According to Pham Anh Tuan, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee,star apple is among the locality’s seven competitive fruits and entering the USmarket opens big opportunities for local farmers to ensure economic efficiencyand social security.
To ensure sustainable shipments to this fastidious market, businesses andfarmers need to cultivate the fruit in a value chain, pay due attention to theimporters’ quarantine requirements as well as set up GAP specialised farmingzones, he noted.
Cooperatives, scientists, businesses and farmers should join hands to improvequality of farm produce, assure products’ origin and seek stable markets forthe fruit, he added.
Cao Van Hoa, Acting Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture andRural Development, the province has made significant efforts to support starapple exports to the American market, including setting up specialised growingzones, connecting local farmers with export enterprises and popularising theUS’s requirements on star apple imports.
Trade barriers when exporting to the US as well as farmers’ role in improvingstar apple’s quality were highlighted at over 100 training courses as well, Hoasaid.
Meanwhile, Doan Van Sang, Director of Cat Tuong Agricultural Products Producing& Processing Co., Ltd, asked relevant authorities to continue transferringcultivation techniques to local farmers so that their fruits are qualified toenter the US market.
Vietnam has become the first country allowed to export star apple to the USafter 10 years of negotiations. This follows a report sent by the US Animal andPlant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to the Ministry of Agriculture andRural Development’s Plant Protection Department.
The breakthrough was based on the findings of a pest-risk analysis and publicreviews and comments that found the fruit could be safely exported to the US.
Together with litchi, longan, rambutan and dragon fruit, star apple is thefifth Vietnamese fruit allowed to be sold in the American market.
Preliminary statistics show that Vietnam has about 5,000 hectares of starapples, mainly in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang (3,100 hectares) andCan Tho city (1,200 hectares).
Fruit productivity is about 18-22 tonnes per hectare. Total annual output ismore than 60,000 tonnes. Until now, most of the fruit has been either eatenlocally or exported to China and ASEAN nations. The successful export of thefruit to the US market opens up great opportunities for Vietnam to developgrowing areas.-VNA