Australian mangoes… waiting for rescue

Price drop dramatically

In the hot midday sun, Mr. Duong Duoc (Tan Lap village, Cam Thanh Bac commune) quietly harvested mangoes in his garden. Soaked in sweat, he personally selected each large, even Australian mango, weighing approximately 1kg. The fruits looked so eye-catching, but when he brought two baskets of nearly 100kg to the warehouse, he only sold them for 200,000 VND. "From morning until now, I have picked this much by myself, selling whatever I can earn is good, if I leave them hanging on the tree forever, the roots will rot," he said. Mr. Duoc's garden has 105 Australian mango trees, investing nearly 20 million VND in fertilization throughout the season, but this crop only yielded about 1 ton of fruit, equal to 1/3 of last year's output. Most of them are beer mangoes, the worst type of mango, the warehouse only buys them for 2,500 VND/kg.

Ms. Pham Thi No buys Australian mangoes.

At Thong No mango orchard in Cam Thanh Bac commune, owner Pham Thi No sighed: "Australian mango grade 1 costs 20,000 VND/kg, grade 2 is 6,000 - 7,000 VND, beer mango is only 2,000 - 3,000 VND/kg. Grade 1 mangoes are very rare this year, you have to work hard to find them, only about 10%". According to Ms. No, not only farmers are struggling but also traders. Orchards that have put down deposits to buy orchards are now flooded with goods, leaving them in stock, causing heavy losses. Thong No orchard used to buy 4 - 10 tons per day, now only dares to buy about 1 ton per day because the output is almost blocked.

Australian mango prices fall, Cam Lam farmers suffer heavy losses.

Carrying mangoes to sell, Mr. Ngo Dinh Phu (Tan Thanh village, Cam Thanh Bac commune) shared that his family has nearly 1 hectare of mangoes, half of which are Australian mangoes and the rest are Hoa Loc mangoes. Every year, they harvest 8 tons of Australian mangoes, but now they only harvest about 5 tons. This year, the mangoes bloomed and it rained, so many households had to treat the flowers 2-3 times. When they set fruit, they were attacked by pests. Selling all the mangoes probably only had enough money to pay for fertilizer and pesticides. But he was still lucky, because many households lost all their efforts and money invested.

Why mango prices fall?

According to the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Cam Lam district, the whole district currently has about 4,500 hectares of Australian mango, with an annual output of about 20,000 - 30,000 tons. Of which, 210 hectares meet VietGAP standards and have been granted growing area codes for export to markets such as China, the US, New Zealand, and Australia. Of which, most of the Australian mangoes are exported fresh to China, a small amount is consumed domestically and used as raw materials for dried mangoes and mango juice.

In recent years, China's domestic mango output has increased, causing a significant decrease in import demand from Vietnam. In addition, the main season for Australian Cam Lam mangoes coincides with the mango harvest season in China and Cambodia, increasing competitive pressure. As a result, the export volume of Cam Lam mangoes has decreased sharply.

Mr. Duong Duoc has never seen mango prices as low as this year.

Some mango purchasing warehouses said that previously, large and beautiful mangoes were collected by Chinese traders. Now, in addition to the criteria of large and beautiful mangoes, they must also be absolutely free of scratches and black spots to meet export standards. This strict requirement has caused almost all Australian Cam Lam mangoes this year to fail the criteria and have to be consumed domestically.

This year’s weather is also a major obstacle. According to farmer Ngo Dinh Phu, this year’s unfavorable weather, with erratic sunshine and rain, has doubled the cost of flower and fruit treatment, fertilizers and pesticides. On average, each hectare of mango costs at least 40 million VND to invest, while the revenue from selling mangoes may not even be 20 million VND.

Australian mango trees were introduced to Cam Lam in 2015 and quickly expanded their area due to the high price of 30,000 - 50,000 VND/kg at times, and even 70,000 VND/kg in some years. In recent times, many farming households have boldly invested and applied science and technology in mango care and harvesting. The district has built a brand and supported the processing of products such as dried mango, enzymes, cakes, mango jam, etc. Australian mango and related products have become the district's main OCOP products. However, over-reliance on one export market has made consumption always face uncertainty.

Find a way out

“I have been attached to mango trees all my life, and I have never seen such a miserable year. I regret the effort so I harvest and sell to get back some money for fertilizer, but no one thinks about profit or loss. I send mangoes to Binh Dinh to give to relatives, but the money I send is three times the price of the mangoes,” Mr. Duoc said bitterly. In Cam Hoa commune, where the district has a large area of ​​Australian mangoes, Mr. Vo Viet Tri - Head of the Farmers' Association of Lap Dinh 2 village, said that last year, mangoes were bought for 10,000 VND/kg, this year they are only 2,000 - 3,000 VND/kg but still no one buys them. In Lap Dinh 2 village alone, there are about 200 tons of Australian mangoes hanging on the trees that have not been sold. Many purchasing warehouses have "stalled" because the output is too large and the market cannot consume it fast enough.

According to Mr. Nguyen Tri Dung - Chairman of Cam Hoa Commune Farmers' Association, the whole commune has about 1,000 hectares of mango, of which 800 hectares are Australian mango. Due to the low price, farmers have to stay in their gardens, currently there are more than 500 tons of mangoes with no outlet. The commune Farmers' Association has reported to the district to find solutions to support members and farmers to consume mangoes.

A basket of mangoes weighing more than 50kg only sells for about 100,000 VND.

Mr. Le Thanh Van - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Cam Lam district informed that the whole district still has about 1,800 tons of Australian mangoes that have not been consumed. The purchase price at the garden is only 3,000 - 4,000 VND/kg, much lower than the investment cost. Meanwhile, the mangoes are past their prime, if not harvested in time, they will spoil. Transportation and labor costs are high, causing people to lose even more. Warehouses also buy in small quantities because the output is deadlocked. Association members and farmers in communes and towns hope to soon receive support for purchasing at the proposed price of 8,000 - 10,000 VND/kg to recover investment capital for production. Faced with this situation, the Farmers' Association of the district has proposed the District People's Committee to support mango consumption for farmers. On May 7, the District Farmers' Association sent an open letter to the Khanh Hoa Young Entrepreneurs Association and business clubs to call for support for the consumption of Australian mangoes.

On May 8, Cam Lam District Party Committee issued an official dispatch directing mass organizations to take action and promptly support the people. Cam Lam District People's Committee also reported to the Provincial People's Committee, proposing departments and branches to mobilize businesses to support bringing Australian mangoes into the supermarket and retail systems of Bach Hoa Xanh, and national wholesale markets for consumption. Hopefully, these timely actions will help rescue Cam Lam Australian mangoes, partly sharing the difficulties with farmers in this sad Australian mango season.

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Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/phong-su/202505/xoai-uc-cho-giai-cuu-5331968/