The "bitter" melon season - Tay Ninh Online Newspaper

Workers carry watermelons for a trader at the Dong Rum rubber plantation.

Mr. Dang Van Vu, a farmer who grows over 10 hectares of watermelons at Dong Rum Rubber Plantation (Tan Thanh commune, Tan Chau district), said that the price of watermelons this year has dropped very low. Traders buy watermelons directly from the fields, hire workers to sort them into different grades, and then set prices for each grade accordingly. As of April 3, 2024, grade one watermelons were priced at around 4,000 VND/kg, grade two at around 3,000 VND/kg, grade three at around 2,000 VND/kg, and the smallest watermelons (likely referring to tiny buds) at around 1,000 VND/kg.

According to Mr. Vu, the current watermelon purchase price is extremely low compared to recent years. Specifically, at this time in 2023, watermelons in Tay Ninh province sold for 8,000 to 9,000 VND/kg, with an average of 80 to 100 million VND per hectare (many cases involved selling the entire watermelon crop at this price). This year, however, the average price per hectare is only about 20 million VND. Meanwhile, the capital investment to cultivate one hectare of watermelons until harvest is over 60 million VND. Given this situation, watermelon growers will lose approximately 40 million VND per hectare.

Mr. Nguyen Van Duoc, a farmer who grows 18 hectares of watermelons at the Dong Rum rubber plantation, said that this year's watermelon crop failed, so most traders are buying watermelons by sorting, pricing, and weighing them; they are not buying the entire planted area at once like in previous years. Therefore, the total income from selling watermelons per hectare has decreased significantly. The reason for the crop failure is the prolonged heatwave, which has led to many types of pests and diseases damaging the crops, resulting in reduced watermelon yields.

A watermelon trader at the Dong Rum rubber plantation said that watermelon prices have dropped this year because the area planted with watermelons has increased significantly, especially in regions like the Central Highlands, Southeast Vietnam, and Southwest Vietnam, and particularly due to the abundant supply from Cambodia. This has led to an oversupply situation, which is a common occurrence. On the other hand, watermelons grown by farmers in Tay Ninh province this year have yielded low productivity, affecting their income.

As of April 3rd, over 100 hectares of watermelons at the Dong Rum rubber plantation are nearing harvest. Nearby, approximately 115 hectares of watermelons are still to be harvested (about 10 days away). Many watermelon farmers from Binh Phuoc province are extremely worried about heavy losses, anxiously awaiting a price increase above 5,000 VND/kg to avoid financial ruin.

“Watermelons must be harvested promptly when they ripen; they can't be left for too long to wait for a better price. Traders always hire people to manually check the ripeness of the watermelons, and if any are overripe, they are discarded and not bought. This results in a huge loss of watermelons, and the growers suffer even more,” said Mr. Nguyen Van Duoc.

Minh Quoc

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