Photo: tintucnongnghiep.com

Procedures are being processed for the export of Hanoi’s first late-ripening longan batch to the US, the municipal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said at a meeting on September 3.

About 1,880 of the 15,161 hectares of fruit trees in Hanoi are under longan trees. Late-ripening longan varieties cover 500 hectares of land with 200 hectares in Quoc Oai and Hoai Duc districts.

Ninety hectares of late-ripening longan trees have been recognised as meeting standards of the Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practices (VietGAP), the department said, adding that it negotiated with importing countries to facilitate the sale of this type of longan.

By last April, the US Department of Agriculture granted regional codes for the 18.7-hectare qualified areas managed by the Hoai Duc association of late-ripening longan producers.

The Hanoi department said favourable conditions are now in place for the local fruit to be shipped to many foreign markets in the coming time.

The US Department of Agriculture approved the import of fresh longan and lychee from Vietnam in 2014.

Vietnam hopes to export 1,200 tonnes of longan and 600 tonnes of lychee to the US every year.

Source: VNA