Open opportunities

Dak Lak is known as one of the two localities that grow the most passion fruit in the country. Currently, according to the statistics of the Cultivation Sub-Department of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dak Lak province, this locality has more than 1,000 hectares of passion fruit. This is not to mention the households intercropping passion fruit in the orchards.

Mr. Le Van Trong Duc (living in Ea Hu commune, Cu Kuin district, Dak Lak province) said that his family has 1ha of passion fruit. Previously, this area of land was planted with pepper by Mr. Duc's family, but due to unsuitable soil conditions, he died several times.

After that, the family found passion fruit suitable, so they started experimenting. The first batch is difficult to get out, you have to take the product dozens of kilometers to get a point of purchase.

“After the trial period, the neighbors found it effective, so they started planting. At this time, the amount of passion fruit is large, so traders come to the house to buy it. Each year, the family harvests 50 tons with the average selling price of 15,000 - 20,000 VND/kg.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development works with China to export fresh lemons, people are very excited. Growing passion fruit has many problems with drugs and fertilizers. To be eligible for export, we should also follow the buyer's request. If the export is favorable, the income of passion fruit growers will increase," Mr. Duc said.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Tien, Head of the Supervisory Board of Van Xuan Agricultural Production, Trade and Service Cooperative, said that the unit was established at the end of 2020 and now has 250 members with a farming area of more than 50 hectares. The cooperative was born to link people to organize agricultural production, especially passion fruit.

According to Mr. Tien, in the past, passion fruit was still precarious in terms of output. However, the cooperative is currently associated with Phuoc An Import-Export Joint Stock Company, so it is not worried about the price.

“The unit is also linking with the company to issue area codes, barcodes as well as manage farmers on electronic diaries. Currently, cooperative members are very happy because the output is stable. The cooperative is continuing to expand its area but still how to ensure the quantity and quality to be eligible to export fresh fruit to China, "said Mr. Tien.

Huge potential

When fresh passion fruit was approved by China for official import, Phuoc An Agricultural Products Import-Export Joint Stock Company has cooperated with 16 cooperatives in Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Gia Lai. Currently, the total connected area is more than 1,000 hectares.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tung, Deputy Director of Phuoc An Agricultural Products Import-Export Joint Stock Company, said that the company was considered and assessed by the General Department of Customs of China to be eligible to export fresh passion fruit.

Currently, the company is implementing a quality management system, providing planting area codes and electronic diaries for affiliated cooperatives.

“This is to guide farmers to follow the correct process set forth by the importing country. The company's plan is to link up with cooperatives to apply for planting area codes and guide people to use fertilizers and pesticides.

Previously, passion fruit was not officially exported to the Chinese market, the farmers cultivated it small. Currently, China allows official export, which opens up great opportunities, creating momentum for sustainable development of passion fruit, bringing economic efficiency. Therefore, in the future, the company will continue to link cooperatives to expand the area to 1,500ha with standard criteria for exporting to China," emphasized Mr. Tung.

Mr. Nguyen Van Minh, Head of Agricultural Extension Station of Cu Kuin District, said that in 2020, the pepper area died mass, people want to switch to new crops.

Therefore, the Agricultural Extension Station assessed that passion fruit trees could take advantage of the dead pepper area, so it was piloted on an area of 2.5ha.

“During the cultivation process, we found that passion fruit has many advantages. The first is that the passion fruit tree is suitable for the locality, the second is to take advantage of the available conditions of the pepper garden, the third is the very high economic efficiency from the passion fruit garden. People can harvest 50 tons/ha each year with an average price of 10,000 VND/kg, which is a very high income. With such economic efficiency, after only 1 year, the area of passion fruit has increased to 50ha", Mr. Minh shared.

Before the rapid increase, the People's Committee of Cu Kuin district has issued a plan to organize the production and consumption of agricultural products, including passion fruit. The task of the agricultural sector of Cu Kuin district at present is to plan the region and develop the region to form farmer organizations.

“Now that passion fruit has been officially exported, our task is one more step to find businesses that are capable of shaking hands with farmers. In the near future, the locality will plan and develop passion fruit to 200ha. Therefore, we call on businesses with sufficient capacity to link with the locality to bring passion fruit for official export. From there, let the passion fruit go far, according to its purpose," added the station chief.

To be eligible for export, Mr. Minh said, the authorities have organized training for farmers to understand the farming process that is required by the standards of the importing country. According to Mr. Minh, this is extremely important because if it cannot be met, it is difficult to bring passion fruit to China officially.

“In the past time, we have established cooperatives, this is an organization representing people in the region to find businesses with enough facilities and capabilities to export passion fruit products. When establishing the cooperative, we continue to train farmers on the standards and quality required by official export.

Currently, we stick to 2 main standards, VietGAP and GlobalGAP. Require cooperative members to strictly comply with standards, not to make mistakes. Hopefully with the attention of the local government and the efforts of the cooperative members, I think passion fruit will grow stronger and the product will go further", Mr. Minh informed.

Mr. Vu Duc Con, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dak Lak province, said that one of the standards for exporting to China is to develop the code of the growing area as well as the code of the packing facility.

According to Mr. Con, not only now, but before, when the Law on Cultivation was born, the agricultural sector in Dak Lak has promoted propaganda and training so that farmers realize the importance of building codes. planting area, traceability.

“After China signed the protocol to allow the official export of passion fruit, this needs to be done more aggressively. The Department will organize training sessions and propaganda in various forms for producers and collectors to grasp the specific provisions of the Protocol," Mr. Con said.

According to the Deputy Director, the new import permitting protocol is a necessary condition, the rest is a sufficient condition to ensure quality production. This must be done synchronously from production, purchasing and processing.