- In recent days, farmers in Loc Binh district have been sitting on hot coals, as the watermelon harvest season has come but the selling price is only 3,000 - 5,000 VND/kg, down 2,000 - 3,000 VND/kg compared to last year.
Loc Binh is one of the districts with a large watermelon growing area in the province. At this time, people are harvesting, however, unlike the image of people busy harvesting to sell to traders in time like before, this year, some of the people's watermelon gardens have ripened but there are still no people to harvest.
Ms. Ly Thi Ha, Phieng Phuc village, Khanh Xuan commune shared: This year, my family planted more than 1 sao of watermelon. Every year, watermelons are purchased by traders at 7,000 - 8,000 VND/kg, but now the purchase price is very low, even some days it is only purchased at 3,000 VND/kg. To recoup the costs, I have to sell them at the retail market. However, the sales volume is insignificant, with this situation, my family only hopes to recover the investment capital for this year's watermelon crop.
Not only in Khanh Xuan commune, watermelon growers in some neighboring communes in the district are also in the same situation. Ms. Hoang Thi Thu, Ban Moi 1 village, Tu Doan commune said: Last year, my family planted nearly 3 sao of watermelon and earned over 20 million VND. Seeing the profit, this year, my family continued to maintain the area of 3 sao. However, this year, due to unfavorable weather, the yield was low, while the purchase price at the field was very low, only 3,500 to 5,000 VND/kg. To salvage a little, my family cut the fruit and sold it at the market for only 6,000 to 7,000 VND/kg, but very few people bought it.
According to statistics, this year, the entire Loc Binh district has over 187.3 hectares of watermelon (an increase of over 83.4 hectares compared to the same period in 2024), mainly concentrated in some communes such as Tu Doan, Khuat Xa, Tu Mich, Dong Quan... The watermelon yield reached over 115 quintals/ha, the estimated output reached over 2,300 tons.
According to information from specialized agencies, the reason for the decline in watermelon prices is that farmers grow them spontaneously, without any product purchase agreements, and are completely dependent on private traders. In years when few or no private traders come to buy, the price of watermelons will fall.
Ms. Duong Thi Thu Hang, Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Loc Binh district, said: Watermelon is a plant that has been grown by people in the district for a long time. However, people currently produce melons without a close link from production to consumption, leading to a situation where watermelon prices are sliding. To support melon farmers to have a more stable and sustainable development direction, in the coming time, the department will continue to propagate and advise people to grasp and monitor the market situation, not to plant massively; guide and mobilize people to apply science and technology in production, focus on care in the direction of safety, VietGAP to ensure product quality, meet market demand...
For many years, watermelon has been a native crop of Loc Binh district, bringing a stable source of income to the people. It is thought that finding an outlet for watermelon is a very necessary task. Currently, the biggest wish of farmers is to receive attention from authorities at all levels and functional sectors, to have effective solutions, to link markets... so that watermelons have a stable outlet, contributing to bringing a "sweet" watermelon season to farmers.
Source: https://baolangson.vn/loc-binh-nguoi-nong-dan-thap-thom-vi-dua-hau-truot-gia-5049577.html
Comment (0)