Nghe An: Duck meat price remains stable during Doan Ngo Festival

The poultry slaughterhouse in Lien Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district on this Doan Ngo festival mainly slaughters ducks. Photo: Xuan Hoang

According to Vietnamese custom, on the Doan Ngo Festival (the 5th day of the 5th lunar month), duck meat is often served on the dinner table, so the amount of duck consumed on this day is greater than usual. However, on this year's Doan Ngo Festival, according to research, the amount of duck consumed isduck meatIn Nghe An, the price is not as abundant as in previous years, but the selling price has not increased.

DistrictYen Thanhis a locality with a tradition of raising ducks, but at this time the number of ducks has decreased significantly. Ms. Thuy - the owner of a duck farm in Nam Thanh commune said that because the price of animal feed is constantly increasing, while the price of duck meat is not high, she switched to raising laying ducks.

"If we raise ducks in the fields, we will make a profit, but after harvesting the fields, people immediately turn to planting in the summer and fall, so there is no place to graze, forcing us to keep them in cages with expensive industrial feed. Therefore, the price of duck meat is only 38,000 VND/kg, which is a loss. Therefore, during this Doan Ngo Festival, my family's duck farm has no meat ducks to sell, and neither do the surrounding duck farms, which mainly raise laying ducks," said Ms. Thuy.

On the occasion of the Dragon Boat Festival, the amount of duck meat consumed in the market is higher than usual. Photo: Xuan Hoang

At poultry slaughterhouses, the amount of duck meat is still abundant, meeting customer demand. Mr. Quang Thuy and his wife in Lien Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) specialize in slaughtering chickens and ducks, saying that the number of duck meat in Yen Thanh has decreased significantly at this time, due toanimal feedincreased, while the selling price of ducks did not increase, less than 40,000 VND/kg, so people rarely raised them. Therefore, to have ducks to supply to customers regularly during the day, Mr. Quang Thuy had to buy ducks from traders transported from the North by car.

"Ducks transported from the North are sold here at over 40,000 VND/kg to serve customers, because there are not many ducks in the area. This Doan Ngo Festival, the couple plans to supply hundreds of ducks to customers. However, the selling price will remain at 70,000 VND/kg of meat," Quang shared.

Since early this morning, people in Quynh Luu district have been buying and selling ducks at rural markets. Photo: Viet Hung

In Quynh Luu district, at this time, there is not much duck meat.

According to research at duck farms inQuynh Luu district, recently, the price of animal feed has increased sharply, causing many households to not dare to invest but only maintain a small number of ducks for breeding. As for households raising 1,000 ducks or more, they are trying to hold on to maintain their contacts and markets, despite the escalating price of feed. Therefore, at this time, the total number of meat ducks in Quynh Luu is still quite large, estimated at nearly 10,000 ducks.

Customers come to buy duck meat at poultry slaughterhouses. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Mr. Nguyen Van Tung, a duck farmer in Quynh Yen commune, said: “The price of feed has increased, making it difficult for us farmers. If we do not raise ducks, we will fail because we will lose customers, so we have to continue raising them. Currently, the selling price of duck meat at 36,000 VND/kg is low. Hopefully, on the occasion of the Doan Ngo Festival, we will sell a large quantity to compensate for the care and investment we have made so far.”

To serve the needs of the people, poultry slaughterhouses in localities in Nghe An are always busy serving customers who come to order ducks. Here, ducks are pre-butchered, customers just need to process them into their favorite dishes for the Doan Ngo Festival. However, with the complicated developments of the Covid-19 epidemic, the food market is quite gloomy, including duck meat.