In recent years, dragon fruit trees have gradually become familiar with ethnic minorities in many localities in the mountainous province of Son La. The vibrant green and rich red color of dragon fruit have gradually covered, replacing the man-made forest patches and low economic value agricultural products.
In Mai Son district, Mr. Tran Van Duc’s family is one of the leading households in the dragon fruit- growing movement. After more than 5 years of familiarization and development, this new crop has shown remarkable economic effects.
Unlike Mr. Duc’s family, in order to have a dragon fruit garden with more than 2.000 trees, the family of Ms. Lo Thi Dung and Ms. Hoang Thi Thao have to “carry the tree up to the mountain”. The garden is located in the middle of a value in Thuan Chau district, which is about 900 meters above the sea level. This garden of dragon fruit has been invested and planted by these 2 women since 2017, and up to now has a high yield and been exported to 2 demanding markets, which are Russia and Japan.
With the support of the Ngoc Hoang Cooperative, dragon fruit trees have been replicated and developed in suitable lands in Thuan Chau, Yen Chau, Mai Son, Moc Chau, Song Ma, Sop Cop districts with about 200 hectares of land. Production this year is estimated at 2.000 tons. In 2019, only 9 tons of dragon fruit were exported, it is estimated that more than 50 tons of Son La dragon fruits will be export to high demanding markets this year.
According to agricultural experts, the prevailing conditions in Son La give dragon fruit a special taste that dragon fruit growing in the South do not have. In fact, markets like Japan and Russia have highly appreciated the first offered batch of dragon fruits. This is the driving force that encourages the upland people to comply with the production process and determine to reach a big market./.
