AsemconnectVietnam - Vietnam’s lychee production has been supplemented this year by nearly 15,000 tonnes from Central Highlands’ provinces, thanks to their harvest taking place a month before northern localities do likewise.

This year’s lychee production nationwide has been boosted by nearly 15,000 tonnes of fruit from provinces in the Central Highlands, which were harvested a month earlier than in the northern region. This has attracted many traders who export the fruit to China. The lychee varieties grown in the Central Highlands are the same as those in the northern province of Bac Giang, but they have only recently been able to earn higher economic value due to crop restructuring practices over the past three years.
Despite the modest growing area and output compared to coffee and pepper, the lychee industry has contributed to poverty alleviation in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak.
In other areas like nearby Dak Nong province, the lychee season has also begun, with farmers intercropping the fruit with other crops like coffee and pepper to boost economic efficiency.
Highway packed with lychees in northern Vietnam
A section of National Highway 31 going through Bac Giang Province’s Luc Ngan District is jammed with farmers distributing lychees on motorbikes.
Lychee farmers fill up a section of almost 1km along the road on Monday morning.
The lychee harvest season in Luc Ngan starts at the end of May and lasts for more than a month. According to Bac Giang’s Department of Industry and Trade, farmers have sold more than 35,000 tons of the fruit so far this season.Currently, traders pay farmers VND10,000-35,000 (US$1.5) per kilo of lychees depending on the product’s quality.
A farmer named Nguyen prepares to get his lychees weighed by traders.
Nguyen said his family has more than 200 lychee trees and started to harvest the fruits a week ago. Every day, they pick around 200 kilos of lychees.
For a week now, Nguyen and other family members work from midnight to early the next morning to pick the fruits, pack them and transport them to traders.
They must do so to prevent the scorching sun from spoiling the quality of the fruits, which would affect the selling price.
“The sunshine will make the fruit lose water and not look fresh,” he said.
Vietnamese seedless lychees now available in UK market
The first batch of Vietnamese seedless lychees arrived in the UK on June 16, becoming the fourth specialty fruit of Vietnam exported via the official channel to the demanding market this year.
The batch was imported by TT Meridian – a distributor of Vietnamese lychees and agricultural products in the UK. The seedless lychees were grown in the north central province of Thanh Hoa’s Ngoc Lac district.
Thai Tran, managing director of the company, said the retail price of the seedless lychee ranges from 16-18 GBP per kg, 3-4 GBP higher than the normal one.
If its quality and price are welcomed by the UK market, the company will import about one tonne a week in June and July – the harvest season of lychees in Vietnam, he noted.
“Golden time” for Vietnam’s lychee exports coming: experts
July marks the end of the lychee season in China but the main harvest in Vietnam. Therefore, domestic firms are advised to optimise this opportunity to boost exports to the neighbouring country.
Vietnamese exporters will face less competition in the market if the shipments are made from this month, said Dang Phuc Nguyen, Secretary General of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetables Association.
Vietnam’s lychee exports to China are expected to rise sharply this year thanks to the neighbour’s reopening, he said, noting that apart from product quality, it is necessary to facilitate visa licencing and travelling of Chinese traders in order to boost the delivery.
Both the northern provinces of Hai Duong and Bac Giang, Vietnam's lychee hubs, have been preparing for the harvest. This year, the country’s combined lychee output is expected to reach 330,000 tonnes.
However, high logistics costs and issues regarding plant quarantine and customs clearance remain concerns among lychee exporters.
Given this, lychee growing localities have proposed the Vietnamese trade office in China hold working sessions with relevant Chinese agencies to speed up customs clearance, thus easing congestion at border gates, while helping them seek Chinese partners.
China welcomes Vietnam’s early-ripening lychees
Shipments of Vietnam’s early-ripening lychees to China in recent days have received a positive response from the Chinese market, filling the gap before the country’s lychees are ready for harvest.
Citing customs in Guangxi, Chinese media reported that May and June are the busiest months for lychee imports through border checkpoints between the two countries.
In recent days, fleets of trucks carrying Vietnamese lychees have been cleared at the Huu Nghi International Border Gate, bringing the first batches of the 2023 season to Chinese consumers.
Due to differences in climate, Vietnamese lychees usually ripen one month earlier than Chinese lychees, allowing them to be harvested and exported to the Chinese market one month ahead.
Enterprises usually take advantage of this supply gap to increase the import of Vietnam’s early ripening lychees.

T.Huong
Source: Vitic