The province has over 750 hectares of passion fruit, of which more than 710 hectares are under harvest, with an output of over 67,200 tons of fruit per year. Passion fruit is mainly grown in Mai Son, Thuan Chau, Moc Chau and Phu Yen districts; and consumed mostly in the domestic market. It is not included in the list of exports to the Chinese market via official channel.

According to regulations, to be granted code, a planting area must be at least 10 hectares, with a clear address. The care process must be recorded and strictly comply with regulations on the use of pesticides. The Bao Sam Agricultural Cooperative in Chieng Luong commune, Mai Son district was established in November 2018, with 18 members, producing 30 hectares of passion fruit and collaborating with households to grow nearly 70 hectares of passion fruit in Co Noi, Chieng Luong and Phieng Pan communes. Currently, on average each hectare produces 35 tons of fruit. After deducting expenses, the cooperative earns about 250-300 million VND (12,300 USD) per hectare.

In January 2023, three passion fruit growing area codes of the cooperative, covering 56.5 hectares in Bo Hac hamlet, Co Noi commune; Ket Na hamlet, Phieng Pan commune; and Chi hamlet in Chieng Luong commune have been recognised by China’s General Administration of Customs as eligible for export to the Chinese market via official channel. It is expected that from now until the end of 2023, the Bao Sam Agricultural Cooperative will ship the first 100 tons of passion fruit to the Chinese market.

The Thanh Dat Cooperative in Chieng Luong commune has also just been granted a passion fruit growing area code, with an area of 10 hectares. The cooperative always strictly follows the production process. Its members have replaced chemical pesticides with biological ones, and used organic fertilizers instead of inorganic fertilizers, so the environment has been greatly improved.

The Son La agriculture sector has advised the provincial People's Committee to develop passion fruit trees by region. At the same time, it has proposed to integrate national target programmes to build closed linkages production chains from supporting businesses and cooperatives to create safe production areas, meeting requirements. The province strives to have 4,000-5,000 hectares of passion fruit raw material areas by 2025, so that Son La passion fruit will soon become one of the key fruits, contributing to increasing income for farmers.