750ha, accounting for 1.91% of the total area in the province, of which about 450 hectares focus on production mainly on the farm of Hoang Hau Dragon Fruit Co., Ltd in Ham Kiem commune (Ham Thuan Nam). The remaining dragon fruit area is about 195.4 ha from 1 to 4 years old, chiefly concentrated in Tuy Phong, Bac Binh, Ham Thuan Bac, Ham Thuan Nam districts, La Gi town and Phan Thiet city.

As stated by Mr. Phan Van Tan, Deputy Director of Binh Thuan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the purple-pink fleshed dragon fruit variety grown in Ham Thuan Nam district is evaluated very positively. Accordingly, it took about 11 months from plantation until the first flowering, and 18 months for the main harvest. After 30 months, this dragon fruit variety can be lighted by led to make the most of off-season crops, with an average yield of 30-35 tons/ha/year. However, if investment receives more attention, the productivity can reach 40 tons/ha/year.

Producing dragon fruit according to GlobalGAP standards

According to Mr. Tran Ngoc Hiep, Director of Hoang Hau Dragon Fruit Co., Ltd, since owning the LD5 variety, the company has developed an area of more than 400 hectares with 3 farms in Ham Can and Ham Cuong communes (Ham Thuan Nam), in which 80% of dragon fruit area is in the business period, with a total output of about 10,000 tons/year.

Furthermore, each farm has a modern facilities system for processing, packaging and storage on-site. In particular, all farms apply the dragon fruit production process according to GlobalGAP standards, thereby strictly controlling the quality of output products.

“Currently, the Company has exported purple-pink fleshed dragon fruits to some European countries such as Germany and the Netherlands with the selling price usually 20-30% higher than the selling price of white-fleshed and red-fleshed dragon fruits at the same period, bringing millions of US$ per year in revenue for the Company. In addition to Europe, the Company has recognized the Chinese and Indian markets as large markets due to high consumption demand”, added Mr. Hiep.

Conditions to sell purple-pink fleshed dragon fruit varieties

According to Binh Thuan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, in order to create favorable conditions for farmers in the province wishing to use purple-pink fleshed dragon fruit varieties for production, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development proposed that Hoang Hau Dragon Fruit Co., Ltd, transfer this dragon fruit variety to dragon fruit growers in the province.

Regarding this issue, according to Hoang Hau Dragon fruit Company Limited, since owning the LD5 variety, there have been a number of organizations and individuals wishing to buy LD5 seed. However, the Company hasn’t had the intention to sell LD5 seed, but instead wanted to transfer it to other units buying seeds with conditions. Specifically, the Company requires that if you want to produce LD5, you must produce in accordance with the technical process that the company demands, and then the dragon fruit products will be purchased and consumed by associated companies. Since there is no unit meeting the requirement above, so far the Company has not sold any cuttings of the variety to any unit.