Growers in the northern province of Bac Giang finished this year’s litchi crop with a sigh of relief as earnings from the fruit and supporting services reach all-time high of over 6.5 trillion VND (281.1 million USD).

The provincial Department of Industry and Trade reported around 147,030 tonnes of litchi were consumed in both domestic and foreign markets. Although the output only accounted for 68.1 percent of that in the 2018 crop, earning was 1.2 trillion VND higher, standing at 4.6 trillion VND.

Average price of the fruit reached 31,800 VND per kilogramme, up 15,800 VND from the previous crop.

Particularly, some households growing litchi with organic methods enjoyed much higher profits as consumers were willing to pay some 200,000 VND for a box of 12 pieces with stamps of traceability.

Cao Van Hoan, Vice Chairman of the Luc Ngan District People’s Committee, said the quality of the fruit this year has been the best so far. Therefore, farmers earned more despite lower output.

Up to 79,618 tonnes of litchi were set aside for export, 99.1 percent of which was destined to China while the remaining, for the Middle East, the EU, Russia, the US, Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Australia, among others.

This year, Bac Giang province cultivated litchi on more than 28,000 hectares, comprising 13,855 hectares under VietGAP, 218 hectares under GlobalGAP, and 20 hectares under organic standard.

China granted codes to 149 litchi growing areas in Bac Giang province, with a total area of over 16,000 hectares. There are 86 packaging and processing facilities qualified to export litchi to the East Asian country.