Peanut prices fall, consumption is difficult
(Baonghean.vn) -One day at the end of May, we went to Nghi An commune (Vinh city) - a locality with 250 hectares of spring peanut growing area. Under the scorching sun390C, almost the entire peanut area has been harvested and dried by the people, piled up along both sides of the road. After nearly 4 months of hard work in the sun and rain to plant and care for the peanuts, the harvested peanuts are now dry, the farmers have been waiting for a long time but still have not seen any traders come to buy them...
Ms. Nguyen Thi Luyen in Hamlet 2, Kim My (Nghi An) is picking each dried peanut into a bag. When she saw the customers, Ms. Luyen was happy, thinking that traders had come to buy peanuts. Before she could be happy, her face fell again, and she said sadly: “My family grows 5 sao of spring peanuts, and only harvested 400 kg of dried peanuts. Now the peanuts have ripened, and we have waited for a long time but still have not seen any customers. This year, the price of peanuts has dropped, selling for 15,000 VND/kg of dried peanuts, but they still cannot be sold. This season last year, while we were harvesting in the fields, traders came to buy, the price was 22,000 VND/kg of dried peanuts, and people had money right after harvesting. Now, after more than 2 weeks of harvesting, we still have not been able to sell anything. My family is very anxious, because we owe 1.5 million VND for fertilizer materials since the beginning of the season, and we will have to pay taxes and funds soon. If we cannot sell the peanuts, we don't know where to get them to pay the debt.”
4 quintals of peanuts of Ms. Nguyen Thi Luyen's family (Hamlet 2 Kim My) have been dried and packed in bags but have not been sold yet.
Mr. Pham Xuan Hai's family in hamlet 2 Kim My planted 8 sao of spring peanuts, and harvested 800 kg of dried peanuts. No customers have come to buy them yet. The 8 sao of peanuts have been harvested for nearly 2 weeks, but the tubers and plants are still piled up in the fields. The peanuts have fallen in price and are difficult to sell. Mr. Hai's family is sad and not interested in removing the tubers from the plants. "This year, the peanuts are good, but there are few tubers, and the yield is lower than last year. On top of that, they are unsold and difficult to sell. My family is a farmer, and our life depends on a few sao of rice fields, and we also raise our children to go to university from the fields. Now, working all season long, with no output, how can we make ends meet? If we can sell them for 15,000 VND/kg, we will break even compared to the investment in buying materials, fertilizers, seeds, and labor. Currently, we have not been able to sell the peanuts, so my family has to borrow money for daily expenses, which is very difficult." - Mr. Hai confided.
Mr. Pham Xuan Hai's family in Hamlet 2 harvested 8 acres of peanuts and are piled up in the garden because there is no outlet.
Not only Mr. Hai's family, Ms. Luyen's family but all peanut growing households in Nghi An commune are in the same situation. Currently, people's lives are facing difficulties due to high production investment costs, low output prices, difficult consumption, and people's despondency. This reality makes us worried when about 70% of the province's population lives in rural areas associated with agricultural production, but after each harvest, people are worried about the output. In reality, the output for agricultural products is very unstable, depending on the market and traders. For many products, there is no organization to purchase, so farmers are at a disadvantage, with great effort and investment costs, but the output is floating and the price is cheap.
Talking to us, Mr. Pham Huy Thong - Chairman of Nghi An Commune People's Committee said: In the spring crop of 2013, Nghi An commune has a total peanut production area of 250 hectares, with an average yield of 2.4 tons of dry peanuts/ha, production and harvesting are both favorable. However, the biggest concern of the locality at present is that there is almost no outlet for agricultural products. While the price of fertilizer materials is high, the cost of production investment is large, the products cannot be consumed, making it very difficult for farmers. Some households harvest tons of peanuts, if they cannot sell them and continue into the rainy season, the peanuts will leak oil, be of poor quality, and then be even more difficult to consume. The local government sympathizes with the difficulties of the people, but is powerless. We hope that relevant agencies will have solutions to promote peanut exports, create outlets for the people, and create favorable conditions for people to confidently invest in production and stick with the fields.
Quynh Lan
