On June 3^rd, the Center of Science and Technology Information and Statistics in collaboration with Xuyen Moc District Farmers' Association organized a seminar on the topic "The cultivation of red flesh dragon fruits in accordance with VietGAP standard” at Bong Trang commune of Xuyen Moc district.

On June 3^rd, the Center of Science and Technology Information and Statistics in collaboration with Xuyen Moc District Farmers' Association organized a seminar on the topic "The cultivation of red flesh dragon fruits in accordance with VietGAP standard” at Bong Trang commune of Xuyen Moc district. The seminar report was presented by MSc. Pham Tan Phuoc – Deputy Head of the Social Information Department, Provincial Farmers Association. More than 70 people from dragon fruit farms in Bong Trang and Bung Rieng communes attended the seminar.

MSc. Pham Tan Phuoc briefly summarized the result of the project “Building a cultivation model for red flesh dragon fruits in accordance to VietGAP standard at Bung Rieng Commune - Xuyen Moc district" which was started in March 2013. To May 2016, the revenue collected from the total 2 ha of 5 farms was nearly 1 billion dong. It is the continued trial of the previous two projects on the same topic which were carried by the Farmer Association of Ba Ria – Vung Tau province in 2009. In 2012, the pivot project was assessed by the Provincial Science Council as having high performance and feasibility to scale up.

Besides, MSc. Pham Tan Phuoc introduced farmers to cultivation techniques of red flesh dragon fruits including planting, soil preparation, seed preparation, and flowering techniques. Red flesh Dragon fruit plant is a tropical type originated from Mexican and Columbian deserts. 7 to 8 month old plant starts to bear fruits. With long flowering season and high flowering capability, dragon fruit plant is known to be a low-risk plant to grow. Its sensitivity to light and weather changes makes it easy and less costly to grow off-season. As the price can get 2 to 4 times higher off-season and the average year round price is about 20.000-25.000 dong, the plant is an attractive option to most of farmers. Uses of red flesh dragon fruits is gradually expanded, now it is used for liquor, cosmetics, industrial dyeing materials, beverage and food.