Tons of unsold tomatoes 'lying in the fields', Nghe An farmers pick them to feed livestock

Quynh Luong is a commune specializing in large vegetable cultivation with an area of ​​215 hectares; at this time, farmers are both promoting planting and focusing on harvesting some types of vegetables and crops.

In the field of hamlet 3, Quynh Luong commune, according to records, although many tomato areas have ripened in the fields, people are not interested in harvesting, so...ripe tomatoesg, withered.

Low purchase price with no profit, Quynh Luu farmers let their tomato gardens ripen in the fields. Photo: Viet Hung.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Tu, a tomato grower in Quynh Luong commune, said: “My family grows more than 1 sao of tomatoes. After 5 months of planting and caring for them with the hope of getting a high yield and price at harvest time, they are now selling them at a very low price, resulting in a heavy loss. Last year at this time, tomatoes were sold for 5,000 VND/kg, but now they are sold for 2,000 VND/kg, but very few traders buy them.”

According to Quynh Luong commune people, tomatoes are planted from October to March - April of the following year to be harvested; on average, 1 sao of tomatoes when harvested yields 3 - 4 tons/sao. With the current price of 2,000/kg, people earn 6 - 7 million VND, while the investment for each sao is about 6 million VND, not including the effort of people taking care of them for 5 months. Currently, the purchase price is low, people are not interested.harvest, tons of ripe tomatoes fell all over the field.

People bring it home to feed their livestock. Photo: Thanh Nguyen

Sharing the same fate, tomato growers in Quynh Van commune are also in trouble because they cannot sell their tomatoes when it is time to harvest. Mr. Dau Duc Hai's family in Hamlet 8, Quynh Van commune grows 4 sao of tomatoes. At this time last year, tomatoes sold at high prices, so his family earned 20 million VND/sao, but now, after harvesting, they only earn 6 million VND, while the investment cost is nearly ten million VND.

“At the beginning of this year, when the price was low, many households did not sell and waited for the price to increase. However, the price of tomatoes has dropped lower and lower, and they cannot even sell, causing many households to lose everything this year,” said Mr. Hai.

Mr. Dau Duc Hai's 4-sao tomato garden in Quynh Van commune was left to dry out because it could not be sold. Photo: Thanh Nguyen

The entire Quynh Van commune has about 15 hectares of tomato growing area. Since around March, due to low purchase prices, many households have only been able to sell 1/3 of their gardens, and some even have entire gardens of ripe tomatoes. Regretting the effort of taking care of them, many households just pick them and bring them home to feed pigs, buffaloes, and cows.

The entire Quynh Luu district has about 50 hectares of tomatoes ready for harvest, concentrated in Quynh Minh, Quynh Luong, Quynh Van... While some vegetables have increased in price compared to the beginning of the year, this year's tomato crop is good, however, due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, prices have dropped, currently in the area there are still about 60 - 70% of the tomato area that is ripe but cannot be consumed./.