Despite a bumper lychee harvest, farmers in Nghe An are still unhappy because of falling prices.
The lychee harvest season in districts such as Con Cuong, Nghia Dan, Que Phong, and Anh Son is entering its peak. However, the joy of a bountiful harvest is gradually fading as lychee prices continue to plummet, now only ranging from 8,000 to 10,000 VND per kilogram.
In Tra Lan town, Con Cuong district, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hai, a lychee grower with over 30 trees, shared: “This year the lychee harvest is good, with an average of about 5 quintals of fruit per tree. My family has sold more than 1 ton of first-grade lychees, but the price was only 8,000 - 10,000 VND/kg. Last year, the same type of lychee sold for 14,000 - 15,000 VND/kg.”
According to Ms. Hai, the people of Tra Lan have been growing lychees for quite a long time, using lychee varieties sourced from Hung Yen. The trees are regularly cared for each year, resulting in delicious, sweet fruit, but sales remain weak due to a lack of stable markets.
A similar situation is occurring in Chau Khe commune. Mr. Kha Van Tuan, a lychee farmer, lamented: "This year the weather has been favorable, the fruit setting rate is high, and the quality of the lychees is better than in previous years, with a sweet and refreshing taste. But so far, many trees remain unharvested because fewer traders come to buy, consumption is slow, and we can't eat them all."
Besides the low price, harvesting lychees is also very labor-intensive. People have to climb tall trees to pick each bunch of lychees, facing dangers from insects like wasps, not to mention the hot weather.
In fact, the lychee cultivation movement in Con Cuong flourished more than a decade ago. However, according to Mr. Kha Van Thuong, Chairman of the Chau Khe Commune People's Committee, due to fluctuating prices and low economic efficiency, many households have cut down their lychee orchards to switch to planting acacia and cassava.
"Previously, the commune had over 10 hectares of lychee orchards, but now only about 3 hectares remain. Part of it is now grown by people for personal consumption, rather than for economic gain," Mr. Thuong said.
According to Mr. Luong Thanh Hai, Head of the Agriculture and Environment Department of Con Cuong district: "Previously, lychee cultivation in the locality was mainly based on household models, without systematic planning or consumption linkages. When the market was unstable and prices dropped, people would uproot the trees and plant other crops."
Many lychee farmers in Nghia Dan district are facing a similar situation. Ms. Tran Thi Minh, residing in Nghia Trung commune, said that her family has 5 lychee trees bearing abundant fruit, but the selling price only reaches 8,000 to 10,000 VND/kg.
"We have to hire people to climb the trees to pick the lychees, so the profit isn't much. Every year, traders come directly to the orchard to buy them, but now there's no one, so we have to transport them to the market and sell them retail by the kilogram," Mrs. Minh shared.
Mr. Nguyen Van Nam, Deputy Head of the Agriculture and Environment Department of Nghia Dan District, said: Lychee trees in the locality are mainly grown sporadically in some communes such as Nghia Trung, Nghia Loc, Nghia Khanh… rather than on a large scale. At the beginning of the season, the price could reach 20,000 VND/kg, but during the peak season it is only 8,000–10,000 VND/kg. Due to the low price, many households are no longer interested in expanding their area, only maintaining lychee orchards on a household scale to serve small-scale needs.
In Nghe An province, many districts have previously developed lychee cultivation, such as Con Cuong, Que Phong, Anh Son, Yen Thanh, and Nghia Dan... However, lychee cultivation is mainly on a small scale in family gardens, lacking systematic investment and consumption linkages.
Due to low economic efficiency and years of "bumper harvests leading to price drops," most people have switched to growing other crops such as acacia, cassava, or higher-value fruit trees. Notably, some remaining lychee orchards are not properly cared for, resulting in reduced yield and quality, making them unable to compete with lychees from famous specialized growing regions like Hung Yen or Bac Giang.
The problem of finding markets for agricultural products, especially lychees, is becoming a constant worry for farmers in Nghe An province, due to the lack of close connection between production and consumption.
