A local company has selected 97 farming households in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang for a pilot project to grow high-quality cherries for export to Japan.

According to Lam Dang Trung, Director of the Thinh Phat Co. Ltd, an area of 20 ha in Go Cong and Go Cong Dong districts has been zoned off for the project, which will commence this month.

He said that the company will provide selected farmers with seeds, fertiliser and pesticide, as well as training in cultivation techniques.

The company plans to buy all the standardised products at a price of 3.500 VND per kg, double the market price, he said, adding that the high-quality cherries will be shipped under a contract with Japan ’s Nichirei Company.

Cherries are one of Tien Giang province’s seven commercially competitive fruits./.