On March 22nd, the Department of Science and Technology organized a Science and Technology Advisory Council to evaluate the project: "Developing a farming model for red flesh dragon fruits in accordance to VietGAP standard at Bung Rieng Commune - Xuyen Moc district". The project is led by MSc. Pham Tan Phuoc and hosted by the Farmers’ Union of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province. Mr. Dang Son Hai - Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology chaired the Acceptance Council.

The aim of the study is to contribute to crop conversion, improve income generation, livelihood and farming skills of farmers in Bung Rieng commune, Xuyen Moc district. This is a replication of  the pilot project which was successfully applied in Bong Trang commune, Xuyen Moc district. The direct beneficiaries of the project are 05 households in Bung Rieng commune who contributed land for project farming. The land has a total area of ​​02 ha (4000 m² / household).

Bung Rieng has a great potential for red flesh dragon fruit farming. So far, the commune has about 20 hectares of red flesh dragon and with the average income of 400-500 million dongs per hectare per year. Red flesh dragon has many competitive advantage in both domestic and international markets. As such, the plant is the main agricultural crop which is planned to develop further in the Xuyen Moc.  

After 3 years of implementation, the farming model of red flesh dragon fruits has been successfully implemented with several positive results. Farmers have been trained on the farming process in accordance to VietGAP standard. Those include 05 people directly involved in the project and more than 40 people in the commune. In addition, a cooperative group has been established with the aim to provide neccessary assistance to farmners. Particularly, the products have been sold at very high prices (Price of Grade 1 ranges from 15,000 to 70,000 VND / kg, Grade 2 is sold from 8,000 to 40,000 VND / kg) with stable market demand during the project period. The yield was 47.78 tons, higher than the projected yield of 20 metric tons. The income is higher than many local high-value crops such as pepper, longan, and rubber.

The council evaluated the project as having high application value and ability to be deployed on large scale. However, in order to improve the study, the Council suggested the project leader and hosting agency to add into the study learning experiences based on review and analysis of factors affecting research results. The Council agreed to accept the project and graded it as good.