Lavi Agri buys 100 tonnes of Long An dragon fruits. — VNS File Photo

The Long An Dragon Fruit Association sold over 100 tonnes of dragon fruits to Lavi Agri Company Limited, a member of Lavifood JSC, on Wednesday.

This is the first batch following the signing of the co-operation programme between the association with Lavi Agri to purchase and consume 100 hectares of red-flesh dragon fruits in the provincial Chau Thanh and Tan Tru districts.

Farmer Nguyen Van Ly in Thanh Phu Long commune said that the company purchased dragon fruits grade 1 at VND30,000 (US$1.3); dragon fruits grade 2 costs VND20,000 per kilo; grade 3 costs VND15,000 per kilo.

The price was equal or higher than that in outside markets, he said.

In particular, farmers had a clear contract with the company and will receive a 30 per cent deposit, he added.

Nguyen Quoc Trinh, the association’s chairman, said this was the first value chain for dragon fruit.

The association, together with Lavifood, had created a value chain for dragon fruit which both helps farmers to have a clear contract and provides technical support to farmers to make dragon fruit grow better, he said.

The agreement was signed at the end of last month to purchase and consume red dragon fruit in the province’s Chau Thanh and Tan Tru districts.

Under the agreement, the company will buy 100 hectares of dragon fruits, equivalent to 3,000-3,500 tonnes, provided that dragon fruits are grown in Chau Thanh and Tan Tru districts and are cultivated using a clean process.

The province currently has more than 12,000 hectares of dragon fruit with output of more than 400,000 tonnes per year. — VNS