Cucumber harvest season in Yen Thanh
Farmers in Yen Thanh district are harvesting cucumbers. Cucumbers are purchased by traders at an average price of 8,000 VND/kg, earning 240 million VND/ha.
Since the Lunar New Year, farmers in Minh Thanh and Thinh Thanh communes have been harvesting winter cucumbers. According to farmers, the price was low at the beginning of the season, but later on the price increased to 10,000 - 12,000 VND/kg. Although not as high as last winter crop, farmers are excited because they are making a profit with this price.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy in Hamlet 7, Minh Thanh Commune said that her family grows 3 sao of winter cucumbers. A month ago, the first harvest of cucumbers was completed, and traders bought them at 4,000 - 5,000 VND/kg, but later traders raised the price and now it is 10,000 - 12,000 VND/kg. Every day, traders drive large trucks from the North to buy, so the cucumbers are sold as soon as people pick them.
"Cucumbers were planted in November last year, and were harvested after more than 2 months. The harvest period lasted nearly 2 months, with a yield of 1.5 tons/sao. With an average selling price of 8,000 VND/kg, each sao earned 12 million VND (1 hectare earned 240 million VND), higher than other winter crops," Ms. Thuy shared.
Along the main roads from Minh Thanh commune to Thinh Thanh, you can occasionally see cucumber purchasing points. Cucumbers are packed in plastic bags, piled up in large piles, waiting for trucks to come and load them and take them to market. It is known that currently in Minh Thanh commune, there are 4 traders who purchase over 100 tons of cucumbers for the people every day.
Mr. Nguyen Cong Kien, a cucumber buyer in Hamlet 1, Minh Thanh Commune, said: On peak days, he and his wife buy about 45 tons of cucumbers, which are loaded onto two large trucks to be sold in the northern provinces. The cucumbers are picked right from the fields, then weighed and paid for immediately.
Mr. Nguyen Trong Huong - Director of Yen Thanh District Agricultural Service Center said: In the last winter crop, despite many difficulties due to the weather, farmers in the district planted about 70 hectares of cucumbers. Most of them were grown in Minh Thanh, Thinh Thanh, Dai Thanh communes and scattered in some other semi-mountainous communes.
The cucumbers that people grow are local varieties so the yield is not very high, averaging from 1.5 to 1.7 tons/sao (30 - 34 tons/ha), but the quality is good so the market favors it. With an average selling price of 8,000 VND/kg, people get about 240 million VND/ha, much higher than other winter crops./.
