According to Mr. Trinh, the epidemic has long caused stagnancy in dragon fruit export and price drop plaguing farmers.

The association has exported over 1,000 tons since the Lunar New Year festival. Before Tet holiday, traders paid as low as VND5,000 a kilogram of red flesh dragon fruit. The price increases to VND12,000-15,000 a kilogram now. After transporting the fruit to China and some other nations by sea, mostly through Cat Lai seaport, traders sell the fruit in local markets at the price of VND40,000-42,000 a kilogram.

The volume of dragon fruit exported by sea has been increasing for the last few days.