Fruit farmers hope product output prices will soon improve

In recent years, the area of fruit trees in Can Tho City and many other localities in the country has continuously increased, helping to create a large amount of fruit to serve domestic consumption and export needs. Thanks to the development of fruit trees, many households have also had the opportunity to increase their income and become rich. However, recently the prices of many types of fruit have decreased, many farmers have had difficulty in selling their products and cannot make a profit, so people really hope that fruit prices will recover soon.

Harvesting Ido longan at Ms. Tran Thi Tuyet's garden, Thoi Long ward, Can Tho city.

Prices down, farmers in trouble

In recent weeks, the prices of many fruits have dropped to very low levels compared to previous months and the same period last year. In Can Tho City and many provinces in the Mekong Delta, the prices of many types of guava, mango and jackfruit sold by farmers in bulk at the garden are only 1,000-3,000 VND/kg. With such prices, many farmers have suffered heavy losses, especially when the prices of many types of fertilizers, pesticides and input materials for production have increased to quite high levels in recent times. Meanwhile, many types of fruits that previously had quite good output prices have recently decreased sharply. Gardeners can no longer earn as high a profit as last year, and even lose capital if the garden has low productivity.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tau in Truong Thanh Hamlet, Truong Thanh Commune, Can Tho City, who has 14 hectares of land growing Thai jackfruit, said: "Never before has the price of Thai jackfruit dropped to such a low level as in the past, with the price of jackfruit sold in bulk at the garden being only 1,000-2,000 VND/kg, while in the same period last year the price was from 15,000-17,000 VND/kg or more. Currently, the price of Thai jackfruit has increased again by about 4,000-5,000 VND/kg compared to about 3-4 weeks ago, but in general it is still low, with the price of bulk being 5,000-6,000 VND/kg, and the selected grade 1 products being at 10,000-11,000 VND/kg. This price does not guarantee a profit for growers, so we hope that the price of jackfruit will soon recover strongly."

Ms. Tran Thi Tuyet, residing in Thoi Xuong 2 area, Thoi Long ward, Can Tho city, currently has 3 hectares of land growing Ido longan for 7 years. This year, her longan garden has produced a lot of fruit, with an estimated output of over 8 tons, but she is not happy because the price of longan has decreased and she is having difficulty selling it. Ms. Tuyet said: "The price of Ido longan has not only decreased but traders have also reduced their purchases, so gardeners are having difficulty selling longan. More than a month ago, Ido longan was selling for up to 30,000-32,000 VND/kg, but recently the price has dropped to only 10,000-12,000 VND/kg for large longan with beautiful skin color, and bad longan is only 7,000-8,000 VND/kg. The price of longan must be at 15,000 VND/kg or more for farmers to make a profit, so I really hope the price will increase soon."

According to many fruit farmers, the prices of most fruits are currently decreasing compared to last year, including many fruits such as durian, Ido longan, custard apple, etc., which have decreased by more than 50% compared to the first months of the year and compared to the same period last year. The reason is said to be due to slow export output, while supply has increased due to the peak harvest season, as well as due to farmers in many places increasing the area of fruit trees. There are also more and more diverse types of domestic and imported fruits on the market, consumers have more choices, leading to a decrease in purchasing power of many types of fruits, affecting prices. Many people have reduced their fruit purchases to save on spending. Consumption habits and trends have also changed, many people have "said no" to fruits of poor quality and with signs of suspicion of not being safe for health.

Need effective solutions

Faced with the situation of low prices of many fruits, farmers not only hope that prices will recover soon but also need the attention and support of the relevant authorities to stabilize production and long-term output for fruits. Avoid the situation of "planting and cutting" and cutting down this tree and then planting another tree without understanding the market and consumption potential.

Mr. Huynh Van Giau, a fruit farmer in Thoi Hung commune, Can Tho city, said: "Currently, many farmers still lack information about the market, about the product quality standards of export markets and have difficulty connecting with businesses to consume products. Most farmers still consume fruit through traders and do not have a pre-existing contract, so they are easily put in a passive position if entering the peak harvest season, fruit prices decrease and traders are slow to purchase or demand lower purchase prices. Therefore, farmers really need the relevant authorities to pay attention to supporting market information, connecting supply and demand, creating conditions for farmers to sign contracts with export enterprises and consumers to stabilize fruit output."

Currently, the prices of many types of fruit are too low compared to the prices of fertilizers and many types of input materials and supplies, and the cost of hiring labor is also high, so farmers face many difficulties in investing and taking care of trees. Farmers really hope that the authorities will pay attention to finding solutions to reduce the prices of input materials for production, at the same time support technical training, guide farmers to apply machinery and scientific and technological advances to reduce costs, create quality and safe products to meet market demand and sell at high prices thanks to increased exports.

According to Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Men, a durian farmer in Truong Tay hamlet, Truong Thanh commune, Can Tho city, recently, many types of durian have been sold along the roadside at low prices of only 25,000-40,000 VND/kg, mainly unqualified durian and durian that does not meet export standards or does not meet standards for supermarkets, while farmers who grow durian that meets standards still sell at good prices and make good profits. Recently, he harvested 5 hectares of Ri 6 durian with a yield of 8 tons and sold for 44,000-46,000 VND/kg, after deducting expenses, he still made a profit of more than 200 million VND. From that reality, he recommended that the relevant authorities pay attention to training farmers, especially those who are new to growing trees, to create safe, quality and standard fruit products to boost exports. At the same time, increase fruit consumption through tourism development.

Many types of fruit are mainly consumed in fresh form, cannot be preserved for a long time and are difficult to transport to distant markets, so the added value is still low and it is easy to encounter "oversupply and market flooding". Therefore, the authorities are also interested in supporting people and businesses to improve their capacity to preserve and process fruits. Currently, our country has more than 1.3 million hectares of fruit trees of all kinds, with an output of 15 million tons per year. In Can Tho City alone, there are more than 102,190 hectares of fruit trees, with many types of trees such as durian, longan, mango, jackfruit, star apple, custard apple, orange, tangerine, grapefruit, strawberry, mangosteen, rambutan, lemon, guava, plum... In addition, the city also has more than 12,470 hectares of coconut trees of all kinds.

Article and photos: KHANH TRUNG

Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/nong-dan-trong-cay-an-trai-mong-gia-dau-ra-san-pham-som-khoi-sac-a188931.html