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 peak harvest season, the price of eggplant is at 9,000-10,000 VND/kg (2-3 times higher) than 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 crops, each crop 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, after deducting 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, many households still maintain 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, an eggplant grower in Bong Khe commune (Con Cuong) said: "In the past 4 years, this year, the price of eggplant 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 eggplant crop is bad."
The reason for the high price of purple eggplant this year is due to a sharp decrease in eggplant growing area. Compared to 2022 and earlier, the current eggplant growing area in localities has decreased by about 60%. Specifically: Chi Khe commune currently has 21 hectares (a decrease of nearly 20 hectares compared to before), Bong Khe commune only has 12 hectares (a decrease of 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 nylon 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 fruit quality. 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 facing many difficulties in consumption. 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, coffee prices have dropped sharply, along with fungal diseases and leaf curl, causing coffee yields to decrease. Meanwhile, sugarcane is supported by the factory with seeds, deferred fertilizer loans and 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 used to be.
“Fungal diseases and leaf curl, for which there is currently no specific treatment, have reduced the yield of eggplants by more than half. In addition, the increasingly extreme weather has caused many eggplant plants to die prematurely, so the yield has decreased sharply. Previously, a crop of eggplants like this yielded 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 eggplant 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 increased despite a bad harvest, and farmers still make a profit and sell more easily than in previous years.
Although prices are unstable and the market depends entirely on traders, according to coffee growers, coffee prices may be low at this time 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 eggplants are airy and produce more fruit. The characteristic of eggplants is that the fruiting and harvesting time is long, so you must regularly fertilize with manure to nourish the plants 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; purple eggplant 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 spicy sour eggplant... to increase the value of eggplant.
