Why do Red dragon fruits intended to be exported to Japan have to be sold at the market?

With the new requirements for growing area codes and variety protection being too unexpected, many dragon fruit farmers and companies exporting to Japan are facing difficulties

In last mid-January, Yasaka Fruit Processing Co., Ltd. (specializing in exporting fruit to Japan) met a problem when 5 containers (about 70 tons) of Red dragon fruit worth 190,000 USD exported to Japan encountered unexpected barriers. That is the announcement from the Post-Import Plant Quarantine Center II (under the Plant Protection Department) on the application of growing area codes for White dragon fruit and Red dragon fruit when exported to the Japanese market.

Because the request is so urgent and complicated, many businesses have to sell exported dragon fruits at wholesale markets, causing significant losses in export orders.

Talking with Tuoi Tre, a representative of the Plant Protection Department (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) emphasized that having dragon fruit and mango growing area codes is a requirement of the Japanese side.

"There are many varieties of red-flesh dragon fruit, but the Japanese side only approves the import of LD1 red-flesh dragon fruit. Similarly, only Cat Chu mangoes can be exported to this market, while other mangoes cannot. Therefore, when applying for a growing area code to export to Japan, the business must prove that this is indeed the red-flesh dragon fruit variety LD1" - a representative of the Plant Protection Department said.

Overview of red-fleshed dragon fruit variety LD1:

Long Dinh 1 red-flesh dragon fruit variety is a sexual hybrid, originating from a cross between the Binh Thuan white-flesh dragon fruit variety (mother) and the Colombian red-flesh dragon fruit variety (father). Average fruit weight 380- 400g; elongated shape. The fruit skin is bright red, bright, and shiny; The fruit ears are green to red-green and have medium-fair hardness. The fruit's flesh is red and purple, with a slightly sweet and sour taste

*Productivity: The tree bears fruit after 1 year of planting, yield reaches 6-8 kg/pillar/year; 2-year-old trees have an average yield of 22-25 kg/pillar/year (22-25 tons/ha/year) and trees from 3 years old onwards have an average yield of 40 kg/pillar/year (40 tons/ha/year).

 Mr. Nguyen Trong Trung Dung, deputy director of Yasaka Company, said this request is like "fell from heaven" because since Japan officially allowed the import of white dragon fruit in 2009 and red dragon fruit in 2017, both are exported to Japan without a growing area code.

However, according to Nguyen Trong Trung Dung, the biggest problem is that to have a planting area code, one must prove that the variety being grown is LD1. Meanwhile, since May 2017, the Southern Fruit Institute has sold the LD1 red-flesh dragon fruit plant variety protection certificate to Hoang Phat Fruit Co., Ltd. with a protection period of up to 20 years. But before this event about 7-8 years ago, the Southern Fruit Tree Institute sold red-fleshed dragon fruit varieties to mass growers in the Western provinces. Therefore, it is very difficult for farmers to get a certificate of variety origin to get a code and it takes time, not to be done quickly.

"Currently, Hoang Phat Fruit Company has purchased a protection certificate for the LD1 red-fleshed dragon fruit variety from the Southern Fruit Tree Institute. Therefore, businesses that want to be granted a planting area code for export must work with Hoang Phat Fruit Company to have a certificate of variety origin. This is not only toavoid violating plant variety protection rights under the Intellectual Property Law, but also meet the requirements of the importing country" - Mr. Cuong said.

 Mr. Nguyen Nhu Cuong, Director of the Department of Crop Production, said that come countries importing agricultural products currently require certification of a variety of origin.

Talking to Tuoi Tre, Mr. Nguyen Khac Huy - Director of Hoang Phat Fruit Co., Ltd. - said that since 2015, when the Southern Fruit Institute successfully bred the red-fleshed dragon fruit variety LD1, he has been interested and negotiate to buy back this variety for 5 billion VND. By 2017, the registration of ownership certification and protection of this dragon fruit variety had been completed. Mr. Huy believes that if we want to compete with other countries, we must have quality seeds, so we need breeding scientists.

 In response to feedback related to difficulties in exporting LD1 red-flesh dragon fruits, the Department of Crop Production, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has just organized a meeting between authorities, businesses, and several cooperatives and dragon fruit exporters of three provinces Long An, Tien Giang, and Binh Thuan.

At the meeting, representative of Hoang Phat Fruit Co., Ltd. Said that for the Korean and Japanese markets, if people are growing LD1 dragon fruit varieties from the trial seedlings of Southern Fruit Institute, the company is willing to purchase the products at reasonable prices for farmers. 20 - 30% higher than the market according to Japanese market standards

According to Mr. Nguyen Nhu Cuong, Director of the Department of Crop Production, the protection and transfer of protection rights are completely appropriate by Vietnamese law, and Hoang Phat has been transparent about sharing the copyright of red-flesh dragon fruit LD1. This is the basis for Vietnamese dragon fruit to develop in the coming time.

Mr. Cuong suggested that Hoang Phat Fruit Company soon send a written commitment to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Department of Crop Production as well as businesses and cooperatives producing and exporting dragon fruit to create favorable conditions for dragon fruit to be exported.