The decrease was seen in main products such as dragon fruit, banana, longan, watermelon, durian and shiitake.

China continued to take the lead in importing Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable with over 300 million USD, down 29.4 percent compared to the same period last year. The sharp decline was attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A farmer is harvesting dragon fruits.

Meanwhile, other markets recorded slight year-on-year growth in January-March such as Indonesia with 2.1 million USD compared to only 164,800 USD in the same period in 2019, Thailand 35.2 million USD as against 7.6 million USD one year ago, Laos 9.6 million USD compared to 2.6 million USD last year, Russia 8.2 million USD against 2.4 million USD in the same period last year, and Cambodia 885,300 USD from 340,000 USD from one year ago.

Last year, fruit and vegetable exports lagged behind expectations, reaching only 3.8 billion USD, a year-on-year drop of one percent.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, 2019 was a tough year for the sector. China, the country’s largest importer, tightened requirements for imports from Vietnam via strict quarantine measures and origin traceability.

However, growth was seen in shipments to several markets such as ASEAN (26.6 percent), the US (10.7 percent) and the European Union (32.2 percent).

Diversifying markets – solution to boost fruit, vegetable exports

Actively seeking new potential markets while maintaining foothold in traditional ones is a solution to help the agricultural sector keep its growth momentum and raise export value, experts said at a forum for exporters of fruit and vegetable held in HCM City on February 27.

Give us this day our rescue bread: baked dragon fruit

Saigon residents are queuing up to buy "rescue" bread made of dragon fruit, saving it from being dumped amidst the novel coronavirus epidemic.

Veggie, fruit exporters seek new markets through EVFTA

The recent ratification of the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) by the European Parliament (EP) is expected to help with the market expansion of Vietnamese farm produce, including fruits and vegetables, in the face of the coronavirus outbreak disease (COVID-19), according to insiders.

Long An exports 50 tonnes of dragon fruit by sea a day

The Dragon Fruit Association of southern Long An province exports 50 tonnes of dragon fruit a day on average to China and other Southeast Asian nations by sea as export by road has faced lots of difficulties due to the outbreak of the acute respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Vietnamese firms attend Fruit Logistica 2020

Nine Vietnamese vegetable and fruit processing businesses are showcasing their products at the Fruit Logistica 2020, the world’s leading fresh produce industry event that opens in Berlin on February 5.

Source: VNA