Need solutions to consume agricultural products

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hau, owner of Toc Da salon, 3/2 street, Vinh Lac ward (Rach Gia city) bought 500kg of sweet potatoes to support farmers in Giong Rieng at 5,000 VND/kg to give to the poor. Meanwhile, at stalls in traditional markets and supermarkets, sweet potatoes are sold at 10,000-15,000 VND/kg. "Sweet potatoes are cheap, sweet, can be steamed, grilled, or cooked into sweet soup. Instead of giving out rice like usual, I switched to giving away sweet potatoes to help farmers consume," said Mr. Hau.

Through the launch of the Farmers' Association of Kien Giang province, after nearly 1 month of rescue, more than 130 tons of pumpkin sweet potatoes of farmers in Giong Rieng district have been consumed. Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade supported the consumption of 45 tons of sweet potatoes with the program "Sharing sweet potatoes with Kien Giang farmers", Kien Giang OCOP One Member Limited Liability Company consumed 30 tons of potatoes, farmers' associations of districts and cities in the province and benefactors inside and outside the province supported the consumption...

According to Party Committee member and Chairwoman of the Farmers' Association of Long Thanh Commune, Le Thi Kim Phuong, the commune has 103 hectares of sweet potatoes grown by more than 80 households. In early May 2024, the price of sweet potatoes in the market dropped sharply. At the beginning of the season, the price of sweet potatoes sold in the field fluctuated from 320,000-380,000 VND/quintal (1 quintal = 60kg), equivalent to 5,500 VND/kg. However, when the harvest was in full swing, the price was only 50,000-60,000 VND/quintal, equivalent to only 1,500 VND/kg. In addition, with the pressure from traders, the overripe sweet potatoes were damaged and lost even more value, only 25,000-30,000 VND/quintal, or 450 VND/kg.

“With the price of 450 VND/kg, after deducting expenses, people are suffering heavy losses. People want to call on sectors and levels to rescue them to recover part of the investment capital,” said Le Thi Kim Phuong, Chairwoman of the Farmers’ Association of Long Thanh Commune.

Farmers in Long Thanh commune (Giong Rieng) harvest sweet potatoes.

Currently, sweet potatoes are grown in a number of districts such as Hon Dat, Ha Tien City, Giong Rieng, U Minh Thuong with a total area of about 1,000 hectares, with an average yield of 25-30 tons/ha. Hon Dat district alone has about 800 hectares of sweet potatoes. To sell at a high price, for many years now, Mr. Nguyen Van Cuong, residing in My Thai hamlet, My Thai commune (Hon Dat) and many farmers in the commune have established a market research team for sweet potato products, and at the same time, found businesses to cooperate in consumption before deciding on the planting area.

Mr. Cuong said: “Thanks to the solid embankment, I can grow sweet potatoes during the flood season. Because it is planted in the opposite season, meaning sowing from August and harvesting in December of the lunar calendar, few places can grow it, so the price of sweet potatoes is always high. On average, each year I harvest 15 hectares of various types of sweet potatoes, selling them for 400,000-520,000 VND/quintal. After deducting expenses, I earn a profit of more than 1.5 billion VND.”

The situation of agricultural products having supply exceeding demand, leading to farmers being unable to sell their products and having to call for community support, has happened with many other agricultural products in Kien Giang such as white radish, sweet potato, mango, grapefruit, orange...

Provincial Party Committee member and Chairman of the Farmers’ Association of Kien Giang Province, Do Tran Thinh, said that the nature of the agricultural product rescue organization is the failure in agricultural production, with good harvests and low prices, a cycle that has been repeated for farmers for many years. Some agricultural products are in surplus every harvest season, such as watermelon, dragon fruit, radish, etc., making farmers’ lives difficult and seriously affecting the province’s agricultural and economic development. In addition, over-reliance on one market is also a major obstacle to agricultural development.

“This is an opportunity for us to look back, people need to be careful when developing acreage, only grow in specialized areas, suitable for soil conditions, focus on ensuring linkages and connections with consuming businesses and must produce high quality, ensure safety, traceability to increase the consumption market”, said Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Kien Giang province Do Tran Thinh.

Article and photos: DANG LINH

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