Dragon fruit prices are only a few thousand per kilogram, growers are losing money

In Lam Dong province (formerly Binh Thuan), Ms. Luong, owner of a 4,000 m2 dragon fruit garden, said that since the beginning of May until now, the price of this product has continuously plummeted and fluctuated strongly. Currently, traders buy type 1 white-flesh dragon fruit for about 7,000-8,000 VND per kg, while type 2 goods are only priced at 3,000-6,000 VND and are still difficult to sell.

Current prices are down about 50-70% compared to the beginning of the year, depending on type and quality.

“The price of white-fleshed dragon fruit must be 10,000 VND per kilogram for growers to make a profit,” Ms. Luong said, adding that her family’s harvest this year also decreased by about 30% over the same period, to about 2 tons.

Not only did white-flesh dragon fruit in Lam Dong lose value, many growing areas in Dong Thap and Tay Ninh also recorded a similar situation with both white-flesh and red-flesh dragon fruit.

Owning nearly a hectare of red-flesh dragon fruit in Dong Thap, Ms. Hanh said that type 1 is currently purchased by traders for about 10,000-12,000 VND per kg, while type 2 goods are only about 8,000 VND. According to her, this price is not nearly enough to cover costs when fertilizers and pesticides have increased by 25-40% over the same period last year.

“If the price continues to be below the production cost (13,000-15,000 VND per kilogram), my family may have to narrow the farming area for the next crop,” Ms. Hanh said.

According to a report from the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, in April, dragon fruit prices still increased slightly. Specifically, grade 1 white-flesh dragon fruit reached an average of 23,412 VND per kg, an increase of 2,312 VND compared to the previous month; Grade 1 red flesh dragon fruit is at 26,882 VND, an increase of 2,332 VND.

However, from May until now, when many regions entered harvest, the price of this commodity reversed and dropped sharply.

According to Mr. Dinh Van Hien, a trader purchasing dragon fruits in the Western provinces and Lam Dong, the main reason for the price drop is that many growing areas are entering full harvest at the same time, and the supply has increased sharply. Meanwhile, many fruits such as durian, mangosteen, lychee, and plum are in season, causing dragon fruit purchasing power to slow down.

“I buy beautiful white-fleshed dragon fruits for about 8,000 VND per kilogram, small ones for 5,000 VND. As for red-fleshed dragon fruits, the purchasing price is 12,000 VND because both domestic consumption and export are better,” Mr. Hien said.

Dragon fruit prices have dropped sharply, according to Mr. Huynh Canh, Chairman of Binh Thuan Dragon Fruit Association, mainly due to oversupply, especially when the amount of goods consumed in the domestic market is abundant.

According to him, dragon fruit exports still depend largely on the Chinese market. Although exports are not hindered, the country’s expansion of planting areas in recent years has caused import demand to decrease significantly. In addition, Chinese dragon fruit begins to come into season from May to around November, making competition increasingly greater.

As for the EU market, dragon fruit is subject to enhanced control according to Regulation (EU) 2019/1793, with an inspection frequency of 30% at the border gate.

In the context of more fierce market competition, according to Mr. Canh, only products that fully meet the standards and regulations of the importing country can maintain good selling prices and increase export turnover.

The whole country currently maintains about 55,000-60,000 hectares of dragon fruit cultivation, with an output of about 1.4 million tons a year. The main growing areas are in the South Central Coast and Southwest regions.

Former Binh Thuan is the locality with the largest dragon fruit area in the country with about 26,000 hectares, with dragon fruit output of about 500,000 tons per year. Dong Thap has about 8,500 hectares of dragon fruit, producing more than 300,000 tons per year. This province plans to harvest about 55,000 tons of dragon fruit in May and June this year.