A farmer in Nghe An is “sitting on fire” because he grows ginger for businesses.

On November 10, 2016, Mr. Tran Van Quoc in Tan Thai block, Nghia Dan town signed a contract with Hoang Phu Vietnam Import-Export Joint Stock Company to plant 20,000 bags of ginger with a cost of 402 million VND.

The contract content is that Party B (Mr. Quoc) agrees to grow ginger and Party A (Hoang Phuc Import-Export Company) will provide technical advice. The company will purchase the product, and with the company's technical instructions, the company commits that each bag of ginger weighs 2.5 kg. If it fails, the company will compensate for the loss.

The ginger is ready to be harvested but has not been purchased yet, his family feels like sitting on hot coals. Photo: Dinh Thuy

However, the family's ginger is now past the harvest time, and many bags of ginger have sprouted. In particular, although the family bought seeds and followed the instructions of the company's technicians, the ginger yield was only about 1/5 of the commitment in the contract.

Through studying Mr. Quoc's contract with the Company, in addition to selling seeds, the Company also provides pesticides and biological fertilizers to people from planting to harvesting.

From before the Lunar New Year 2018 until now, Mr. Tran Van Quoc's family has been restless when 20,000 bags of ginger have reached the harvest time but the company has not come to purchase them as promised. Mr. Quoc said: "I have contacted two phone numbers of the director, one of which is unreachable, the other is not answered; I called the technician and heard that they are busy processing the ginger in Ha Tinh before coming out. They told me to wait but I don't know how long. Meanwhile, the ginger has sprouted."

Mr. Quoc Dao's two bags of ginger weighed only 450 grams; while according to the contract, if the correct technique was applied, they would have weighed 5 kg. Photo: Duc Anh

To prove his words, Mr. Quoc called a man named Phuc, who was supposed to be in charge of technical matters, to answer questions from ginger growers. When asked when the ginger would be purchased, this man replied: “I am processing the ginger in Ha Tinh, waiting for the processing here to be completed…”

According to Mr. Quoc, to grow 20,000 bags of ginger, the family must buy ginger seeds from the Company at 65,000 VND/kg, the seeds cost 130 million VND, in addition to fertilizer, technical instructions, the total investment is nearly 500 million VND.

Some bags of ginger were rotten and sprouted. Photo: Duc Anh

During the planting process, the family must strictly follow the technical instructions from fertilizing to watering, the cost for technical instructions alone is 40 million VND.

"According to the contract, the company calculated that 20,000 bags of ginger after harvest would yield 50 tons, with a price of 18,000 VND/kg for 900 million; minus 494 million in expenses, the family still has more than 400 million after 8 months. Thinking this is an opportunity to get rich, they borrowed from the bank to do it. Now, they hope to sell the ginger to recover the capital, which is a blessing. But now, no one buys it outside" - Mr. Tran Van Quoc said sadly.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Thao - Deputy Secretary of Nghia Dan Town Party Committee, the ginger planting contract was spontaneously signed by the people with the enterprise. Currently, the ginger is past the harvest date and has not been sold, and the productivity is low. The locality also created favorable conditions in terms of documents for the people to make complaints according to the original contract signed between the company and the people.

Contract between farmers and the company. Photo: Dinh Thuy

Worried about bank loans when ginger cannot be sold, farmers hope that all levels and sectors will intervene so that the company can perform as per the signed contract. According to the address on the contract, Hoang Phu Vietnam Import Export Joint Stock Company is located at Long Dien Hamlet, Long Hoa Commune, Dau Tieng District, Binh Duong Province.