Mekong Delta farmers fret as fruit prices slump
Mekong Delta farmers fret as fruit prices slump
Demand for fruits in the Mekong Delta is falling even as Tet (Lunar New Year) approaches, and with large volumes of fruits entering the market, farmers are anxious.
The prices of a number of fruits such as green-skin pomelo, Nam Roi pomelo and well-known varieties of mango and star apple have declined sharply as a result instead of increasing as usual.
Nguyen Van Ngan, a farmer in Tien Giang Province usually earns a big income from selling fruits every year during Tet, but this year he is extremely worried.
He sold hundreds of kilograms of Lo Ren star apples to traders at very low prices: First class fruits only fetched VND32,000 (US$1.38) per kilogramme, VND18,000 ($0.78) less than last year.
The price of green-skin pomelo went down steeply as traders stopped buying at the farm and many farmers reluctantly sold to small traders at the Vinh Kim wholesale fruit market.
At traditional markets, it is being sold at just VND37,000 (US$1.6) per kilogramme, while last year fruits weighing 1.5 -1.7kg fetched VND85,000 (US$3.7).
“The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has made people tighten their belt,” Ngan said
Nguyen Trung Tinh of Vinh Long Province and Nguyen Van Nam of Can Tho City are also concerned since traders are not placing orders or demanding low prices.
The prices of many speciality fruits in the delta are sharply down. Dragon fruit prices tumbled by VND5,000 ($0.22) per kilogramme in the last three months to VND8,000 ($0.35) and that of tangerine by VND5,000 ($0.22)
According to Nam, fruit demand will soar from February 4, which corresponds to December 23 in Lunar calendar (traditionally called Kitchen Gods' Day) when people offer a variety of fresh fruits to revere the Kitchen Gods and prepare for Tet.
