Rising rubber prices bring joy to farmers.

Although rubber prices haven't reached their highest levels compared to previous years, the current price of 29-30 million VND/ton is considered promising compared to the past two years, and rubber growers are making a profit...

Rubber prices remained low at 22-23 million VND/ton from 2022 until the beginning of the 2023 latex harvesting season, and continued into October, discouraging rubber farmers. Many rubber plantations abandoned tapping because hiring workers and managers increased investment costs, resulting in losses if they continued tapping. Instead, some families with better resources applied manure to the rubber trees to ensure sufficient nutrients, waiting for prices to rise before tapping. For small-scale farmers, households continued fertilizing and tapping to earn a living, rather than working for others. Mr. Le Van Thuan from La Da commune, Ham Thuan Bac district, who owns more than 10 hectares of rubber trees currently producing latex, confided: "At the beginning of the season, the price was only 22 million VND/ton, so not only my family but many other households abandoned tapping because cultivating a large area required hiring workers, and the low price meant the latex revenue wasn't enough to cover expenses." However, I still maintain fertilization and care for the rubber trees so that when the price of latex rises, I can start tapping them immediately. This avoids the situation of previous years where the price of latex was low at the beginning of the season, but then suddenly increased after more than half the season. Many rubber farms initially neglected their trees, so when the price surged, they were caught off guard because they didn't have time to fertilize and care for the rubber trees beforehand. This year, the price of latex was initially low, but it has been rising for over a month. Currently, the price is at 29-30 million VND/ton, which is considered a fairly good price, allowing rubber growers to make a decent profit. When the price rose to 27 million VND/ton, I started tapping the trees to extract latex. Because the trees had a period of rest beforehand, the latex tapping was very successful, with high yields compensating for the income lost during the months I stopped tapping…

Explaining the rise in rubber prices, an export market specialist for rubber latex said: Although the global rubber latex market is volatile due to war and economic recession, and imports are more limited than in previous years, low latex prices have led rubber-producing countries in the region to limit harvesting, resulting in reduced yields. Consequently, towards the end of the season, orders are insufficient to meet demand, so companies are scrambling to accumulate enough stock to fulfill their export orders…

According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the province currently has approximately 45,000 hectares of rubber trees, of which nearly two-thirds are ready for harvest. The average yield of latex is 14-15 quintals/hectare, with some areas with good soil and proper care achieving up to 18 quintals/hectare. Tanh Linh district alone accounts for half of the province's rubber plantation area. Tanh Linh and Duc Linh districts also have many rubber processing factories, creating a closed production chain from production to processing (although these factories only process raw materials and do not yet produce consumer goods from rubber latex). As a result, a significant number of local laborers are employed in caring for, tapping, and processing the rubber trees, helping to address the surplus labor force with limited education in rural areas.

The high price of rubber has helped rubber farmers in Ham Thuan Bac, Ham Tan, Tanh Linh, and Duc Linh districts increase their income, creating enthusiasm among farmers and boosting their confidence in rubber cultivation.

Source: https://baobinhthuan.com.vn/gia-mu-cao-su-tang-nong-dan-phan-khoi-115044.html