Long An exports 50 tonnes of dragon fruit by sea a day

Hanoi - The Dragon Fruit Association of southern Long An province exports 50 tonnes of dragon fruit a day on average to China and other Southeast Asian nations by sea as export by road has faced lots of difficulties due to the outbreak of the acute respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Baskets of dragon fruit for export (Photo: Sggpnews)

The association has exported over 1,000 tonnes since the Lunar New Year festival which fell on January 25 this year, Sai Gon Giai phong newspaper reported.

According to Chairman of the association Nguyen Quoc Trinh, the outbreak has long caused stagnancy in dragon fruit export and price drop for farmers.

Before Tet holiday, traders paid as low as 5,000 VND per kg of red flesh dragon fruit. The price increases to 12,000-15,000 VND per kg now. After transporting the fruit to China and some other nations by sea, mostly through Cat Lai seaport, traders sell the fruit in local markets at the price of 40,000-42,000 VND per kg

The volume of dragon fruit exported by sea has been increasing for the last few days.