Dragon fruit prices drop sharply

Dragon fruit is currently purchased at low prices.

In mid-October, along the Tam Vu - Vinh Cong inter-commune road ( Tay Ninh ), a series of dragon fruit gardens are full of fruit waiting to be harvested. However, instead of being happy about the ripe fruit season, farmers here are filled with worries.

On October 20, Mr. Pham Van Tuong (60 years old, residing in Tam Vu commune, Tay Ninh province) sadly said that he had just agreed on the price of red-fleshed dragon fruit with traders at only 4,500 VND/kg, regardless of type 1, 2 or 3.

“This time, my family harvested about 1 ton of fruit from 600 dragon fruit trees. At this price, we certainly won’t make any profit, and we even owe more than 20 million VND for fertilizer and pesticides, not to mention labor,” Mr. Tuong said sadly.

Freshly harvested dragon fruit

Slightly better, Mr. Nguyen Van Binh (residing in Hamlet 7, Vinh Cong Commune, Tay Ninh Province) said he had just sold 2 tons of red-fleshed dragon fruit grown on 4,000 square meters of land, with the price of grade 1 being 8,000 VND/kg, and grades 2 and 3 being only 4,000-5,000 VND/kg. Compared to less than a month ago, the current price is only one-third.

Mr. Binh shared: “About 10 years ago, dragon fruit trees really helped people here change their lives. Everyone was eager to expand the area, invest in lighting systems, irrigation, and cold storage. But in recent years, prices have fluctuated, making farmers not know what to do, whether to destroy or continue to grow is still a difficult problem.”

According to Mr. Binh, the investment cost for each dragon fruit crop is currently quite high: fertilizer, medicine, electricity for lighting to produce flowers, care,... all increase; meanwhile, the selling price has decreased sharply, causing difficulties for growers.

Dragon fruit prices have been unstable and low in recent years.

Not only small farmers, but also those who once “got rich” thanks to dragon fruit are struggling. Mr. Nguyen Pham Ngoc, once known as the “dragon fruit tycoon” in Vinh Cong commune, recalls the golden age: “Before, I used to export hundreds of tons of dragon fruit to everywhere every day, having 3-4 large warehouses. Now they are all closed, some are rented out, some are empty. Prices are unstable, no one dares to stock up. I only work as an intermediary to buy for other sources, considering it as sticking to the profession.”

According to Mr. Ngoc, the current purchase price at the garden has dropped sharply. The main reason is "supply exceeds demand". This year, dragon fruit has a high yield but this is the peak harvest season for many other fruits, causing a sharp decrease in consumption. In addition, storms make harvesting and transportation difficult, increasing preservation costs.

Another important reason, according to Mr. Ngoc, is that the export market to China, the main output of Vietnamese dragon fruit, is shrinking. At this time, China is also entering the domestic dragon fruit harvest season, so the import volume from Vietnam has decreased sharply, while other markets still account for a very small proportion.

Traders buy dragon fruit

In recent years, local authorities have implemented many solutions to expand consumption links and find outlets for production. At the same time, farmers are encouraged to switch to high-tech production processes to improve fruit quality. However, in some aspects, Tay Ninh dragon fruit still faces many difficulties in consumption and depends on traders.

Thuan My Commune Party Secretary Nguyen Van Khai said that currently in Thuan My Commune as well as some neighboring communes, dragon fruit is the main crop because it is suitable for the soil. However, recently, prices have been unstable and low. In addition, these days there has been heavy rain and the water has not been able to drain quickly, so many dragon fruit growing areas in the locality have been flooded.

"Therefore, many households have to spend extra money using pumps to pump out water to save the dragon fruit" - Mr. Nguyen Van Khai said./.

Le Duc

Source: https://baolongan.vn/gia-thanh-long-giam-manh-a205115.html