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Export prices rise for Delta grapefruit
Increasing export demand for Nam Roi grapefruit is earning farmers VND2,000 (US$0.11) more per kilo than last month, said Tran Van Sang, head of the My Hoa Nam Roi Pomelo Co-operative in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Vinh Long.
The leading grapefruit-growing areas were the villages of My Hoa, Dong Binh, Dong Thanh and Thuan An in the province’s Binh Minh District. Nam Roi grapefruit covers 1,370ha in My Hoa village alone, with a yield of 35-50 tonnes per hectare, said Sang.
Binh Minh District has more than 2,100ha of grapefruit, mainly the Nam Roi variety, yielding more than 30,000 tonnes annually. The district planned to expand the Nam Roi area to 3,800ha by 2015 and establish an additional co-operative specialising in the fruit in Thuan An.
The Nam Roi co-operative in Dong Thanh village has transfered growing technology to 22 member farmers in an effort to ensure their produce qualified for export.
The co-op expected to buy 800 tonnes of the fruit this year for both domestic and export consumption.
A kilo of Nam Roi pomelo for export was currently fetching VND15,000 ($0.84), Sang said, with the fruit being shipped to such markets as the Netherlands, Britain, the US, Russia and Croatia.
The My Hoa co-operative has exported more than 1,000 tonnes of the fruit this year and expected to export up to 40 per cent of the village’s total output this year, Sang said.
The remainder would be targeted at domestic supermarkets and distributors nationwide.
Sang said that, thanks to GLOBALGAP, an internationally-used management system for Good Agricultural Practice (GAP), Nam Roi grapefruit can be harvested year-round instead of only in autumn.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has nominated nine special delta fruit varieties for export development.
The Nam Roi grapefruit and Tam Binh mandarin grown in Vinh Long, the green-skinned grapefruit and Ri-6 and Chin Hoa durians from Ben Tre, and Hoa Loc mango from Tien Giang have all received trade-name certificates, and several of the fruits are major export earners.
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