In Vietnam’s in Chau Thanh district, there are more than 8,000 hectares of red-flesh dragon fruit growing area, including 2,000 hectares of high tech cultivation.
There are about 150 dragon fruit collection units in the district, many of which initially belonged to Vietnamese merchants, but are now controlled by Chinese entrepreneurs. Vo Van Van from the Chau Thanh district’s agriculture sub-department confirmed that after taking losses, the owners of some storehouses leased them to Chinese businesses for use.
About 10 storehouses are large scale, with the area of 4,000-5,000 square meters for each. A local man said each storehouse is valued at VND2-2.5 billion a year.
Nguyen Van Thanh, director of Van Thanh Dragon Fruit Cooperative, said some fruit companies had incurred huge losses of hundreds of billions of VND because of the ‘price crisis’: “Discouraged by unprofitable business, they (Vietnamese merchants) leased storehouses for money.”
According to information, the presence of Chinese businesses in Chau Thanh has led to a busier market, but experts have warned that Chinese businesses may join hands to control dragon fruit price.
“Chinese businesses, who understand Vietnamese farmers, raise the collection price a little and then lower the price by several thousand dong per kilogram. Farmers then rush to sell dragon fruits for fear the prices will continue decreasing. And the businessmen can pocket the big money,” explained Truong Huu An, director of Tam Vu Dragon Fruit Cooperative.
