Farmers in Nghe An's largest onion growing area face difficulties due to Covid-19

In the fields of the communes of Quynh Minh, Quynh Luong, and Quynh Bang of Quynh Luu district, people mainly grow green onions during this time. Photo: Xuan Hoang

On this occasion, throughout the vegetable fields of the communes in the coastal areaQuynh Luu districtmainly spring onions, which are grown by people in many batches. Therefore, besides the onion fields being harvested, there are also groups of people working the land to grow onions.

However, onion harvesters are not very excited because onion prices have suddenly dropped and consumption has been slow in recent days.

Ms. Ho Thi Lam in hamlet 7, Quynh Minh commune is harvesting.green onionsaid that a week ago, the price of green onions was bought by traders at 9,000 VND/kg, and all the quantity was sold, but now it has dropped to 6,000 VND/kg and traders buy very little. Because of slow consumption, Mrs. Lam's family's 1 sao of green onions has reached the harvest time but has not sold out in 5 days; previously, it only took 2 days to sell all the fields and switch to growing another crop.

People said that for the past week, green onions have been slow to sell, so they are worried while harvesting. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Along the roads of Quynh Minh and Quynh Luong communes... many large trucks stopped. It is known that due to the Covid-19 epidemic, shops inVinh City, Ha Tinh... temporarily closed, green onions are difficult to sell, so only traders with small trucks still maintain running goods to Vinh City and Ha Tinh, but the quantity is small.

Before June 7, the price of green onions was purchased by traders at over 9,000 VND/kg, but this week it has dropped to 6,000 VND/kg and is still difficult to sell. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Mr. Ho Van Hai, onetraderOnion buyer in Quynh Luong commune shared that before, he bought 3-4 tons of green onions every day to transport to Vinh city for consumption, but since the ban on shops in Vinh city and some neighboring districts temporarily closed to prevent the Covid-19 epidemic, the number of customers ordering has decreased significantly, so now he only buys 1.5 tons of green onions every day for people to sell to other places.

Due to slow vegetable consumption, many large trucks in Quynh Minh commune have temporarily stopped operating during this period. Photo: Xuan Hoang

"There are times when I think about expanding to other consumer markets, but it is very difficult, because everyone already has customers, if I transport goods to the destination, I will be squeezed, even have unsold goods. Therefore, I hope to control the epidemic soon so that all business activities can return to normal" - Mr. Hai said.

Next to the onion fields being harvested, people continue to prepare the land for planting new onion crops. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Mr. Ho Dien Huu - Chairman of Quynh Minh Commune People's Committee said that the locality has 167 hectares of land specializing in vegetable production. Currently, the majority of the products from the fields are green onions, and there are also some other types of vegetables. Normally, green onions are purchased by traders and transported to cities for consumption.

However, since Vinh City, Ha Tinh has temporarily suspended food and beverage businesses to prevent the spread of the virus.Covid-19 epidemic, leading to slower vegetable consumption, prices also decrease every day. However, that does not mean that people stop production, the commune propagates that people harvest as much as possible, replant, and actively take care of the crops, so that when the epidemic is over, there will be vegetables to sell.

People in the coastal areas of Quynh Luu district do not neglect their fields because of the drop in onion prices, but instead actively take care of them so that when the epidemic is over, they will have products to sell. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Ms. Vu Thi Bich Hang - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Quynh Luu district, said: To avoid risks in theproduct consumptionIn agriculture, especially in the vegetable-producing communes in the coastal areas, the district has oriented the communes to switch to growing many types of crops, not monoculture as before. Therefore, currently, in addition to the large area of ​​onions, there are also some areas of watermelon, peanuts, corn, sweet potatoes...

In the long term, the district has considered attracting projects to build vegetable processing and preservation factories locally, in order to purchase products for local people in a stable manner.