Vietnam targets to rise vegetable, fruit export in 2017

According to the Vietnam Vegetable and Fruit Association, 2016 was a successful year for the sector as it earned about US$2.5 billion in exports, a year-on-year increase of 30%, surpassing that of strong agricultural products such as rice, peppercorn and rubber. The sector expects an export turnover of 3 billion USD in 2017.

The domestic vegetable and fruit industry will face obstacles in maintaining sustainable growth in export value at the current high level. The year 2016 witnessed impressive growth in the export value of vegetables and fruits, as a result of which their export value exceeded their export value of rice.

Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable products were exported to 60 countries and territories, but trade promotion and steps to maintain the freshness of these products have not been developed according to expectations, the association said. For instance, local vegetable and fruit products were sold at only a few places in California and New York in the US, partly due to poor trade promotion, it said.

US apples had, however, entered all distribution systems -- from traditional markets to modern trading centres -- because the products retained their freshness for six months and the US Department of Agriculture ensured funds were contributed by local enterprises of importing counties for trade promotion activities.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese vegetable and fruit products remained fresh only for a few days, the association said, adding that it expected that a contribution from the state’s credit package worth VND100 trillion for hi-tech agriculture would create favourable conditions for development of processing technology for Vietnamese vegetable and fruit products.

Additionally, the state should have preferential loans for research institutes, centres and colleges to research and develop vegetable and fruit seeds and plant protection products, such as pesticides and herbicides. The research facilities also required cooperation with enterprises and producers to ensure efficiency in vegetable and fruit production.

Vietnam’s major fruit products, such as dragon fruit and longan, could be kept fresh longer than the current period of 1-2 months. The association also said local fruit exporters should continue paying attention to food hygiene and safety as they have done over the past eight years, chinhphu.vn reported.

If importing countries identified even one case where food hygiene and safety regulations were violated, they would gradually increase the percentage of imported fruits inspected from 5% of total imported batches, at present, to 50% or even 100%. This inspection would take time, affecting consumption and quality of fruits in the export market, leading to losses and eventually a loss of the enrite market. It would also affect local vegetable and fruit production.

The General Statistics Office reported that vegetable exports in January rose 14% year-on-year to reach US$230 million. Good news also came for dragon fruit as it was officially accepted into the Australian market. Experts predict that exports of fruit and vegetables, especially fruit, will surge by three or four times in the near future.

In the first two years of exporting to France, only several tens of tonnes of Vietnamese lychee was sold, while a small amount of mango was shipped to Australia. Meanwhile, Vietnamese fruit and vegetable exports largely depended on China, as about 70 percent of products were shipped to China in 2016.

In particular, they would invest in high-technological and clean agriculture to create leading brands for the global market, he said. The enterprises would focus on processing farming, forestry and fishery products to create new value and improve the level of Vietnam’s products in the international market.

By Anh Kiet (Source: TTXVN)