Area and productivity decrease, Con Cuong eggplant price skyrockets
(Baonghean.vn) - After many years of low coffee prices, combined with leaf curl disease causing low yields, the area of coffee cultivation in Con Cuong has decreased sharply. However, in the 2024 coffee crop, the selling price has skyrocketed, causing many households to feel regretful...
Eggplant prices increase
Growing 11 sao of eggplant, Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyet is the household with the largest eggplant growing area in Chi Khe. She is very excited that this year, the price of eggplant has remained high since the beginning of the season: “When the eggplant was harvested at the beginning of the season, the price was from 15,000-17,000 VND/kg; at times it was up to 20,000 VND/kg. During the harvest season, the price of eggplant is at 9,000-10,000 VND/kg (2-3 times higher) compared to the same period in 2022 and 2023”.
According to Ms. Tuyet, compared to growing corn, eggplant still gives much better income. According to calculations, each sao of eggplant, the investment cost is about 10 million VND, each year harvests 10 months, each month 3-4 batches, each batch 1.5-2 quintals. With the average price of eggplant of about 5,000-7,000 VND/kg, the revenue is about 40 million VND/sao, minus costs, there is still a profit of about 20 million VND/sao.
“The initial cost of growing eggplant is quite high, the investment and care are large, but the biggest advantage is that the harvest is spread evenly throughout the year. Moreover, prices sometimes hit rock bottom but sometimes skyrocket. So one crop makes up for another, growing eggplant still gives the highest income,” said Ms. Tuyet.
Therefore, currently, in Chi Khe commune, there are many households still maintaining large eggplant growing areas. Specifically, households such as Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyet (11 sao), Cao Thi Thuy (6 sao), Nguyen Thi Van (10 sao), Le Thi Thanh (8 sao)... The price of eggplant has increased, making eggplant growers very excited.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhan, a coffee grower in Bong Khe commune (Con Cuong) said: "In the past 4 years, this year, the price of coffee is at its highest level, stable from the beginning of the harvest until now. With this price, growers have a good profit even though the coffee crop is bad."
The reason for the high price of purple eggplant this year is due to a sharp decrease in the eggplant growing area. Compared to the years 2022 and earlier, the current eggplant growing area in localities has decreased by about 60%. Specifically: Chi Khe commune currently has 21 hectares (down nearly 20 hectares compared to before), Bong Khe commune only has 12 hectares (down 23 hectares compared to before), Yen Khe commune currently has only about 1 hectare...
According to Mr. Tran Van Lap - agricultural officer of Bong Khe commune, starting from 2017, the commune began to pilot commercial eggplant cultivation according to the clean vegetable production project following VietGAP standards of Con Cuong district.
At its peak, the total area of eggplant cultivation in the commune reached 40 hectares. Not only did they expand the area and switch from ineffective crops to eggplant, eggplant growers also invested in covering with plastic to improve the productivity and quality of the eggplant.
Although the investment cost is higher than the conventional method, it maintains soil moisture so there is no need to water, is weed-free, and has high resistance to pests and diseases, so the eggplant yields higher yields and has better quality fruit. In the first years, the eggplant crop was good and the price was good, with some households earning 30-40 million VND/sao/crop.
However, from 2019 to 2023, eggplant prices continuously dropped, some years down to 2,000 - 3,000 VND/kg, causing people to suffer losses and consumption to face many difficulties. Therefore, from 2022 to now, many households in Bong Khe commune have reduced the area of eggplant cultivation, some households have completely converted the area of eggplant cultivation to sugarcane cultivation.
“In the 2023-2024 coffee crop, the whole commune will only have 12 hectares, with 30 households growing, a decrease of 2/3 compared to previous years. The reason is that for many years in a row, the price of coffee has dropped sharply, along with fungal diseases and leaf curl causing the coffee yield to decrease. Meanwhile, the sugarcane factory has supported seeds, provided loans for fertilizers with deferred payment and guaranteed product consumption, so many households have switched to growing sugarcane,” added Mr. Tran Lap, an agricultural official of Bong Khe commune.
On the other hand, in the past 2 years, eggplants have been infected with a fungal disease that causes leaf curl. There is currently no specific treatment, causing poor growth, low flowering and fruiting. Eggplant productivity is only 50% of what it was before.
“Fungal diseases and leaf curl, for which there is currently no specific treatment, have reduced the yield of coffee by more than half. In addition, the increasingly extreme weather has caused many coffee plants to die prematurely, so the yield has decreased sharply. Previously, a crop of coffee like this could yield about 3-4 quintals, but now the highest yield is only 1.5-2 quintals/crop, with a yield of about 24-25 tons/ha,” said Ms. Nguyen Thi Van, an coffee grower in Chi Khe commune.
The area of coffee cultivation has decreased, productivity has decreased, and output has been low, so the supply to the market has decreased, causing coffee prices to remain high and stable since the beginning of the season. Therefore, coffee prices have been high even though the crop has been bad, but the farmers still make a profit, and it is easier to sell than in previous years.
Although prices are unstable and the market depends entirely on traders, according to coffee growers, the price of coffee at this time may be low but will increase in the next crop and vice versa. In terms of average income, coffee is still more economically efficient than corn and cassava.
Increase the value of eggplant
The experience of long-time eggplant growers is that when planting, they must alternate so as not to harvest too much at the same time, which makes it difficult to find an outlet and requires hiring workers to harvest, which costs more.
Secondly, if you invest in covering with nylon and plastic tarps to prevent weeds, you will limit the care work, increase productivity, and reduce pesticide spraying. At the same time, the planting process must stick to the field to prune the leaves so that the eggplant is airy and produces a lot of fruit. The characteristic of eggplant is that the fruiting and harvesting time is long, so you must regularly fertilize with manure to nourish the plant and fruit.
Regarding output, according to households, eggplant is mainly consumed domestically, Con Cuong people mainly sell to traders at local markets. Therefore, the price depends entirely on traders.
What farmers currently want is to connect and consume their products; the purple eggplant plant is branded and processed into commercial products such as: salted eggplant, eggplant fish sauce, vegetarian eggplant fish sauce, eggplant with fish sauce, sour eggplant shrimp and sour and spicy eggplant... to increase the value of the eggplant plant.
