Pineapples in Nghe An ripen early, prices drop sharply

On March 6, Mr. Tran Van Nghia's family in Hamlet 22, Quynh Vinh Commune (Hoang Mai Town) harvested pineapples to sell to traders. Mr. Nghia was concerned: The price of pineapples this year is lower than last year. The large, beautiful pineapples at the beginning of the season cost only 5,000 VND/kg, the small ones 3,000 VND/kg. Meanwhile, at the beginning of last year, the large, beautiful fruit cost 7,000 VND/kg. Mr. Nghia's family has 4 hectares of pineapples, and expects to harvest at least 130 tons of fruit. Because the price of pineapples has decreased by 2,000 VND/kg compared to last year, his family is likely to lose tens of millions of VND.

Currently, pineapple prices have dropped sharply compared to the beginning of the season last year; the selling price is only 3,000 - 5,000 VND/kg. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Quynh Vinh Commune is one of the localities with the largest pineapple area in Hoang Mai Town with over 70 hectares, of which about 50% of the area has been harvested. However, this year the price of pineapple has decreased so people are not interested.

Mr. Vu Le Hung - Chairman of Quynh Vinh Commune People's Committee shared: 2 years ago, the price of pineapple at the beginning of the season fluctuated from 9,000 - 12,000 VND/kg. People were excited so some households planted more acreage. But at present, although the harvest has begun, the selling price is low. Therefore, the commune's policy is to stabilize the pineapple acreage, not to expand the acreage in the coming crops to avoid the situation of good harvest but low price.

Mr. Tran Van Nghia packs pineapples to send to customers who have placed orders. Photo: Quang An

In hamlet 6, Quynh Thang commune (Quynh Luu), Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc said that her family is harvesting pineapples early, but the price of pineapples at the beginning of the season is low, so they only harvest the ripe fruits, leaving the rest until mid-season, hoping that when traders from many places come to buy, the price will increase.

Mr. Ho Dien Thang - Vice Chairman of Quynh Thang Commune People's Committee said: Implementing the local crop planning, farmers have planted 85 hectares of pineapple, of which 60 hectares have been harvested. However, the price of pineapple this year is lower than last year, only 3,000 VND/kg, the beautiful fruit is 4,000 VND/kg. Meanwhile, the factory only buys at 1,800 VND/kg.

At the beginning of the season, pineapples are ripe but the selling price is low. Photo: Quang An

According to Mr. Thang, the reason for the decrease in the price of early-season pineapples is that at this time, there are not many traders coming to buy pineapples. Meanwhile, the Quynh Chau Fruit Juice Processing Factory also buys a small quantity, and chooses fruits of 500 grams or more, making it difficult to sell. However, pineapple growers believe that the decrease in the price of early-season pineapples this year may be due to the warm weather this year, the pineapples ripen early, while there are not many tourists, making it difficult to sell.

Quynh Luu and Hoang Mai Town are the two localities with the largest pineapple acreage in the province, with nearly 1,000 hectares. While the demand for purchasing by factories is still low, localities need to propagate to people not to expand the pineapple acreage too much, leading to a stagnant situation and difficulty in consumption.