Early season heat, vegetables and fruits start to 'heat up'

Cooling fruits such as oranges, pineapples, melons... "attract customers" on hot days. Photo: Thanh Phuc

In the past few days, at traditional markets in the province, foods and fruits with sour taste and rich in vitamin C are used for eating or processing.refreshing drinkSuch as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, watermelons, passion fruit... are sought after by many consumers, causing the prices of these items to increase slightly.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, a fruit seller at Vinh wholesale market, shared: “Previously, the prices of these fruits were “anchored” high due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the demand for fresh fruits, especially those with vitamin C supplements, increased, so many people preferred them and bought them in quantities of 3-5kg. Now with the hot weather, the demand has doubled or tripled compared to normal days.

During the hot days, the prices of cooling fruits such as oranges, passion fruit, coconuts, etc. have increased by 30%, but the imported supply is very limited. Therefore, it is not enough to meet the demand of the agents. On average, I sell about 500 kg of passion fruit, 1 ton of oranges and thousands of coconuts every day.

Sugarcane juice is chosen by many people as a refreshing drink during summer days. Photo: Thanh Phuc

In addition, the facilitiestravel in peak seasonSo the refreshment shops are always crowded and bustling with customers. Therefore, sugarcane for juice is also very "in demand". At the sugarcane supply point on Nguyen Canh Chan Street (next to Vinh market), trucks carrying sugarcane from Thanh Hoa, Nghia Dan and other places continuously unload goods. According to the owner of a sugarcane business here, every day, her business sells about 1,000 bundles of sugarcane for juice, 200 bundles of purple sugarcane to refreshment shops in the province. Currently, each bundle of sugarcane for juice costs 40,000 - 45,000 VND/bundle of 10 stalks (an increase of 5,000 - 10,000 VND/bundle compared to 2021); purple sugarcane costs 130,000 - 135,000 VND/bundle of 10 stalks.

According to the survey, due to the increased demand, the prices of cooling fruits have also increased. Currently, squeezed orange juice costs 40,000 - 45,000 VND/kg; watermelon 20,000 - 25,000 VND/kg; Quynh Luu pineapple costs 10,000 - 12,000 VND/fruit; green coconut costs 18,000 - 20,000 VND/fruit, green coconut costs 15,000 - 17,000 VND/fruit...

Green vegetables are currently increasing in price every day. Photo: Thanh Phuc

During the hot season, green vegetables are an indispensable dish in the daily menu of every family. Meanwhile, during the dry season, vegetables grow and develop less well, and there is not as much variety of vegetables as in the winter-spring season. On the other hand, this year, the rainy weather has caused vegetable stores to "run out of stock", so the supply of vegetables is also more limited, and the prices of vegetables have also started to increase gradually.

According to a survey at traditional markets, currently, cool vegetables such as Malabar spinach, amaranth, jute, Malabar spinach... have prices ranging from 8,000 - 10,000 VND/bunch; only the morning glory flower is at the beginning of the harvest season so the selling price is quite high, about 80,000 - 100,000 VND/kg; squash 30,000 VND/kg. Currently, the prices of spices such as green onions, coriander, perilla, basil, Vietnamese balm... have also increased by about 50% due to high demand.

Households in Dien Xuan commune (Dien Chau) grow off-season lettuce in greenhouses. Photo: Thanh Phuc

To get aheadhot season this year, many farmers in the localities have boldly invested in greenhouses to grow off-season vegetables to supply the market. Ms. Nguyen Thi Dung, Chairwoman of the Farmers' Association of Dien Xuan Commune (Dien Chau) said: "Currently, the commune has 8 greenhouse models for growing safe vegetables. In other crops of the year, people grow cantaloupe and cucumber, but in the hot season, the demand for green vegetables increases and prices are high, so many households switch to growing off-season vegetables such as lettuce, tomatoes, coriander, etc. to supply the market. There are households that, during the hot months, earn tens of millions of dong in profit from growing off-season vegetables"./.