Foreign demand for green-peel grapefruit hailing from the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre is growing, and domestic businesses are working with managerial agencies to take advantage.

Dam Van Hung, Vice Chairman of the Ben Tre Green-peel Grapefruit Association, said the product has been exported to Germany, Canada, Ukraine, China, Singapore and the Philippines.

However, the output of grapefruit meeting Global Good Agricultural Practice and Vietnam Good Agricultural Practice (VietGAP) standards remains modest – standing at about 100 hectares of total 4,000.

Satisfying such requirements is compulsory for exports, Hung noted.

To ease the problem, in the short term, the business circle and the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development plan to cultivate 200 hectares of green-peel grapefruit following VietGAP standards.

The harvested products will be bought at prices that are 5-10 percent higher than market prices, Hung said.

Ben Tre ranks first in terms of its green-peel grapefruit area and output in Vietnam. The product is being sold at 35,000 – 40,000 VND (1.7 – 1.9 USD) per kilogramme in the locality.-VNA