More than 8,000 hectares of red-flesh dragon fruit growing area exist in Chau Thanh district, including 2,000 hectares cultivated with high technology.

There are about 150 dragon fruit collection units in the district, many of which initially belonged to Vietnamese merchants, but are now controlled by Chinese.

Vo Van Van from the Chau Thanh district’s agriculture sub-department confirmed that after taking losses, the owners of some storehouses leased them to Chinese businesses for use.

About 10 storehouses are large scale, with the area of 4,000-5,000 square meters for each. A local man said each storehouse is valued at VND2-2.5 billion a year.

Nguyen Van Thanh, director of Van Thanh Dragon Fruit Cooperative, said some fruit companies had incurred huge losses of hundreds of billion of dong because of the ‘price crisis’.

“Discouraged by unprofitable business, they (Vietnamese merchants) leased storehouses for money,” he explained.

The presence of Chinese businesses in Chau Thanh has led to a busier mar. However, experts have warned that Chinese businesses may join hands to control dragon fruit price.

Local farmers won’t sell dragon fruit if they see the prices escalating. They are keeping products and waiting for the prices to go up. 

“Chinese businesses, who understand Vietnamese farmers, raise the collection price a little and then lower the price by several thousand dong per kilogram. Farmers then rush to sell dragon fruits for fear the prices will continue decreasing. And businessmen can pocket big money,” explained Truong Huu An, director of Tam Vu Dragon Fruit Cooperative.

Van said that Chinese businessmen have begun setting prices when collecting fruit in Chau Thanh, warning that the situation will continue on a larger scale in the time to come.

Phan Dang Tue, a farmer who has 6 hectares of red-flesh dragon fruit in Chau Thanh district, said the dragon fruit price has not been good over the last two years.

“I have been growing dragon fruit for 10 years and I hah never seen the price drop in the Tet sale season until this year,” Tue said.

An of Tam Vu Cooperative said that state agencies should update information about dragon fruit prices for farmers to avoid losses.

“I can get information about prices through internet and merchants in China, so I feel more secure when collecting fruit,” An said.

However, he said that he was not focusing on cultivating and collecting red-flesh dragon fruit for export to China. “I am growing white-flesh dragon fruit for export to Thailand to seek new opportunities,” he said.

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