Price drops below 2,000 VND per kg, bananas 'call for help' again

Banana gardens that ripened in the second half of June in Dong Nai continued to face a lack of output, similar to the period in February and March this year.

“Now the bananas are ripening on the trees but there are no buyers. When traders come to see them, they pay very cheap prices, less than 2,000 VND per kg,” said Mr. Tran Van Khoa - a garden owner with 50-60 tons of bananas to harvest in Xuan Dong (Cam My, Dong Nai). Previously in the first months of the year, local products once fell into dire straits and were rescued by purchasing for export to China.

On average, the banana gardens that 'call for help' have a yield of 150 tons during this harvest.

Mr. Pham Cong Chinh - owner of Tam Khoe farm, who participated in "rescuing" 250 tons of bananas in Dong Nai, Tay Ninh... said that the new batch of bananas in Dong Nai started to be harvested at the beginning of the month and peaked in the past two weeks. In recent days, he has received 4 requests to buy "rescued" bananas from garden owners in the Southeast.

“Traders are buying bananas at prices ranging from 1,000 to 1,500 VND per kilogram. After receiving confirmation from the commune authorities where the banana gardens need support, we will organize a new "banana rescue" campaign. The highest retail price on the market this time is expected to be 7,000 VND per kilogram,” said Mr. Chinh.

Not only Dong Nai, some banana gardens in Phu My, Tan Thanh, Ba Ria - Vung Tau also called for help. Mr. Nguyen The Anh - the owner of a garden with an output of 140 tons said that he was sure to lose money this banana season. Banana gardens in the same area also commonly have more than 100 tons of ripe fruit that no one buys. Some gardeners decided to abandon and stop planting for the next season.

“Traders have not bought my banana garden for a few days now. There were 5-6 tons that were overripe and had to be thrown away. Now there are 9 tons of bananas on the tree that are ripe and need to be sold immediately but there is no market. Every now and then when traders come to see, they complain that the leaves are spotted and the color is not nice,” said Mr. The Anh. The commune’s Youth Union came to help buy them but only bought a few hundred kilograms.

“It’s the rainy season now, so the bananas at Doan are not selling well. After this banana crop, I probably won’t be able to afford it anymore. The banana garden has already lost money on fertilizer and pesticides,” he said, adding that from now on he will only wait for bananas to be exported before planting, and will not plant them year-round.

According to VNE