Thai Hoa papaya is not enough to sell

Present at the papaya garden of Phu Tan hamlet, Tay Hieu commune, Thai Hoa town on the morning of September 6, we recorded that the image of endless ripe papayas falling all over the garden was no longer there. People were selecting the ripe papayas to harvest and sell to traders. Modified vehicles loaded with papayas were pushed out onto the main road, where trucks were waiting to weigh and sell them for money.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Tam, the owner of the papaya garden, said that due to high market demand, traders place large orders every day. With her family's 1.5 hectare papaya garden, she harvests 500 kg of fruit every day, selling it to traders at the current price of 5,000 VND/kg, earning 2.5 million VND. Before the full moon of July, traders bought it at 7,000 VND/kg, after the full moon, although it decreased, the price was still stable at 5,000 VND/kg, this price is very good so everyone is happy...

According to Mr. Nguyen Quang Hieu, representative of Tay Hieu Agricultural Cooperative, papaya trees are planted and cared for for 1 year. When it comes to harvest, after picking ripe fruit, it continues to bear fruit, so the papaya harvest lasts for many months, so the yield is high, 1 hectare produces 90 - 100 tons of fruit. With the current selling price, 1 hectare of papaya brings farmers 400 - 500 million VND. However, this year, because the company did not purchase according to the contract, about 40% of the ripe fruit fell off, was damaged, and had to be discarded.

“Traders not only in the province but also outside the province contact to buy papaya at high prices, but because the current supply is not enough to meet demand, they mainly supply to traders in the province. Every day at around 10am, traders bring their cars to buy, people finish harvesting, increase their stock on the street to sell tons of papaya, earning tens of millions of dong. However, traders require that the papaya must weigh at least 300 grams or more, must not be wormy and must have ripe yellow stripes," said a papaya grower.

As reported by Nghe An Newspaper, Tay Hieu Agricultural Cooperative (Thai Hoa town) invested in planting 13.3 hectares of Taiwanese papaya, with 18 households growing, with a contract to purchase products from Nafoods Passion Fruit Joint Stock Company. However, when the papaya was ready to be harvested, the company did not purchase papaya for the people, causing a quantity of papaya to rot and fall.

After the company announced to stop purchasing papaya from Tay Hieu Agricultural Cooperative, on August 18, representatives of Tay Hieu Agricultural Cooperative, cooperative members and representatives of Nafoods Passion Fruit Joint Stock Company had a meeting at Tay Hieu Commune People's Committee to resolve the issue of people having to cut down products that they had signed a contract to grow and consume with the company because they were not purchased, and people still complied with the contract not to sell to the market.

After the meeting, the two sides agreed on a plan to liquidate the contract, compensate 225 million VND/ha of investment for the people; at the same time, the company also supported 50% of the amount of money for buying seedlings that the people still owed the company (specifically 8 million VND/ha).

On the afternoon of August 21, Tay Hieu Agricultural Cooperative received nearly 3 billion VND from Nafoods Passion Fruit Joint Stock Company; the two parties have liquidated the contract and people can freely sell papaya products to the market.

Through the discussion, Mr. Duong Dinh Duong - Chairman of Tay Hieu Commune People's Committee said: Currently, papaya of the people is consumed very well, high price, that is the common joy of the people. The local government thanks Nghe An Newspaper and news agencies, press for timely companionship to ensure the rights of the people in the area.

"Although papaya currently has a stable output, the locality does not dare to expand the area in the coming years because it needs to be carefully calculated, consult the market, and minimize incidents like this year...", Mr. Duong emphasized.