Off-season lemon crop is bad, price is good

(Baonghean) - This year, the price of off-season lemons has reached a record high (import price 50-55 thousand VND/kg, market price 60 thousand VND/kg), but lemon growers still regret the unsatisfactory off-season lemon harvest because productivity has decreased sharply... According to experienced lemon growers, the main reason for the failure of the off-season lemon crop is due to the rainy weather this year, making it difficult for the trees to flower and bear fruit, plus the main season is a good harvest and good prices, so growers are so busy taking care of and exploiting the fruit that they neglect the off-season lemons.

Mr. Nguyen Quang Tan's family in Hamlet 2, Hung Yen Nam Commune (Hung Nguyen) has nearly 1 sao of land growing about 450 lemon trees. Last year, both the main and off-season crops yielded about 20 tons, earning an income of 120 million VND, of which about 7 tons were off-season lemons. But this year, the off-season lemons yielded only about 500 kg. "Normally, the main-season lemon price is about 6,000 VND/kg, off-season lemons are 8,000-10,000 VND/kg, but this year the price of lemons has been pushed up to a record high of 50-55,000 VND/kg. Since planting lemons, I have never seen off-season lemons at such a price. Traders have come to the garden to buy but there are none to sell..." Mr. Tan regretfully said. Every year at this time, Mr. Dau Xuan Trinh's lemon garden of more than 1,400 trees in Hamlet 1 is full of fruit and cannot be harvested in time, but this year the whole garden is sparse, many trees do not bear fruit. Off-season lemon productivity dropped from 10 tons (in 2011) to just a few hundred kilograms, causing his family to lose a large source of income...

The lemon garden with scattered fruits of Mr. Nguyen Quang Tan's family in Hamlet 2, Hung Yen Nam Commune (Hung Nguyen)

Mr. Hoang Kim Tan - Vice Chairman of Hung Yen Nam Commune People's Committee said: Off-season lemons are lemons harvested in April and May. In recent years, off-season lemons have become a fairly high source of income for people (4-5 times higher than the main crop). The whole commune has 1,600 households, of which more than 40% grow lemons, with large households such as Mr. Tan, Mr. Quyet, Mr. Trinh... growing about 400-450 trees, and small households growing about 100 trees. Last year, large households earned 40-42 tons/year, including 7-8 tons of off-season lemons, but this year, the largest household only got 700 kg of lemons. Even Mr. Tan's family planted more than 150 trees and in 2011 harvested 15 tons, of which 2 tons were off-season, but this year the off-season yield was only about 50 kg... Hung Nguyen district has over 210 hectares of lemons, most concentrated in 3 communes: Hung Yen Bac, Hung Yen Nam and Hung Trung.

In Nam Kim commune (Nam Dan), famous for the Hoang Nien lemon brand, there are 16/22 hamlets and nearly 150 hectares of lemon trees. Each year, lemon trees yield 2 harvests, with an average of 40 kg of fruit per tree, after deducting costs, the income is about 100 million VND/ha/year, much higher than growing rice and other crops. However, this year the yield of off-season lemons has also decreased by 50% compared to last year. Although the price is high, many households harvesting off-season lemons only earn nearly 30 million VND... Lemons are scarce, so in the markets, lemons are sold at retail prices of 4,000 - 5,000 VND/fruit... With this momentum, in the hot summer, lemon prices will continue to rise, and off-season lemon growers will get a good price.

Khanh Ly