Vietnamese dragon fruit is being exported to 40 countries and territories, such as China, Thailand and Indonesia, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

The fruit is also entering new markets, including India, New Zealand, Australia and Chile, the ministry added.

MARD is coordinating with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to complete procedures to ship dragon fruit to Australia in 2017.

In January this year, the Australian Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources released its final review of bio-security requirements for Viet Nam’s fresh dragon fruit.

In mid-June, a letter was sent to the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade by the Australian Embassy in Vietnam, detailing the process of opening the market for Vietnamese fresh dragon fruit.

The embassy also recommended supporting Viet Nam in asking permission from the Food Standards Australia New Zealand to use irradiation treatment on dragon fruit shipped to Australia.

Dragon fruit is a Vietnamese agricultural staple with export earnings of US$895.7 million in 2016, making up 50.3 per cent of the country’s fresh fruit exports and 36.1 per cent of overall vegetable exports. – VNS