Nghe An farmers 'lose' heavily in melon crop

These days, Ms. Cao Thi Trung, in village 2, Dien Ky commune (Dien Chau) is alone "braving the sun" to go to the field to pick melons instead of calling on her family members to gather in the field to harvest melons like previous years. Looking at the long fields of melons, wilted under the hot sun, Ms. Trung cannot help but feel sad.

Ms. Trung's melon field is barren and withered during harvest season. Photo: Quang An

Ms. Trung said: My family planted 2 sao of melons this year. In previous years, each sao brought an average income of 7-10 million VND, but this year, even though it is the main crop, we only earned 3 million VND, not enough to pay for care. The reason is that the quality of the fruit this year is worse than in previous years, so it is very difficult to sell.

Not far away, Mr. Nguyen Van Minh's melon field is also suffering a similar situation. He said: "At this time in previous years, the field is bustling with harvesters and traders coming to buy melons, but this year it is completely deserted. I thought there would be a source of income to compensate for the losses from the Covid-19 epidemic, but now no one is buying melons or if they are, the price is forced down..."

This year's melons are small and yellow, with a sharp drop in productivity. Photo: Quang An

Larger, better quality fruits are damaged by pests. Photo: Quang An

This is also the common situation of dozens of households growing melons in Dien Ky commune, the "melon capital" of Dien Chau district. According to the reporter's observation, this year's melons are small, the leaves are dry and burnt black, and the fruit is not as sweet as previous years.

Normally, the average yield of melons is 8-10 quintals per sao each year, and if well cared for, it can reach 12 quintals per sao; with a selling price of 12,000 - 15,000 VND/kg in the field, each sao of melons brings in an income of more than 10 million VND. However, this year, it only reaches 4-5 quintals per sao, most households only earn 3-5 million VND.

According to the people, there are two main reasons for the heavy damage to the melon crop this year. During the planting season, there was a lot of rain, causing the seeds to be waterlogged. When harvesting, there was a long period of hot weather, causing the fruit to wither and dry out. In addition, some households may have bought poor quality seeds, causing the plants to have a reduced yield.

People pick beautiful fruits to sell to traders at prices ranging from 10,000 - 12,000 VND/kg, lower than previous years. Photo: Quang An

Mr. Dau Xuan Truong - Chairman of Dien Ky Commune People's Committee said: "Compared to previous years, this year's melon yield and output have decreased. Besides the weather and seedling quality factors, the soil in the melon growing area has been degraded and infertile over many years. Therefore, the locality is encouraging households to intercrop melon with peanuts or melon with corn to improve the soil. They should not plant two melon crops consecutively."

This year, the entire Dien Chau district planted over 10 hectares of melons, concentrated in Dien Ky and Dien Hong communes... of which Dien Ky commune has the largest area.