Pineapple prices increase, Nghe An traders have to 'deposit' to place orders

Early season pineapples have a good harvest and good price.

In the vast pineapple fields in Tan Thang commune (Quynh Luu), farmers are busy harvesting to have their products weighed for traders. On the main roads, trucks line up to wait for their shipments.

While urging the workers to hurry up and looking at the big, plump pineapples being placed in baskets, Mr. Nguyen Van Minh, a pineapple grower in Tan Thang hamlet, excitedly said: "This year, pineapples have a good harvest and good prices. If the price of 7,000 - 8,000 VND/kg remains stable until the end of the year, each hectare will bring in about 300 million VND in income."

Tan Thang is considered the “pineapple granary” of Nghe An with a growing area of ​​nearly 850 hectares, of which 640 hectares are currently being harvested. This year, pineapples have high productivity, large, beautiful fruits and selling prices are one and a half times higher than this time last year.

Mr. Nguyen Van Cap - Chairman of Tan Thang Commune Farmers' Association said: "Pineapple is the main crop of the locality, each hectare yields about 40 tons, the total output of the commune is estimated at nearly 26,000 tons, bringing a significant source of income to the people. Pineapple has a growth and development period of 13-15 months before being harvested. Therefore, people often rotate crops to have pineapples harvested all year round. Thanks to pineapple cultivation, many households have become well-off."

After nearly a busy day of harvesting and loading pineapples onto the truck, taking a break, Mr. Pham Van Ninh in village 2, Quynh Thang commune said that from mid-2023 until now, pineapple prices have remained high. Notably, this is the main harvest season but pineapple prices are still "stuck" at a high level, 7,500-8,000 VND/kg (nearly 3,000 VND/kg higher than last year).

As soon as pineapples are harvested, traders buy them all, and even require a deposit in advance to buy the goods. “There were years when pineapple prices hit rock bottom, making it difficult to sell at a loss, but in the past two years, pineapple prices have increased and stabilized. Traders deposited money for 2 hectares of pineapples when the pineapples started to ripen. The price is high and easy to sell, so farmers are very excited,” said Mr. Ninh.

According to Mr. Ninh, the main pineapple season is from February to June. Instead of harvesting all 2.6 hectares of pineapple in one year, with his experience in growing, he has applied the technique of "squeezing" pineapple, dividing the area so that the plants can be harvested evenly at many times. Each main-season pineapple weighs about 1-1.2 kg, off-season 0.8-1.0 kg, the yield is not as good but the price is good, always in a state of scarcity, out of stock.

Many people have income from pineapple

The reason for the high price of pineapples in the main season is that they have just started the harvest season. In addition, due to the low price of pineapples in previous years, farmers have reduced their planting areas, causing the pineapple output to decrease this season and supply to be scarce. Therefore, traders have to deposit and negotiate with pineapple growers from the time the plants flower so that they can supply to customers during the harvest season.

“In previous years, the price of pineapples was low, so we only went to the truck to buy them when it was time to harvest, choosing the hill we liked, which looked good and had good quality, then we bought them. Weighed the goods, loaded them onto the truck, and then calculated the payment. But in this case, we had to contact the hill owner in advance, deposit money to buy pineapples, and supply them to customers. When pineapples are expensive and sell well, not only do farmers benefit, but we are also excited because we sell our products and make a profit,” said Nguyen Thi Lien, a trader who specializes in buying pineapples.

Pineapple hills in harvest season create jobs and income for many local workers. Accordingly, pineapple picking workers (usually female) are paid 250,000-300,000 VND/day; male workers often carry and transport pineapples, if diligent, can earn 500,000-700,000 VND/day.

Pineapple harvests are good and prices are good, people are confident to stick to the hills to produce, both harvesting and reinvesting in pineapple plants. In addition to selecting good varieties, improving and rejuvenating pineapple gardens, people have learned how to spread the fruit out in the season to have products harvested year-round...

“The price of pineapple is high and stable, so people have boldly chosen good varieties with high productivity to replace old pineapple areas. At the same time, they have invested in modern irrigation systems and applied pineapple care techniques to achieve the best productivity and quality.

In the coming time, we will advise the commune government to establish cooperative groups, connect and link with traders to create stable output for pineapples," said Mr. Ho Huy Kien - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Quynh Thang commune.