Tra Vinh (VNS/VNA) - Cau Ke district in Tra Vinh province has receivedbrand certifications for its three specialty products, Hoa Tan sap coconut, TanQui mangosteen and Tra Ot king orange, local authorities has said.

Ngo Thi Hong Nghi, head of the district’s Bureau of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment, said the district has advantages in growing fruits and being thelargest area under fruits in the province.

It has more than 9,100ha of orchards that yield around 150,000 tonnes of fruitsannually, she said.

But they do not fetch high values since farmers do not use advanced farmingtechniques and have not built sustainable links with companies, she said. 

Last year, the province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Developmentassisted the district’s farmers with growing clean produce, adapting to climatechange, building brand names, and linking up with companies to ensure they cansell their produce.

This has helped the district develop fruit cultivation towards commercialproduction, improving yields, quality and efficiency.

It has established three co-operatives for growing fruits to Vietnamese goodagricultural practices (VietGAP) standards.

They include sap coconut, green skin and pink flesh grapefruit, mango andrambutan.

Nguyen Van Su, chairman of the Hoa Tan Sap Coconut Co-operative in Hoa Tan commune,said the co-operative has 53 members with 45ha of sap coconut, including 28haof VietGAP quality.

Sap coconut grown using traditional methods could normally be harvested onlyfive or six years after planting, but VietGAP quality ones could be harvestedafter four years, he said.

The variety has soft and thick pulp and is used mostly for desserts likecoconut shakes and flesh mixed with milk, sugar and ice.

A mature sap coconut tree can produce 120-150 nuts a year, but only 40-50 percenthave the soft and thick pulp that qualify them as sap, and the remaining havenormal pulp.

The variety grows only in Cau Ke district.

Thach Phu My, a member of the Hoa Tan Sap Coconut Co-operative, said memberscould earn 10 million VND (430 USD) a year from a mature tree.

Pham Minh Truyen, director of the department, said the province has zoned20,000ha for specialty fruits this year.

Cau Ke has 4,000ha of fruits in combination with tourism, he said.

The Mekong Delta province plans to mobilise 620 billion VND (26.8 million USD)from various sources to build infrastructure and facilities for developing fruitcultivation and consumption, according to the department.

It has a number of support policies to encourage companies produce high-qualityfruit seedlings and buy and process fruits for export.

It targets average fruit production value of 170 million VND (7,350 USD) perhectare per year, the department added./.