Vietnam posts best lychee crop in 60 years

Lychee have penetrated a number of new markets this year. - File Photo

HÀ NỘI - Increasing exports helped Việt Nam obtain its most successful lychee crop in 2017, with the highest prices in six decades, heard a conference yesterday in northern Bắc Giang Province, the country’s lychee farming hub.

According to the Bắc Giang Province People’s Committee, lychee production brought a revenue of VNĐ3.5 trillion (US$154 million) to farmers in the northern province.

Lychee prices averaged VNĐ40,000-60,000 per kilogram this harvest season and even touched a record high of VNĐ83,000 per kilogram, nearly doubling the previous crop.

The province’s lychee export revenue totalled more than $90 million this year.

The province said that lychee penetrated a number of new markets this year, such as Dubai, Holland and Thailand, thank to the enhanced promotion activities.

China remained the largest importer of Vietnamese lychee, with 28,000 tonnes, or 76.5 per cent of the total lychee export volume.

Domestic lychee sales reached 54,900 tonnes.

The province saw the best lychee crop during the past 60 years despite a drop of 64.2 per cent in output over the previous year to 91,000 tonnes due to unfavourable weather conditions. However, this year’s lychee was of a higher quality, Dương Văn Thái, Deputy Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said.

The province’s statistics show that more than 1,000 farmer households earned from VNĐ100 million from lychee this harvest season, including 10 households with revenues higher than VNĐ500 million and two earning more than VNĐ800 million.

According to Trần Quang Tuấn, Director of the provincial Department of Industry and Trade, promotion activities contributed significantly to the success of lychee sales this year, together with efforts of improving lychee quality.

Lychee plantation area totalled 30,000 hectares in the province. Bắc Giang Province is famous for thiều lychee, which grows mainly in Lục Ngạn District.

Lục Ngạn thiều lychee is already granted protection certificate in six countries - Laos, Cambodia, South Korea, China, Japan and Singapore - by the Ministry of Science and Technology and is being registered for industrial property protection in three countries – The US, Australia and Malaysia.