Binh Thuan dragon fruit flourishes from "trend"?

1. In recent days, images of ripe, vibrant red dragon fruit have appeared frequently on social media platforms and in the media.

Following the "dragon fruit instant noodle" music video and the catchy lyrics "This is the first time dragon fruit has been in instant noodles," some people jumped on the trend of buying red dragon fruit to use as an ingredient in various dishes. As a result, the demand for red dragon fruit has become more widespread.

*Images of dragon fruit trending on social media in recent days.*

This is a trend when dragon fruit instant noodles once again make waves on social networks, making consumers more or less interested in dragon fruit across the country in general and Binh Thuan in particular. Many people follow this trend to experience making dumplings, bread, coin cakes, dragon fruit salad, dragon fruit juice, fried bananas with dragon fruit... to create a trend with beautiful red dragon fruit color, creating excitement. Following this trend, many dragon fruit growers as well as dragon fruit processing facilities in the province feel very happy and expect the dragon fruit "trend" to continue to spread in the community, attracting the attention of domestic consumers as well as exports.

*Images of dragon fruit trend products.*

This is seen as one of the ways to promote the image of dragon fruit to a wider range of consumers. It is hoped that this will revive the dragon fruit industry after a long period of severe impact from the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as open up new directions for the deep processing of dragon fruit in the future. According to many people, as well as the author of this article, when tasting dragon fruit-based processed products in recent days, the red dragon fruit used in food processing, besides adding color, hardly retains the characteristic dragon fruit flavor in each dish. Furthermore, many farmers believe that processing dragon fruit into various dishes is opening up new prospects for this agricultural product. However, they say that most dragon fruit in the province has white flesh, so processing it according to the trend will not create the desired color…

2. As usual, every year from the 10th lunar month onwards, Binh Thuan dragon fruit farmers keep their lights on in the off-season to serve the market demand during the Lunar New Year.

Although the weather was unfavorable (unseasonal rain) for lighting, fruit output decreased. However, in the last month of 2023, the dragon fruit market in the province became more bustling, because with the above selling price, most gardeners made a profit, so farmers invested in careful care to serve the market before, during and after the Lunar New Year 2024. Currently, the price of white-fleshed dragon fruit sold in bulk at the garden is from 14,000 - 18,000 VND/kg depending on the type. Particularly, red-fleshed dragon fruit is purchased by export enterprises at a price ranging from 25,000 - 40,000 VND/kg depending on the type. For example, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh's family in Ham Liem commune, Ham Thuan Bac has more than 1,000 dragon fruit pillars, said that in recent months, the selling price of dragon fruit has been relatively stable, still ensuring profit after deducting costs. With years of experience in dragon fruit production, according to Ms. Thanh, her family practices staggered planting, dividing the harvest into multiple phases with continuous artificial lighting to minimize market risks.

According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the province currently has over 27,000 hectares of dragon fruit. To ensure the yield and quality of dragon fruit for the export market in the last months of the year, Binh Thuan's agricultural sector has guided farmers to focus on orchard care, balanced fertilization, ensuring efficiency, and strengthening pest and disease control, using organic fertilizers to reduce input costs. At the same time, the agricultural sector advises farmers and businesses to comply with food safety regulations. Especially at the end of the year, dragon fruit exports will be boosted, particularly to the Chinese market. Therefore, to limit the situation of farmers producing in large quantities at the same time, leading to oversupply and low prices, the provincial agricultural sector is coordinating with localities to strengthen information sharing on production, seasons, yields, and harvests to cooperate in identifying consumption markets. At the same time, strengthen guidance for farmers to produce dragon fruit according to GAP standards, meeting technical barriers of importing countries...

*Pre-processing dragon fruit after harvesting.*

From the fluctuations in the agricultural export market at the end of the year, combined with recent domestic consumption trends, it can be seen that Binh Thuan dragon fruit is improving day by day, with the contribution and promotion of its image from "trends" on social networking platforms.

K. HANG

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