Chaos in the seed market in Nghe An

(Baonghean.vn) - Without verification, just listening to the seller's invitation, many people have suffered the consequences after many years of planting trees that still do not bear fruit due to buyingpoor quality

Dinh Market in Hoa Thanh commune meets 3 times a month (9, 19 and 29), and is considered the market that attracts the most buyers and sellers in Yen Thanh district. The market has enough goods for daily life and production, including an area selling various types of fruit trees with hundreds of traders.

People choose to buy seedlings at Dinh market on the morning of August 30. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Entering the fruit tree seedling area in Dinh market, we were advertised by the saleswoman: Thai sweet oranges bear fruit after 2 years of planting, apples planted at the beginning of the year bear fruit by the end of the year. With just such an invitation, people confidently bought seedlings.

We observed that the entire plant variety had no information about its origin or source of production; when we asked the seller to have an invoice or a commitment letter as advertised, the seller ignored it.

According to the research, most people who come to the market to buy fruit tree seedlings buy small quantities to plant in their home gardens. There are also some people who come to the market to sign a verbal contract to plant 100 - 200 trees.

Most of the seedlings do not have information about their origin, if any, they are just pieces of paper with simple information, without certification from the authorities, pinned on the tree trunk like this. Photo: Xuan Hoang

In Thai Hoa and Nghia Dan towns, there are more than 15 establishments selling fruit tree seedlings. Gardeners arbitrarily graft and produce seedlings of unknown origin and then sell them to those in need.

People come to see and choose some tree varieties at the fruit tree nursery business in Thai Hoa town. Photo: Minh Thai

Mr. Nguyen Van Chau in hamlet 4A, Nghia Mai commune (Nghia Dan) said: "My family planted more than 180 red tangerine trees. After 3 years of pouring in sweat, effort, and money, each tree only produced a few dozen fruits; by the 4th year it still did not yield, so the family had to cut them down and switch to other crops."

Like Mr. Chau's family, Mr. Ngo Son Dong's family in Hamlet 6B, Nghia Mai Commune also bought dozens of guava seedlings floating on the market; after a period of planting and caring for them, they still did not bear fruit.

Many seedling establishments lack information to prove their origin like this. Photo: Minh Thai

Talking to the authorities, Mr. Nguyen Tien Duc - Head of the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection said: Farmers must research carefully before buying seedlings, choose seedling suppliers that are licensed and recognized by competent authorities. Accordingly, seedling production facilities must have nurseries, shoot gardens, and a team of technical consultants... Farmers should not be greedy for cheap prices and believe too much in the advertisements of seedling trading establishments floating on the market, otherwise they will "lose both money and health".

According to the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, there are currently 650 organizations producing and trading agricultural plant varieties in the province. Of which, Phu Quy region has 7 enterprises registered to produce and trade fruit tree seedlings. The remaining organizations and individuals producing and trading fruit tree seedlings in the province have not been granted certificates of parent trees and parent tree gardens.

Xuan Hoang - Minh Thai