Dragon fruit farming in Chau Thanh district, Long An (Photo: VietGap.com)LongAn (VNA) – The southern province of Long An aims to develop a dragonfruit area of 2,000 ha in 2017-2020, using high-technologies.
LongAn’s dragon fruit export turnover hits about 40 million USD annually, helpinggenerate jobs for tens of thousands of locals.
Theprovince has defined dragon fruit as one of its key crops, only after rice.
ChauThanh 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 fruitarea in the province.
LeVan Hoang, Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment, said Long An is focusing on changing farmers’ methods to develophigh-tech agriculture in tandem with new-style rural area building.
NguyenVan Thinh, Chairman of the Chau Thanh district People’s Committee, said thedistrict has instructed communes to intensify their connectivity in production,and encouraged big enterprises to invest in dragon fruit, especially exports tomarkets like Japan, the US and Europe.
Atthe same time, the locality has built dragon fruit production chains,established preservation and processing facilities and diversified products.
ChauThanh district has also coordinated with the provincial Department of Industryand Trade to promote its products in several countries, he added.
VoThanh Hong, Vice Chairman of the Chau Thanh district People’s Committee, saidthe high-tech dragon fruit production model will improve competitiveness andclimate change adaptation of products, helping meet requirements ofindustrialisation and modernisation and raise income of locals.
Hesaid to develop 2,000ha of dragon fruit, Chau Thanh district will double itsspending on agriculture in 2017 to promote the use of science and technology indragon fruit production. -VNA
