Nghe An: Shallot yield is low, price 'hits rock bottom'

Last year,shallot prices have fallen dramatically, difficult to sell, so this year, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Huong's family (Hamlet 8, Nghi Lam, Nghi Loc) only grows 1.5 sao of chives (0.5 sao less than last year). Not only reducing the area, but the family also plans to reduce the investment in caring for the chives.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong said: “If fully invested, one sao of shallots costs about 10 million VND from seeds, fertilizers, rice husks, pine needles, pesticides, plus 8 months of care and harvesting. This year, the price of fertilizers has continuously increased, so the input costs for caring for shallots have also increased. Last year's shallot crop suffered heavy losses, with each sao of shallots costing people 4-5 million VND, not to mention the care and harvesting costs, so this year, not only have we reduced the area, but we have also reduced the input materials and fertilizers for shallots.”

Farmers are in the peak harvest season of shallots. Photo: Thanh Phuc

If in the 2020-2021 onion crop, Mr. Nguyen Sy Cuong's family grew 4 sao of onions, this year the area has decreased to only 2 sao, the remaining 2 sao, his family switched to growing corn and peanuts. With 2 sao of onions, if fully invested, they would have to spend over 20 million VND in costs. However, the price of onions has continuously dropped, leading to losses, so this onion crop, he was forced to cut down on some investment costs for onions such as: reducing the amount of fertilizer, reducing the amount of rice husks, pine needles covering onions... Due to lack of investment and careful care, onion yield is lower than in previous years.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Lam, Head of Hamlet 8, Nghi Lam Commune, said: “Shallots are the main crop of Nghi Lam in general and Hamlet 8 in particular. In previous years, the hamlet’s onion growing area was 15 hectares, this year, it has decreased to 7 hectares. The previous onion growing area has been replaced by corn and peanuts.”

Due to reduced investment and neglect of care, onions are less productive and the bulbs are smaller than in previous years. Photo: Thanh Phuc

ToanNghi Thuan communeThere are 60 hectares of onions with 1,235 onion-growing households. For three consecutive years from 2019 to now, due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, onion consumption has been difficult, especially last year's onion crop, when onion prices fell dramatically, causing people to suffer losses. Although the onion-growing area in Nghi Thuan has not decreased compared to previous years, this year, people have also cut part of their investment costs for onions to reduce losses.

It is currently the peak harvest season for shallots. In the fields of Nghi Lam, Nghi Kieu, Nghi My, Nghi Thuan, etc., people are gathering to dig up shallots. The low price of shallots makes people unhappy.

Onion prices are currently low, ranging from 15,000 - 18,000 VND/kg. Photo: Thanh Phuc

“The yield is lower, the price of onions is also low, after 8 months of care, now when it is time to harvest, we still have to spend time digging. 1 sao of onions, if done by one person, it will take a whole month to finish. After digging, we have to dry them, remove all the roots, and sift them clean before importing. With the capital and effort of planting, caring, and harvesting, if we can only sell them for 16,000-17,000 VND/kg, we will lose a lot,” said Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong.

Despite the loss, the onions were already old so they had to be harvested because the longer they were left, the more they would lose. Ms. Ho Thi Thu, an onion grower in Nghi Thuan (Nghi Loc) said: “Last year, at the beginning of the season, the price of onions was 20,000 VND/kg, but during the main season, it dropped sharply to 15,000-16,000 VND/kg and there was no place to sell them, so people stopped harvesting. To prevent the onions from rising above the ground and turning green, causing the onions to lose value, we had to buy more rice husks to cover them, and wait until the end of the season when the price went up to sell them. However, towards the end of the season, the price of onions dropped even more dramatically. At one point, 1kg of onions was only 10,000 VND, but we still had to accept it.”

At Nghi Lam onion growing area, people have proactively converted the area of ​​chives to grow corn and peanuts instead when onion prices continuously "hit rock bottom". Photo: Thanh Phuc

Learning from this year's experience, when traders were still buying, people focused on digging up onions to sell, saving whatever money they could. On the other hand, they had to harvest in time to take care of the corn, peanuts, and vegetables that had already been planted.intercropping with onionsin advance to offset some of the costs.

Currently, the price of fresh onions in the field is 15,000 VND/kg, dried onions, cleaned and screened, cost 18,000 - 20,000 VND/kg. This price is considered to have "hit rock bottom" but traders are still buying sparingly.

Traders also only buy sparingly. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Unable to rely entirely on traders, many households have managed to find ways to consume through social networking sites, transporting goods to retail markets, connecting with companies processing dried eels and dried onions to sell, sending vehicles to ask acquaintances in other provinces to sell for them... However, with the quantity reaching thousands of tons, this small retail consumption channel is not enough. What people want is for the immediate future, all levels and sectors to find ways to consume onions.

Mr. Tran Nguyen Hoa - HeadNghi Loc District Department of Agriculturesaid: "In addition to many communes that have reduced their traditional onion growing areas, in many other communes, people spontaneously grow onions, so the district's onion growing area this year is 234 hectares (an increase of 41.5 hectares), with an output of 2,169.6 tons (an increase of 122.06 tons). The current onion price is 15,000-18,000 VND/kg (lower than previous years).

Despite low prices, people still urgently harvest to take care of intercropping crops in time for the season. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Faced with the increase in onion acreage, the district has directed communes to have appropriate plans and details for onion production and advised people not to expand the acreage massively. At the same time, find ways to connect people to consume the products. However, due to the peak harvest period, the onion output is high, so the price tends to decrease.