Pepper prices improve: Be cautious when expanding acreage

Pepper prices have been increasing continuously since the end of 2023. Although still not as high as the peak period in 2015 - over 200,000 VND/kg, this is still a good sign for pepper farmers. Currently, in the Central Highlands, pepper prices are traded at 92 - 93 million VND/ton. As for the international market, in recent trading sessions, the export price of Vietnamese black pepper is at 4,200 - 4,300 USD/ton, white pepper is at 6,000 USD/ton.

Pepper prices increase, farmers are both happy and worried

Good news

At this time, pepper farmers in the Central Highlands are harvesting the last areas of the 2023-2024 crop year. The continuous increase in prices since the beginning of the season and stable productivity are bringing high profits to pepper growers. Mr. Vu Duc Dan's family is one of the few households with a large pepper garden in Chu Puh district ( Gia Lai ) - a locality once known as the pepper capital of Vietnam. According to Mr. Dan, this crop year, favorable weather combined with investment in sustainable intensive farming has resulted in the average yield of his family's pepper garden reaching about 5 kg/pillar, an increase of about 1-1.5 kg/pillar compared to the previous crop. It is expected that this crop, the family will harvest about 10 tons of dry pepper. With the current market price, minus investment costs, the profit is about 500 million VND.

Để phát triển hồ tiêu bền vững, chính quyền địa phương và ngành nông nghiệp cần đồng hành cùng nông dân

To develop pepper sustainably, local authorities and the agricultural sector
need to accompany farmers

According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Gia Lai province, by the end of 2023, Gia Lai will have 8,798 hectares of pepper, with an output of about 28,580 tons. In the 2024 harvest, pepper prices are increasing again, bringing high expectations to growers. According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Chu Puh district, there are currently about 1,100 hectares of pepper for business in the area. This year, favorable weather and prices of agricultural products have increased compared to previous years, so farmers are excited. In particular, in recent years, thanks to investment in organic farming, pepper plants have rarely died and this year's yield is 1-2 quintals/ha higher than last year, averaging about 3 tons/ha.

Still need to be careful

According to Mr. Hoang Phuoc Binh, Permanent Vice President of the Chu Se Pepper Association (Gia Lai), the recovery of pepper prices is an optimistic signal that brings much hope to pepper growers as well as pepper trading and exporting enterprises. Currently, the country has about 100,000 pepper growing households, 200 exporting enterprises and 35 pepper processing factories. However, according to experts, do not be greedy for profits, because high profits can come with great risks. A typical example is the "shock" of pepper prices continuously "plummeting" in the years 2017-2020, causing many pepper growers to abandon their gardens and fields, even in some cases going abroad to make a living.

In 2015, traders bought pepper at a price of more than 230,000 VND/kg, helping many farmers earn large profits. However, in the following years, pepper went through many ups and downs, at times falling below 40,000 VND/kg (in 2020), forcing pepper growers to bear losses to reinvest in care and maintain production for the following year.

However, because pepper prices are low, farmers are no longer interested in investing and caring for pepper, so pepper productivity has also decreased. The disease situation on pepper plants has not been controlled yet, the pepper market is always unstable, and prices fluctuate erratically. These are the reasons why the pepper area in Gia Lai province has decreased to less than 10 thousand hectares as it is now.

According to the Vietnam Pepper and Spice Association, our country currently supplies about 50% of global pepper output, but due to a sharp decline in acreage in recent years, pepper output in 2024 may be at its lowest level in many years. Vietnam's pepper output in 2024 may decrease by 10% compared to last year to 170,000 tons.

Meanwhile, according to forecasts from experts and pepper exporting enterprises, in the coming time, pepper prices may increase further due to supply shortage. Because, currently, pepper demand is exceeding supply. Specifically, global pepper consumption in 2024 is forecast at 529,000 tons, 64,000 tons higher than the pepper output expected to be achieved in 2024.

Faced with the rising price of pepper, experts say that to avoid risks, farmers need to be alert and careful to avoid "the same mistake" - when the price is high, they invest heavily, plant massively, and when the price drops, they end up empty-handed and bankrupt. Therefore, to develop pepper sustainably, local authorities and the agricultural sector must always accompany farmers to closely monitor the market situation, and advise people to focus on improving productivity and quality of their gardens to meet the requirements of the export market.

In particular, encourage pepper growers to participate in cooperatives, link production, form concentrated raw material areas; encourage farmers and cooperatives to produce organically, produce sustainably to respond to climate change, promote deep processing to increase the value of pepper...

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