Pumpkins pile up unsold

In recent days, along the main road leading to Ninh Son commune, farmers have spread tarps on both sides of the road, dumping pumpkins into piles to gradually sell. Everyone is complaining because the local pumpkin yield is high but the price is low, with few buyers.

Pumpkins are ready to be harvested but there are no traders to buy them, so they are left in the fields.

Mr. Doan Van Chi's family (residing in Ninh Son commune) planted 6 hectares of pumpkins since the beginning of July, expecting to harvest around October, but now it's November and there are still no traders asking to buy.

People use cars to carry pumpkins to the street and pile them up.

“ This year, I invested 100 million VND, and expected to harvest about 80 tons of pumpkin. Currently, the price of pumpkin is only 1/3 of last year, but there are no traders asking to buy it,” said Mr. Chi.

Similarly, dozens of tons of pumpkins belonging to Mr. Hoang Cong Nhat's family (residing in Ninh Son commune) had to be transported by truck to pile up along the road. Mr. Nhat lamented: "A few years ago, growing pumpkins with toad skin sold well, so many people rushed to grow them. This year, because there were no traders coming to buy, my family gave them to relatives far away, the rest are piled up waiting for buyers."

Mr. Nhat said that to grow a pumpkin like this, farmers have to take care of it for 3 months straight.

According to Mr. Nhat, Ninh Son commune people grow two types of pumpkins, the coc skin pumpkin (wheel pumpkin) is being sold at 2,800 - 3,000 VND/kg, and the bean pumpkin is less than 2,000 VND/kg. Last year, pumpkins were sold at 7,000 - 10,000 VND/kg.

“ Traders said that the southern provinces grow a lot so they don’t come to buy. Many traders even use the excuse that the squash is old and bad, dividing it into grades 1, 2, and 3 to force down the price. So we just pile it up, then take it to the market to sell, and consider it a way to recoup some of the capital,” Mr. Nhat shared.

People passing by stopped to buy to support the farmers.

According to Mr. Mai Xuan Binh - Vice Chairman of Ninh Son Commune People's Committee, this year the area of pumpkin cultivation in the commune has increased significantly compared to last year, from 250 hectares to more than 450 hectares.

The reason is that acacia trees are planted in forests that have been exploited and are being replanted, so people take advantage of the vacant land to intercrop pumpkins. Along with that, because last year, pumpkins gave high yields and high profits, so people in the area planted a lot.

Rotten pumpkins are left all over the field.

Regarding the output of pumpkins, in previous years, many traders in the southern provinces came to buy. However, this year, the southern provinces are also in the pumpkin harvest season, so traders did not come to buy, causing a backlog of pumpkins for farmers. It is estimated that the output of pumpkins still in people's fields is up to 6,000 tons.

" Currently, the authorities are coordinating with people to post pumpkin products on social networking sites, contacting some restaurants of businesses in Ninh Hoa town and other localities in Khanh Hoa province for consumption, but the quantity is not high yet, " said Mr. Binh.

MINH MINH

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