Digitalization on dragon fruit hills: Phu Tho

His father's successor

Nguyen Dac Thanh, Director of Thanh Hung Agricultural Production Cooperative, was once a mechanical technician. After getting married, he chose to return to his hometown and take up farming in search of a stable life and the chance to be closer to his family. More than a decade ago, when he made that decision, the project to develop red-fleshed dragon fruit in the Lap Thach district (former Vinh Phuc province) had just been approved. Under the program, the State provided participating households with partial support for seedlings, agricultural materials, and fertilizers.

Before the project was launched, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Long, Thanh's father, purchased red-fleshed dragon fruit seedlings in 2005 and planted them on a 4,000-m² plot behind his home. Unexpectedly, the rocky hill soil proved ideally suited to this crop. Two years later, when the orchard produced its first harvest, Mr. Long discovered that the seedlings had been mixed. Some bore abundant fruit, whereas others yielded very little. Although the fruit quality was comparable, productivity varied significantly from plant to plant.

Mr. Long carefully tagged the most vigorous and productive plants for propagation while removing the inferior ones. Red-fleshed dragon fruit soon became a poverty-reducing crop for Lap Thach disadvantaged land. With his reputation, Mr. Long was elected Chairman of the district's Red-Fleshed Dragon Fruit Association.

Drawing on his father's experience, Thanh also propagated his own red-fleshed dragon fruit seedlings. However, as he expanded production, he had to buy additional seedlings from outside suppliers. Two years later, the 0.5-hectare orchard established with those uncertified seedlings flowered sparsely and set very little fruit. Left with no choice, Thanh had to uproot the entire plantation, accepting a loss of VND 300 million.

In the early years, red-fleshed dragon fruit in Lap Thach was sold at prices of VND 60,000–70,000/kg, but many growers still suffered losses. Meanwhile, farmers in Binh Thuan province remained profitable despite the selling prices of only around VND 7,000/kg. Determined to understand the difference, Thanh traveled to Binh Thuan to learn from local growers. His first trip lasted only two days because he had no means of getting around the vast dragon fruit plantations. On his next visit, he loaded his motorbike into the luggage compartment of the coach and returned to Binh Thuan. After dozens of such trips, he eventually mastered the fundamental techniques for successful dragon fruit cultivation.

Shifting to VietGAP standards

In 2020, after the lease on farmers' land expired, Thanh successfully bid for a five-year lease on 10 ha of the commune's 5% land fund. The site consisted of undulating hills, so he had to hire machinery to level and rehabilitate the terrain before cultivation. This time, he installed trellis and automated irrigation systems instead of using individual concrete posts and relying on manual irrigation. He also invested in a 1,000-m² warehouse for storing agricultural inputs and pre-processing post-harvest products, along with accommodation for workers.

However, the most significant transformation in dragon fruit production took place beneath the soil. "Dragon fruit has no leaves, so it is relatively less susceptible to insect pests, but fungal diseases require particular attention. There are numerous fungal pathogens, each with a life cycle of 15-30 days depending on the species and weather conditions, so growers need to understand their characteristics to prevent outbreaks. These fungi are present not only in the soil but also in the air, and they proliferate rapidly under hot, humid, and rainy conditions," Thanh shared.

When he was still leasing just 2 ha from local farmers, Thanh followed conventional farming practices, with the application of about 30% of manure and 70% of chemical fertilizers. Crop protection relied entirely on chemical pesticides. On average, he sprayed chemicals 2-3 times a month to control anthracnose, brown spot, target spot, gecko fungus, betel residue fungus, oriental fruit flies, black caterpillars, stink bugs, branch borers, and other pests. It took dozens of workers carrying backpack sprayers several days to complete each round of spraying.

Today, on the 10 ha leased from the commune's 5% land fund, Thanh has shifted production to VietGAP standards. Most of the fertilizers he uses are water-soluble formulations that he purchases and blends himself before injecting them into the automated irrigation system. At the same time, he continues to apply manure once a year to build healthy soil for microorganisms. Chemical fungicides are still used when necessary, but only once every two months. In the intervening periods, he applies biological products such as Trichoderma and Bacillus, mixing them with liquid fertilizer and delivering them through the automated irrigation system once a month to suppress harmful fungi. Weeds are controlled by mowing rather than with herbicides.

In addition to working closely with the Phu Tho Sub-Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection on cultivation techniques, Thanh Hung Agricultural Production Cooperative has hired an expert from Southern Viet Nam to live on-site and oversee production. The province has also installed a weather monitoring and forecasting station with a 5-km coverage radius in the dragon fruit growing area to support the cooperative. Using a mobile app, Thanh can access weather forecasts 5-7 days in advance, identify areas experiencing moisture deficits, and activate the automated irrigation system accordingly to supply water and nutrients while taking timely measures to prevent fungal diseases.

As a result, the dragon fruit plants have grown more uniformly and become less susceptible to disease. Thanh has also invested in a specialized LED lighting system to induce off-season flowering, enabling the cooperative to avoid the familiar cycle of “good harvest, bad prices” and direct price competition with fruit harvested during the main season.

The cooperative's dragon fruit plantation has been granted both domestic and export growing area codes. Its dragon fruit has been exported for the past year, and several companies have proposed working with the cooperative to expand its export. However, they require a minimum supply of 2 containers/month, equivalent to around 50 tons, a volume the cooperative is currently unable to meet.

Although Lap Thach commune has around 300 ha of red-fleshed dragon fruit, growers do not follow a standardized cultivation protocol or work together through production linkages. As a result, all of the commune's output is still sold on the domestic market.

While red-fleshed dragon fruit grown in Northern Viet Nam does not match the yields achieved in the South, it is widely recognized for its superior aroma and flavor. The fruit Thanh offered me that day came from the year's first harvest. The output was only about 3 tons but sold for VND 28,000/kg. Of the Cooperative's 10 ha, four are currently in harvest, yielding 100–120 tons annually and generating around VND 2 billion in revenue. After deducting production costs, annual profits amount to VND 700-800 million. Once the remaining 6 ha reach harvest, both revenue and profits are expected to increase substantially.

$1 = VND 26,465 - Source: Vietcombank.