Longan prices fall, gardeners "wither"

Longan season… “bitter”

Truong Mit Commune is famous for its longan cultivation, and many households have made a living from this fruit. However, recently, many farmers have been worried because longan prices have dropped dramatically.

Pushing a "wheel cart" full of longan but Mr. Doi is not happy

Mr. Nguyen Van Doi, residing in Thuan Tan hamlet, Truong Mit commune, has been growing longan for more than 30 years. His family currently has more than 1 hectare of longan being harvested.

Pushing each "wheel cart" full of fruit, but Mr. Doi's face did not show joy. The 70-year-old farmer said that at the beginning of this year's season, the price of longan was about 30,000 VND/kg. Now, near the end of the season, the price has suddenly dropped to 3,000 - 5,000 VND/kg.

This year the weather is favorable, longan in Truong Mit commune bears good fruit.

Inquiring about the reason, Mr. Doi was explained by traders that in recent years, most of the longan was sold to neighboring Cambodia. Recently, for some reasons, the Cambodian market has been consuming slowly, while farmers have grown a lot, causing the market to be congested and prices to be unstable.

According to Mr. Doi, to have a fruitful longan season, farmers must invest in buying fertilizers, pesticides, hiring workers, etc. at a cost of about 30 million VND/ha. When selling, the price must be from 10,000 VND/kg or more for the garden owner to make a profit.

Faced with the current low prices, Mr. Doi hopes that local authorities, departments, branches and organizations will orient production and support farmers to have stable output. "If we continue to suffer losses like this, farmers will probably have to destroy their longan orchards," Mr. Doi said.

Longan harvesting workers

Gradually switch to other crops

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Liem, who lives in the same area, has 1.6 hectares of longan ready to harvest, estimated at about 6-7 tons/hectare. Mr. Liem said that in previous months, the price of longan was at 20,000 VND/kg, but now the market is flooded with goods so fresh longan cannot be sold, only sold to drying kilns at 3,000 VND/kg. "With the current price situation, longan growers are completely at a loss," said Mr. Liem.

In addition to the longan garden that is ready to be harvested, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Liem's family has another longan garden behind their house, with an area of 6 hectares. After finishing the harvest last year, he hired workers to cut branches, prune branches and only spread fertilizer sparingly, without treating it to produce fruit. On another part of the land, Mr. Liem invested in growing durian trees. He shared: "If the price of durian is about 50,000 - 60,000 VND/kg like in the past years, it will be more profitable than growing longan."

Many longan gardens in Truong Mit commune are in harvest season.

Similarly, many old longan trees in Mr. Nguyen Van Doi's garden have been gradually replaced by durian trees. Many times, he and some farmers here suffered heavy losses, forcing him and other farmers to find other ways. Faced with the fluctuating price of longan, in recent years, many local people have destroyed their longan gardens and switched to growing other fruit trees, such as durian, dwarf coconut, orange, tangerine, and grapefruit./.

Ocean

Source: https://baolongan.vn/nhan-rot-gia-nha-vuon-heo-ruot-a199394.html