Black plum, a specialty fruit in Nghe An, suddenly climbed to the top, why do traders complain about heavy losses every time they open their mouths?

Black plum, a rustic dish, has become a specialty, with prices rising.

Thanh Chuong District, Nghe An Province is considered the capital of black plum. Black plum here is more famous than other localities because of its delicious, rich, fatty flavor that cannot be found anywhere else.

Currently, people in Thanh Nho, Thanh Duc, Thanh Lam communes... Thanh Chuong district, Nghe An province are buying and harvesting black canarium fruit. Photo: NT

Black plum is mainly concentrated in communes such as Thanh Nho, Cat Van, Hanh Lam, Thanh Duc, Thanh Lam,... in Thanh Chuong district.

According to preliminary statistics, Thanh Chuong district has about 1,000 ancient canarium trees. In addition, there are also about 5,000 grafted black canarium trees in the area. Each year, Thanh Chuong district has a total canarium output of about 350 to 400 tons.

The Chinese jujube fruit is diamond-shaped, purple-black when ripe, yellow flesh, hard pointed seeds at both ends, and pure white kernel. Chinese jujube fruit is processed into many rustic dishes such as Chinese jujube stewed with pork, Chinese jujube with salt, and Chinese jujube sticky rice.

In the past, Chinese jujube was a rustic dish of the people in the countryside here. If there were too many to eat, they would pickle them or take them to the countryside market to sell.

But now, black plum has become a specialty that many people love. City dwellers also buy it to enjoy, so the price of black plum has increased.

Black plum crop fails, price "peaks" but traders complain of heavy losses

Black canarium trees bring a significant source of income to the local people. In addition, many traders also take advantage of the opportunity to purchase this specialty fruit to supply the market.

To avoid the situation of competing to buy when the harvest season comes and to avoid the situation of black canarium fruit prices being pushed up, as soon as the canarium tree flowers, traders "buy up" all the fruit on the tree. This is a way of buying by estimation, not by weighing and measuring.

Buying canarium is considered a kind of "bet" because in addition to the experience of the trader, it also depends a lot on the weather. In years when the weather is favorable, the canarium trees bear a lot of fruit, and the profit is high, but in years when the weather is bad, the loss is heavy.

Since the beginning of the season, traders have brought hundreds of millions of dong to families with canarium trees to buy. This year, the black canarium crop in Thanh Chuong district, Nghe An has failed. Therefore, all traders are complaining of heavy losses.

This year, the price of black canarium fruit in Thanh Chuong district, Nghe An province has "reached its peak". Grade I black canarium fruit costs 150,000 VND/kg. Photo: NT

Locals here said that this year's black star fruit crop failed badly due to erratic weather. When the star fruit was in bloom, there was a lot of rain, so the fruit set rate was not high.

Due to the poor harvest, the price of black canarium fruit has increased. Currently, the price of fresh black canarium fruit ranges from 120,000 VND to 130,000 VND/kg. Grade I black canarium fruit can cost up to 150,000 VND/kg.

Mr. Luu Cong Long - a trader specializing in purchasing black canarium fruit in Thanh Chuong district, Nghe An province said that this year he invested nearly 1 billion VND to buy nearly 150 canarium trees scattered in the communes. From the beginning of the season, Mr. Long estimated that he would collect about 20 tons of canarium fruit, but in reality this year he only achieved 3 tons of fruit.

In addition to the money invested, Mr. Long also had to hire workers to pick and collect the black star fruit. According to Mr. Long's calculations, this year's black star fruit crop lost him about 600 million VND.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hung (residing in Thanh Linh commune, Thanh Chuong district) also invested nearly 400 million VND to buy black canarium fruit. Since the canarium tree began to bloom, Mr. Hung has been traveling to communes in Thanh Chuong district to deposit money to buy canarium fruit. But this year, due to a bad harvest, Mr. Hung estimates that he has lost about 200 million VND.

When the black canarium crop failed, many families growing canarium also shared the risk with traders. Some families reduced the remaining payment by 2/3, while others committed to letting traders harvest the next season to compensate for the loss.

Source: https://danviet.vn/tram-den-qua-dac-san-o-nghe-an-bat-ngo-leo-len-dinh-sao-thuong-he-mo-mieng-ra-la-keu-lo-nang-20240815152949473.htm