Areca nut prices hit a peak, Thai people in Nghe An hit it big

In early August, Na Cay village, Tien Phong commune, is bustling with the main areca harvest season. From early morning, traders are present in the garden, setting up scales, preparing sacks, waiting for the green areca bunches to be lowered. The atmosphere of buying and selling is bustling, with voices and laughter mixed with the sound of areca nuts falling on the tarp spread at the base.

Meeting Ms. Ha Thi Hoi - one of the households that grow the most areca nuts in Na Cay village, she said that this is a rare bumper crop with good prices. Her family has 3,000 areca nuts in the business period, each tree produces about 20 kg of fruit, earning about 1.5 million VND. In late July alone, she sold 2 tons of areca nuts at 80,000 VND/kg, earning more than 160 million VND. For the whole crop, Ms. Hoi estimated to earn over 300 million VND.

Ms. Hoi excitedly said: “Areca trees were planted in the hill garden decades ago with a quantity of 10-15 trees. Over time, they gradually expanded, especially when areca trees became a commodity, and were purchased by traders right in the garden, the family planted them in concentrated areas and hills. Now 3,000 areca trees have become the main income of the family.”

Also in Na Cay village, Ms. Luong Thi Mai (team 3) owns 4,000 areca trees, of which about 1,000 are in the business period. This year's areca crop, with a selling price ranging from 80,000 to 85,000 VND/kg, brought in a revenue of nearly 200 million VND. "I have been growing areca for many years but the price has never been this high. Traders come to the garden to buy, weigh and pay immediately, people are very secure," Ms. Mai said excitedly.

Since the beginning of the season, the price of areca nuts has been increasing continuously. At the beginning of the season, the price of areca nuts was around 52,000 - 55,000 VND/kg, then increased to 70,000 VND and now has nearly doubled to 85,000 VND. "Every year, areca nuts are harvested 4 times from the 15th of the 6th lunar month to the end of the 11th lunar month. This year, the price has been increasing continuously, in just over 1 month it has gone from 50,000 VND to 85,000 VND/kg, 10 times higher than in 2023," Ms. Mai added.

Mr. Lo Van Mui - Head of Na Cay village said that areca trees have appeared in the locality for decades, but only in the last 10 years has they developed strongly in the direction of goods, especially in the last 5 years they have become the main crop in the economic development of hills, farms, and family farms. "There are households that plant thousands of trees, the entire hill is covered with areca trees. From afar, the village seems to be surrounded by rows of straight areca trees," Mr. Mui described.

Areca palm is considered suitable for the conditions of many regions in Nghe An: easy to grow, easy to care for, few pests, no fertilizer costs, less affected by natural disasters. Areca palm can self-replicate, long exploitation time, stable economic efficiency if the price is maintained. This is the reason why in recent years, areca palm area has increased rapidly, even in some places it has increased rapidly.

However, the areca market has many potential risks. Mr. Nguyen Van Hoat - an areca grower in Nhan Hoa commune shared: "There are years when the price of areca reaches 85,000 - 90,000 VND, even 100,000 VND/kg, but there are also times like in 2022, 2023, the price is only 2,000 VND/kg and no one buys. Areca is mainly exported to China, when they stop buying, the whole garden is considered abandoned". Due to the difficulty of processing and domestic consumption, unsold areca is often dumped, causing waste.

Faced with this reality, the agricultural sector recommends that people do not expand their acreage massively according to market prices, but rather develop according to planning, linked to consumption contracts and seek new markets outside of China. At the same time, it is necessary to research deep processing from areca nuts such as areca tea, essential oils, medicinal herbs, etc. to diversify products and stabilize output.

This year’s areca season is bringing in a large amount of revenue for many rural areas, especially the Thai ethnic minority villages. However, for areca to truly become a sustainable “green gold” crop, growers need to consider the long term, avoiding complete dependence on one export market.