|
Dragonfruit flies to Japan as ban ends
The first batch of Vietnamese dragonfruit, exported by Yasaka Fruit Processing Company, arrived in Japan yesterday after a 10-year ban due to fruit fly infestation, according to officials.
Le Duc Khanh, deputy head of the Plant Protection Research Institute’s Insect Research Department, said fresh fruit importers required strict sanitary standards to prevent an outbreak of pests in their respective countries.
The Japanese market requires that fruit fly infestation be treated with a hot steam method, not by irradiation technology.
Last month, Japanese experts visited the Binh Duong Province-based Yasaka Fruit Processing Co, the only factory in Viet Nam that provides steam sterilisation, to inspect dragonfruit there.
Nguyen Huu Dat, Director of the Post-Import Plant Quarantine Centre II, said Japan had also looked for chemical residue on all foods and banned the use of 700 kinds of pesticides and chemicals on dragonfruit.
Nguyen Hong Hung, Yasaka’s Deputy Director, said his company focused on a high-end fruit market and carefully selected fruit in terms of quality and size.
His company has also worked with a Japanese distributor to market and distribute dragonfruit in the Japanese market, especially supermarket systems, Hung said.
To ensure the best quality fruit, his company chose transportation by air, he said. "We want the fruit to be in the Japanese market on the third day after harvesting."
Yasaka Co has also asked the Plant Protection Research Institute to carry out research on two other specialty fruits of Viet Nam, the mango and star apple, so they can enter the Japanese market.
The country has about 14,000ha of dragonfruit farms with an annual output of 200,000 tonnes, with Binh Thuan Province containing the most, 10,000 ha, and Long An and Tien Giang provinces the rest.
Vietnamese dragonfruit is exported to Singapore, Thailand, China, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the US.
vietnamnet, vietnamplus
|
