Nghe An: Lemons turned into firewood after the storm

(Baonghean.vn) - Nghe An lemons are in the main harvest season, however, the current price of lemons has dropped, causing people to lose their crops, and some households have had to cut down trees.

In the lemon growing area of ​​Hung Nguyen district - Hung Yen Bac and Hung Yen Nam communes, at this time it is not difficult to see the bare lemon gardens, many dry lemon trees piled up on both sides of the road.

In season, dead lemons piled up on the streets. Photo: Quang An

Visiting the lemon garden of Mr. Le Van Binh in hamlet 3A, Hung Yen Bac commune, in contrast to the lush green color and fruit-laden branches before the storm, instead there are dry tree stumps, many fruits have turned yellow.

Mr. Binh's family grows more than 200 lemon trees on an area of ​​4 sao of hill garden. His entire lemon garden has been bearing fruit for 3 years. However, the recent storm No. 2 has uprooted and broken 60% of the area. "Every year, this lemon garden generates hundreds of millions of dong in income, but this year it is considered a total loss. The storm has killed the trees, prices have dropped sharply, many households even give away their lemons instead of selling them, not bothering to harvest them" - said Mr. Le Van Binh.

Storm No. 2 caused many lemon fields in Hung Nguyen to collapse and had to be destroyed. Photo: Quang An

Not only Mr. Binh’s family, this is also the common situation of hundreds of households growing lemons here. According to the people of Hung Yen Bac, lemons are broken, productivity is reduced and the current selling price has also dropped sharply, from 15,000 VND/kg to only 4,000 VND/kg.

Although lemon prices have hit a record low, many households still have to sell off their lemons because they have wilted and are of poor quality, not to mention having to harvest quickly to make room for new plants and pay off fertilizer debts.

Ms. Vo Thi Chau, a lemon trader in Hung Yen Nam commune, said: Two months ago, the price of lemons fluctuated between 15,000 and 17,000 VND/kg. But now, the price of lemons has dropped to a record low. The peak was after the second storm, when the price of lemons was only 4,000 VND/kg; beautiful, even lemons were only 5,000 VND/kg.

Mr. Khang, a lemon grower in Hung Yen Bac, sighed: "Storm No. 2 caused 7 sao of lemon trees in my house to break down, almost all the fruit fell; the damage is estimated at hundreds of millions of dong. Currently, I have to ask workers to come and cut down the trees to make room for new fruit trees."According to other traders, the reason for the drop in lemon prices is because it is currently the harvest season. In addition, after storm number 2, many trees were broken and people had to sell them off at a loss, so the supply of lemons exceeded demand, causing the price of lemons to drop sharply.

Traders buy lemons for people in Hung Yen Nam commune (Hung Nguyen). Photo: Quang An.

According to Mr. Nguyen Dinh Huu - Vice Chairman of Hung Yen Bac Commune People's Committee, the whole commune has more than 200 hectares of lemon trees, the recent storm No. 2 has caused about 50% of the lemon area to fall and lose fruit. Although the price of lemon trees has dropped sharply, the locality does not encourage people to cut down trees to plant other trees, because this is an economically effective crop for many years, adapting to the dry soil conditions here.

The whole district of Hung Nguyen has more than 400 hectares of lemon, mainly concentrated in Hung Yen Bac, Hung Yen Nam communes and a part of Hung Trung commune. Large growers have an area of ​​1-2 hectares, small growers also have 4-5 sao. Lemon trees have become the main crop, bringing a good income to local people. However, due to natural disasters, prices have dropped sharply, so this year households have had a bad harvest.

Quang An