On May 24, the price of dragon fruits continued to break a record high hovering at VND30,000-31,000 per kilogram (€1.15-1.18) in Binh Thuan Province, considered to be the Vietnamese capital of dragon fruits.
Mr Tran Vinh Kha of Ham My Commune in the Ham Thuan district said that the price of dragon fruits has unexpectedly surged since the beginning of May. At first, the price was around VND17,000-23,000 per kilogram then jumped to VND30,000-31,000 per kilogram but farmers did not have dragon fruits to sell.
Having just sold more than 5 tons of dragon fruits to traders, Mr. Nguyen Thoi in Ham Chinh Commune in Ham Thuan Bac District said that the price of dragon fruits was at VND5,000-6,000 per kilogram during this time last year so farmer suffered huge losses. This year, fortunately, his family was able to sell dragon fruits at a price five times higher than last year so he was so happy. With a price of VND30,000 per kilogram, his family earned nearly VND160 million and after deducting expenses they had a profit of nearly VND100 million.
Mrs. Nguyen Thi Dinh in Ham Thuan Bac District showed regret for not providing artificial light to her dragon fruit plants this season.
‘Last year, my family used artificial light on nearly 1 hectare of dragon fruit plants but the price of dragon fruits dropped, causing difficulty for reinvestment. Concern over declining dragon fruit price also made us neglect this dragon fruit season’, she said.
According to some traders, although the price of dragon fruits hit record high but there was a shortage in supply. The amount of dragon fruits they collected was not enough to serve domestic market and export.
According to the Binh Thuan Dragon Fruit Association, the price of dragon fruit escalates because it is the end of the off-season in which farmers have to use artificial light to help dragon fruit plants to flower so there is a scarcity of dragon fruits during this time. In addition, last year, the price of dragon fruits fell to a few thousand Vietnamese dong per kilogram so farmer concerned that a slump in dragon fruit price would recur so they did not expand cultivation.
Meanwhile, some farmers said that besides the aforesaid reasons, long-lasting hot weather also caused a drop in dragon fruit production. The ratio of dragon fruits that do not meet export standards was high. As a result, the price of dragon fruits rocketed.
[ VND 1,000 = € 0.38 ]
Source: sggpnews.org.vn
