Vietnam’s dragonfruit growers in the central Binh Thuan province are suffering from a drastic reduction in export prices as Chinese consumption slows over winter.
Dragonfruit is in its lower-yielding off season, reported Vietnam News, which has higher costs and generally lower prices, but the current drop-off is the lowest in 10 years, according to farmers.
Southern China accounts for 70 per cent of dragonfruit exports from Binh Thuan, and consumption has fallen as a result of cold weather in the region.
Prices have dropped from VND12,000-13,000 per kg (US$0.66-0.71) last month to VND3,000-4,000 per kg (US$0.16-0.22) now. Around VND10,000 per kg is required for farmers to break even.
While the US and Japan opened to Vietnamese dragonfruit in June and October respectively, tight requirements and low consumer knowledge of the product have kept both markets low volume.
Binh Thuan has 11,000ha of dragonfruit orchards, producing about 200,000 tonnes a year, reported Vietnam News.
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