Unsold pumpkins piled up in heaps.

In recent days, along the main road leading to Ninh Son commune, farmers have spread tarpaulins on both sides of the road and piled pumpkins into mounds to sell gradually. Everyone is complaining because the local pumpkin yield is high but the price is low, and there are few buyers.

Pumpkins are ready for harvest, but there are no buyers, so they're just sitting around in the fields.

The family of Mr. Doan Van Chi (residing in Ninh Son commune) planted 6 hectares of toad-skinned pumpkins in early July, expecting to harvest them around October, but now it's November and no traders have inquired about buying them.

People used vehicles to transport pumpkins to the road and piled them up.

“ This year, I invested 100 million VND in pumpkins, expecting a harvest of about 80 tons. Currently, the price of pumpkins is only one-third of last year's, but no traders are interested in buying them,” Mr. Chi said.

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 and piled up along the roadside. Mr. Nhat lamented: "In previous years, toad-skinned pumpkins sold well, so many people rushed to plant them. This year, because no traders came to buy them, my family gave some to relatives far away, and 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 three months straight.

According to Mr. Nhat, people in Ninh Son commune grow two types of pumpkins: the toad-skinned pumpkin (wheel pumpkin) is currently selling for 2,800 - 3,000 VND/kg, while the bean-shaped pumpkin is selling for less than 2,000 VND/kg. Last year, pumpkins sold for 7,000 - 10,000 VND/kg.

“ The traders said that the southern provinces have a lot of pumpkins, so they don’t come to buy them. Many traders even use the excuse that the pumpkins are old and bad, classifying them into grades 1, 2, and 3 to force down prices for the farmers. So, we just pile them up and take them to the market to sell them door-to-door, at least to recoup some of our capital,” Mr. Nhat shared.

People passing by stopped to buy the products to support the farmers.

According to Mr. Mai Xuan Binh, Vice Chairman of the Ninh Son Commune People's Committee, this year the area planted with pumpkins in the commune has increased significantly compared to last year, from 250 hectares to over 450 hectares.

The reason is that the acacia trees planted in the forest have been harvested and are being replanted, so people are taking advantage of the empty land to intercrop pumpkins. In addition, because pumpkins yielded high productivity and profits last year, people in the area are planting a lot of them.

Ripe pumpkins spoiled and were left lying around in the fields.

Regarding the pumpkin harvest, in previous years, many traders from the southern provinces came to buy them. However, this year, the southern provinces are also harvesting pumpkins, so traders are not coming to buy, causing a surplus of pumpkins for farmers. It is estimated that the amount of pumpkins still in the fields of the people reaches 6,000 tons.

“ Currently, authorities are coordinating with local people to post information about pumpkin products on social media, and contacting some canteens of businesses in Ninh Hoa town and other localities in Khanh Hoa province to sell them, but the quantity is not yet high, ” Mr. Binh said.

MINH MINH

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