Tons of medicinal fruits in the highlands of Nghe An await 'rescue' from traders

The family of Mrs. Ho Y Rua in Huoi Mu village, Huoi Tu commune, Ky Son district planted and protected nearly 2 hectares of bo bo trees. Mrs. Y Rua said: “In previous years, this area of ​​medicinal plants brought her family from 30 to 40 million VND per year.

However, this year, the bo bo has ripened on the tree, so her family took the opportunity to collect it, dry it, and wait for traders to come and buy it. But the bo bo is increasing in quantity, but the traders are nowhere to be seen, making her family worried.

Mrs. Ho Y Rua harvests her family's corn and waits for traders to come and buy. Photo: Lu Phu

At this time, the bo bo of the Mong people in the highland commune of Huoi Tu has begun to ripen and the fruit has fallen, but has not been harvested because there are no traders coming to buy it. According to the Huoi Tu commune government, the whole commune has more than 24 hectares of bo bo trees, planted in most of the villages in the commune.

In previous years, bo bo brought a large income to people in the commune, on average each household earned from 20 to 45 million VND per year.

The number of old bo bo trees is past the harvest time, so many areas have seen fruit drop. Photo: Lu Phu

Mr. Ho Ba Rua - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Huoi Tu Commune, Ky Son District shared: "Bo bo is the main source of income that people in the commune look forward to the most during the year, but the season to buy bo bo has passed, but up to now, no traders have come to buy or place orders. People in the commune are worried that the bo bo will fall and cannot be harvested, so they pick it and store it, hoping that later traders will come to buy it."

Without buyers, not only do bo bo growers lose their crops, many households that regularly process and dry this herbal fruit are also at risk of losses.

According to Ms. Luong Thi Tim, a household that processes dried bo bo in Ba village, Huu Kiem commune, this year her family invested more than 15 million VND in capital to purchase bo bo and pay for workers to peel the shell, but for nearly a month now, no one has asked to buy more than 500 kg of dried bo bo.

There are no traders to buy so households process the corn and wait. Photo: Lu Phu

“My family does not do farming, we do whatever the season requires. In the bo bo season, we process bo bo to sell, in the wicker season, we make wicker. But this year, no one asked to buy bo bo. The investment capital is small. If we invest in buying bo bo and then have no buyers, we will have no money to turn around. If every year at this time, people come to buy very busily, this year, no one comes,” said Ms. Luong Thi Tim, Ba village, Huu Kiem commune.

According to data from Ky Son district, the whole district has about 150 to 180 hectares of bo bo, grown in many communes of Tay Son, Nam Can, Na Ngoi, Huoi Tu, Muong Long and scattered in some other communes. In late May, June and July, when some crops such as rice, corn, taro, ginger and squash have just been planted and have not been harvested, bo bo is the main source of income for ethnic minorities in the highland district of Ky Son in the lean season. Some models are implemented by agricultural extension, the rest grow spontaneously in the forest.

Normally, 1 kg of bo bo costs from 35,000 to 42,000 VND/kg, sometimes up to 50,000 VND/kg. However, this year, there are few buyers of bo bo. Bo bo is mainly bought by traders for sale to China.

The product of Soybean fruit depends too much on the Chinese market, like this time last year it was 40 thousand VND/kg, but this year it is only 20-22 thousand VND, and there are very few traders buying, making people worried. Specialized agencies are also coordinating to find businesses and cooperatives to purchase Soybean fruit for people. We are also recommending the Department of Science and Technology to evaluate the quality and effects of Soybean fruit to coordinate with domestic pharmaceutical companies to purchase so that people can feel secure.

Mr. Le Anh Tuan, Head of Ky Son District Agricultural Extension Station