Farmers 'crying' because of failed melon crop

(Baonghean.vn) - Currently, Dien Chau people are entering the spring melon harvest season, however, the yield and quality of melons this year have decreased sharply, causing many households to lose their crops.

This is the third year that Ms. Dau Thi Dong in Hamlet 2, Dien Ky Commune has grown spring melons. Looking at the withered melon plants and small fruits during harvest time, she sighed: "There has never been a year when the melon crop failed like this year. Like last year, my 3 sao of melons yielded 1 ton/sao, with a price of 10,000 VND/kg sold in the field, I earned a profit of over 20 million VND. This year, the yield was only 3 quintals/sao, which is not worth the effort of months of care."

Soft, rotten fruit and shriveled leaves are common problems with spring melons this year; after more than 2 months of planting, after deducting expenses, Dien Chau people have no profit. Photo: Quang An

That is also the common situation of dozens of households growing melons in Dien Ky commune. According to observations, this year's melons are small, some are eaten by worms, and the leaves are dry. Some households do not want to harvest, many households harvest only for livestock because they cannot sell.

According to Ms. Yen, a melon grower, on average, each sao invests about 3-4 million for seeds, fertilizers, electricity for irrigation, not including the cost of more than 2 months of care. Although the selling price is still high, this year's melon yield is low, the fruit is small and ugly, so traders are very picky about their goods.

Large, beautiful melons are selected to be imported to traders. Photo: Quang An

"For large, beautiful fruits, we pack them in foam boxes for traders to buy. Although the selling price is higher than last year (15,000 VND/kg), the harvest per sao is not significant, and it takes nearly 3 months of production to break even. The reason for the crop failure is due to pests and diseases, mainly powdery mildew. In addition, this year's erratic weather has caused the trees to produce few fruits and the fruits are not of good quality," Ms. Yen shared.

Currently, melons have a retail price of 25,000 - 30,000 VND/kg. Photo: Quang An

Mr. Ngo Van Ty - Vice Chairman of Dien Ky Commune People's Committee said: Every year, cantaloupe yields 1 ton/sao, which is the crop with the highest economic value. This year, the average yield has decreased by more than half. The commune's 5 hectares of cantaloupe only yielded more than 40 tons. After this spring crop, people will continue to grow another crop in the hope of recovering from a failed season.

Because the melon field is located right next to National Highway 1A, many households have brought melons to the roadside to sell to customers. This method depends on luck, selling to passersby can be twice as expensive as buying from traders in the field (25,000 - 30,000 VND/kg) but the output is unstable, there are days when there are many customers, days when there is no sale. For that reason, most people choose to buy from traders, even though the price is lower.

This year's spring melon crop yielded only 1 ton/sao, down 2 tons/sao compared to 2016. Photo: Quang An

This year, Dien Chau district planted nearly 10 hectares of spring melons, concentrated in Dien Ky and Dien Hong communes. Spring melons are usually planted in January and can be harvested after nearly 3 months. Because the area is much smaller than summer melons (50 hectares), spring melons are often priced well every year, and many households can earn tens of millions of dong. However, this year, people lost their crops due to a poor harvest./.

Quang An